Snoop Dogg Now Owns Death Row Records

Snoop Dogg returns to Death Row Records — as its owner.

In a press release issued Wednesday, it was announced that the “Gin & Juice” rapper purchased the record label from recording and music publishing company MNRK Music Group, which is funded by global investment firm Blackstone.

“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value,” the MC said in a statement. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members.”

While thanking Blackstone, MNRK Music Group, and David Kestnbaum, a senior managing director at Blackstone, “who worked collaboratively with me over several months to make this exciting homecoming a reality,” Snoop added, “I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”

Snoop’s acquisition comes nearly 30 years after he released his 1993 debut album “Doggystyle” on Death Row — launched the year prior by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, record executive Dick Griffey, and rapper the D.O.C.

After leaving Death Row Records in January 1998, Snoop later had deals with labels including No Limit Records, EMI Records, and Geffen Records.

Following a string of controversies — including the imprisonment of Knight and the death of its star artist Tupac Shakur, Death Row filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18 million in January 2009. After the owner of WIDEawake bankrupted in 2012, the label was then sold to Entertainment One, which then became a division of Hasbro until April 2021, when eOne Music was sold to Blackstone.

Snoop may have alluded to his purchase in late January when he posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a Death Row Records jacket.

“Eyes on the prize,” he wrote.

However, this announcement was overshadowed Wednesday when a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit alleging Snoop and another man each sexually assaulted her nearly nine years ago.

According to the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that was obtained by NBC News, the woman alleges that after she attended a Snoop Dogg concert in May 2013, she and her friend agreed to go back to Snoop Dogg’s studio with him and his friend Donald Campbell, also known as Bishop Don Magic Juan.

The woman alleges she asked to be taken home after being offered a ride by Campbell. However, she alleges Campbell drove her to his own residence after she fell asleep in the car. The woman fell asleep at Campbell’s home but was woken up at about 4 a.m. to Campbell allegedly forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

Campbell then allegedly urged her to get dressed and accompany him to a taping of “Snoop Dogg’s Double G News Network,” calling it a “career move” for her.

While at the taping, the woman alleges that Snoop followed her to the bathroom, where she claims he also forced her to perform oral sex and masturbated in front of her.

Overall, the woman is accusing Snoop and Campbell of violating laws on sex trafficking, sexual battery, and sexual assault. The woman is demanding a jury trial, where she is seeking punitive damages and costs of her lawsuit.

Though she says she attempted to resolve the issue in private mediation on Tuesday, she says those discussions were “unsuccessful.”