Snoop Dogg, one of the world's most beloved rap legends, faced a perilous threat from hip-hop's notorious kingpin, Suge Knight, shortly after his friend Tupac's death. This led to a dangerous feud spanning over a decade, pushing Snoop into a corner and forcing him to confront the man he believed was responsible for Tupac's tragic demise.
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00:00While everyone wondered who killed Tupac, Snoop blamed the man that was driving the car he got shot in that night.
00:07The most feared figure in all of hip-hop.
00:09You put all of our lives in jeopardy like that, you don't care about pop.
00:13And confronted him face to face.
00:15Come up to my room, ain't gonna be nobody in there, just me and you.
00:19This either the moment you n***a gonna kill me, or we gonna get some clarity in this air.
00:23But did Snoop Dogg know something was going to happen that night?
00:27The next day, when we turned on the news, all we seen was the yellow tape and it just was all bad.
00:33Shakur was shot four times after leaving the Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas
00:37in a car driven by Marion Shug Knight, head of this label Death Row Records.
00:42So I jumped in my Hummer and we drove to Vegas.
00:45Shug was at home, he was standing up, he had like a patch up, his head was wrapped up.
00:51And he came and explained to us as far as what had happened.
00:57But he was explaining it to us, like, joyfully.
01:00He was like, man, them n****s start shooting at us.
01:03Snoop Dogg trying to jump in the backseat.
01:06I'm like, get down, I pull him down.
01:12He was like, he was saying it like pop was gonna live, you know what I'm saying?
01:16Because that must have been the spirit that pop showed him.
01:20Like even when he said he was driving to the hospital.
01:26Pop jumped right on the highway to see him.
01:32I had a chance to sit there with him.
01:37At that time, me and him really wasn't eye to eye.
01:44It was all bad.
01:51He was my friend before Death Row.
01:55So I get to the party, a DJ puts something on.
01:59He like, yeah, I got my little cousin Snoop Dogg in the house.
02:04We'll come up here and rap.
02:05Before he could give me the mic, Tupac grabbed the mic.
02:11He'd say his little verse.
02:13You got the mic.
02:17He'd take it back.
02:18We like rapping at each other.
02:20Like sort of kind of aggressive.
02:22We do like four or five raps.
02:24Everybody in the party, like it just made a circle now.
02:27Finished rapping.
02:28We go outside.
02:30I'm like, let me get your number cuz, I'm gonna holler at you.
02:33Fell in love with that nigga.
02:34I was like, this nigga hard.
02:36So I suggested to Suge that man, we need to put Cuz with us because he already get down like we get down.
02:42He needs a team, you know.
02:44We're the best team out here and we need him because he's going to make our team better.
02:49Like we're great.
02:51But with him, we'll be the greatest.
02:53Were you guys intimidated at all to work going to the studio together?
02:56Yeah, he bring the best out of me.
02:59Snoop took the baton.
03:00He ran with him.
03:01When Tupac got the baton, he took Death Row to the next level.
03:06Next year, Death Row gonna start printing our own money.
03:09But Snoop Dogg started to notice Suge Knight's growing influence on Tupac.
03:16I think Suge stared at where he wanted to be.
03:20Tupac wanted that.
03:21He wanted the glamorous, gangster, mafia lifestyle.
03:25He wanted it.
03:26And Suge gave it to him.
03:27Suge was great at giving you what you wanted.
03:29If he loved you, boy, he loved you.
03:32Death Row was a Death Row family.
03:34But if he hated you, he hated you.
03:36Controversial CEO of Death Row Records.
03:38The most feared figure in all of hip hop.
03:40Vicious assaults, beatings, pistol whipping.
03:43If it wasn't for him, I don't know what I would have done.
03:45This guy was gonna go to jail for 25 years of life.
03:48I wasn't late to put up almost $5 million for attorney's fees.
03:52To have 50, 60 guys escort him in the court building
03:55before they wanted to get beat up.
03:56He was the fixer, the cleaner.
03:58If something's wrong, he knows what to do.
04:00I look at it like if I'm with you, I'm with you.
04:02If we're on the same team, I'm gonna do what I can to do all that's helpful.
04:06But Snoop Dogg was worried about the kind of help Tupac wanted from Suge.
04:12Pac had the spirit of animosity, revenge, retaliation.
04:17Pac Shakur has accused rappers Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G.
04:21of involvement in his New York shooting.
04:23Pac was like, look, I go to New York, I go to the studio.
04:28These n****s had me up and shot me.
04:30Period.
04:31All that was s***.
04:33You with us.
04:34Your friends is my friends.
04:35Your enemies is my enemies.
04:36And I never felt like they had something to do with it
04:38because it just didn't feel right.
