Frank AlexanderWelcome to Death Row

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Product Description ------------------- Death Row Records exploded on the music scene in 1993 with a "Gangster Rap" sound that took the world by storm. Yet, despite it's unprecedented success with stars such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac, it quickly unraveled in a firestorm of rivalries, greed, violence and scrutiny by the government and the media as Marion "Suge" Knight's unconventional business methods increasingly mirrored the violent, hard-edged themes of it's music. Told entirely in the words of those who were there, Welcome to Death Row is the complete and largely untold story of this enigmatic enterprise. It is an inside look at the American Dream gone insane. .com ---- Welcome to Death Row tells the unauthorized history of the most notorious rap label ever. And what a story it is--the rise and fall of Death Row and its power-hungry CEO, Marion "Suge" Knight, makes The Godher look like a bedtime story. The film traces the entire controversial history of the label and the impact it had on not only the music industry but American culture. The film also details the relationship between Death Row and its biggest star, Tupac Shakur, and the effect that Shakur's sudden death in a 1996 drive-by shooting had on the label's fortunes (a story told in greater depth in Thug Immortal). Although none of the major players in this drama are represented on tape, an alarming number of believable behind-the-scenes sources makes this a documentary that goes a long way toward revealing the connection between the music industry and organized crime, and the desire for power and glory that drives them both. --Chris Campion P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Set Contains: ------------- As if there wasn't enough information to digest in the documentary (which is presented in a clean anamorphic format), the extra features on the DVD provide even more supplementary evidence. There are outtakes from the interviews used in the main feature, as well as additional interview footage of Michael Harris (also known as "Harry O," as in octopus, because he had his business fingers in so many pies), who provided Suge Knight with the seed money to set up Death Row, and assigned his lawyer, David Kenner, to oversee the label's business affairs. There is exclusive footage of Death Row Records' 1992 Beverly Hills launch party and a fascinating audio commentary by director S. Leigh Savidge and producers Jeff Scheftel and Stephen A. Housden, in which they relate the difficulties encountered in obtaining the trust of those they interviewed and the factors they took into consideration when constructing the film. Savidge recalls that the model they had in mind was the fractured, multiperspective narrative of Kurosawa's omon. --Chris Campion See more ( javascript:void(0) )