Billboard is reporting that Snoop’s taking full ownership of the label’s catalog is still being negotiated and that once the deal closes, there’s no guarantee that albums including Tupac’s ‘All Eyez On Me’ and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory will be owned by the new Death Row since as of Jan. 1, 2022, both albums were no longer on the label. While the label acquisition perse is secure, it’s catalog is still in contention.
The Death Row recordings are owned by MNRK Music and its parent company Blackstone, which acquired the eOne Music label for $385 million in April 2021.
Dr. Dre’s The Chronic is reportedly set to return to Death Row likely in 2023. Snoop’s output, Doggystyle, Doggfather, and his latest, BODR (Back On Death Row), are all under the label making him the current top-selling artist. Other titles in the Death Row catalog includes soundtracks to Above The Rim and Gridlock’d, compilation albums and includes Christmas on Death Row, and albums from Lady of Rage, Daz Dillinger, and Kurupt.
Billboard estimates that Death Row garnered $15 million in revenue in 2021 including the Tupac and Dr. Dre albums. Without them, it’s estimated that only $6 million will be generated in revenue.