04:40They was his friends at the time.
04:41N****s shot me five times.
04:43I came out of jail and sold 5 million.
04:46The n****s can't f*** with us.
04:47That's how we do it.
04:48You know the players is on the west side.
04:50F*** that peace s***.
04:51I ain't even trying to make peace.
04:53F*** them all.
04:54If somebody throw a message Pac, I'm gonna be right by his side.
04:57They created a war.
04:59They were fueling each other's fire.
05:02Like they was 10 for 10.
05:04Like nobody would put water.
05:06And things escalated beyond just Tupac and B.I.G.
05:10When you see a Vibe magazine, when you see Puff and B.I.G. on the cover
05:13and see East vs. West, n****s in the hood don't read articles.
05:16They just see East vs. West.
05:17Oh, it's on.
05:18It's on.
05:19I see them n****s, it's on.
05:20They were checking to see who could win in a physical confrontation.
05:23Whose camps could win if the two met up with one another.
05:27We got strength in numbers.
05:28We already run the streets out here.
05:30So all these suckers, they battling over east and west like this is a game.
05:33This ain't no game.
05:34If this was chess, we'd be yelling checkmate three f***ing years ago
05:38because we been beat these n****s.
05:40It's not a game.
05:41These days it doesn't take much to start a gang war.
05:43What started out as music to inform has turned into music that incites.
05:48Gang violence in Los Angeles and three people are dead.
05:51The shootings were part of warfare.
05:53The East vs. West thing is not a Snoop Dogg problem.
05:55If it's personal, it needs to stay personal.
05:57And y'all need to deal with it and handle it if it's a problem
06:00and handle it and keep it out of our faces.
06:02I've been dealing with this my whole life.
06:04They don't play with s*** like this.
06:06Rapper Tupac Shakur put out a diss track insinuating he slept with B.I.G.'s wife.
06:10Fanning more flames to the East vs. West war.
06:14When he played it for me, I was like, cuz, I ain't really feeling that, cuz.
06:18You thought he took it too far.
06:20We want to make sure we mash their ass like we did B.I.G.
06:23You see that n**** quiet as a f***ing church mouse.
06:25You buying more problems, cuz.
06:28There is no mercy in my heart.
06:30If you're going to act like you a gangster or a G or the king of New York,
06:33I'm going to expect that.
06:34And when you don't come through, then I'm going to crush your empire.
06:37And that's what it's time for.
06:41And just a few days later, what Snoop Dogg feared became a reality.
06:47Tupac Shakur has been taken to a hospital where he remains in critical condition.
06:51He is being surrounded by friends and family, hoping for a recovery.
06:56When I went to go see him, that ain't what I got.
07:00He wasn't moving, he wasn't talking, he wasn't breathing on his own.
07:04His mama, she pulled me to the side.
07:07And that's when I knew it was bad.
07:09She telling me to be strong and all this s***.
07:15He laid up.
07:17I just get right on the side of his head and just start talking to him in his ear.
07:21Just talking to him.
07:24It was some other s***, cuz.
07:26As soon as I walked out of there, I went in the bathroom and I threw up.
07:30Did you know at that moment or early on that Pac wasn't going to make it?
07:35No.
07:36That's Superman, cuz. I thought he was coming out of that.
07:38Yeah, we seen it before.
07:39I watched him do it before.
07:41So I was like, he'll be alright, he gonna come out of it.
07:45That s*** broke my heart.
07:48I mean, we all felt like that.
07:50Because we were death row and that's the life we was living.
07:53We felt like we was untouchable until that fatal day.
07:59While Snoop Dogg was grieving,
08:01Suge Knight was sent to prison for violating his parole on the night of the shooting.
08:06But that didn't stop Suge from wanting revenge.
08:10When Tupac got shot, my main concern was keeping the family together.
08:16There's no time to be weak.
08:18There's no time to feel bad or sorry for nobody's self.
08:21If there's something that needs to be done, something needs to be done.
08:25In Compton, California, a gang war and five day bloodbath apparently left three men dead and ten wounded.
08:30Some of our shootings may be in retaliation for the events that happened in Las Vegas.
08:35Police say they've had 12 shootings and an increase of violence in Compton since September 7th.
08:41And we was right in the middle of all of that madness and the deaths and the tragedy.
08:45He didn't realize how much influence he had, but he was very influenced by it.
08:50Snoop believed Suge had something with Tupac's death.
08:54It was a dark alley and he was the leader. He led us.
08:56When you put all of our lives in jeopardy like that, you don't care.
09:00And that's what happened. Our lives was in jeopardy.
09:02I started to see that Death Row wasn't for me.
09:04I'm here to make good music. That's what I signed my contract to Death Row Records for.
09:08To make good music and perform and put out good albums.
09:11I didn't sign a contract to hurt nobody or make people hate me or hate people.
09:15I've been there. I've done that. So I'm going to go this route. You know what I'm saying?
09:19After years of being at Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg has decided to jump ship to the No Limit Soldiers record label,
09:25leaving unwanted problems behind.
09:27This did not sit well with Suge because Snoop would not take his side and Suge demanded loyalty.
09:34Either motherfuckers riding with us or they riding against us.
09:37Ain't no in-between. Either you with us or against us.
09:40Those who are not with us, you're nothing.
09:42It began to turn on me after that.
09:46Like it was animosity. That was bitter.
09:48You lose your biggest star.
09:50Then I started hearing, they're going to fuck you up.
09:53Then I started hearing, they're going to fuck you up.
09:56They're going to cut your hair.
09:58They're going to do this.
09:59And then he had Crips working for him.
10:02That was going to do something to me.
10:04If it wasn't for Suge Knight, he would still be in somebody's cell making dinner.
10:09Washing clothes.
10:11Suge Knight recently said he used to be a superstar and now he's just a No Limit Soldier.
10:16What do you say to that?
10:17Nothing. He used to be a CEO and now he's just an inmate.
10:21Thanks a lot.
10:23While Snoop thought he was now safe, Suge was about to show that he could still get to him.
10:31We was at the Universal. I was with No Limit. We was at the show.
10:37We was sitting on the inside. Death Row guys woke up.
10:42He come in in peace, smiling, shaking my hand, walked me in the corner, talking to me.
10:47Now the other one was surrounding me.
10:49Five minutes later, there's about seven of them around me.
10:52I ain't paying attention.
10:53So the soldiers then went on stage.
10:55Now I'm back here talking to these dareform n****s about myself.
10:57So now they be like, you owe Suge an apology.
11:00I'm like, f*** Suge, n****.
11:02N**** be like, what?
11:04N**** try to take off on me.
11:05Whoa, he missed.
11:07I get out of there.
11:09And Snoop just comes flying by.
11:12Master P and them get to work while they're on stage.
11:15They literally ran off the stage in the middle of the performance.
11:18And boom, boom, boom, and everybody was like running out the gates.
11:20We was like, wow, run after them.
11:22A riot is happening.
11:25I get a whiz-a, no cuts, no scars, no hits, no nothing.
11:29But I run right into the law.
11:31With weed in my pocket and everything, but I'm trying to save my life.
11:34As soon as we come out the door, we got officers throwing punks in our faces and helicopter.
11:43Get on the ground.
11:45They didn't know where Snoop was.
11:46They're screaming, where the f*** is Snoop? Snoop alright.
11:50Snoop Dogg managed to escape Suge's attack, but he started to become reckless.
11:56I was going to make a record disney death row like f*** death row.
11:59Because I just didn't give a f*** at that time.
12:01They was coming after me.
12:02I was finna come after them.
12:03Suge Knight's a b**** and that's on my life.
12:06I will end your s*** if you keep talking s*** on the trail.
12:11This was Suge's message to Snoop.
12:16Oh, oh, oh.
12:18Death row record CEO Suge Knight, celebrating his newfound freedom after serving five years for a probation violation.
12:26Damn you, it still ain't done changed.
12:28Death row's back, back on the streets, back on the clubs.
12:31You're out of jail, you're on parole.
12:34Is L.A. divided now between where Suge goes and where Snoop goes?
12:39Yes, Suge goes everywhere in L.A. Snoop goes nowhere in L.A.
12:43He can't go nowhere without 20 people holding his hand.
12:47I look at it in a way where I'm going to respect you, you're going to respect me.
12:52If you can't respect me, I'm going to teach you how to respect me.
12:57Now that Suge was out, Snoop was constantly looking over his shoulder.
13:02But something was about to make things worse.
13:07I had just got off stage and I was getting ready to roll back to the house.
13:10I pull up about a block and a half before I know it.
13:13A hundred police pull up on me.
13:15They're all drawing down with real guns and they're not playing.
13:19So they finally come over, pull me out the car, start talking to me.
13:24And they're like, well, do I know this particular guy?
13:27I'm like, nah.
13:28And they start saying, well, he knows you.
13:31And he says that he sold you this gun, that gun, that gun, and that gun.
13:40You can play dumb all you want.
13:43We have your wife and kids under arrest and we're going to run through your whole house.
13:48So either you're going to tell us where the guns are or we're going to put your family through hell.
13:55And I had to think, my daughter is in the house.
13:59My son is in the house.
14:01Do I really want them to go through this bullshit that I'm trained for, that doesn't bother me?
14:06But they've never seen this.
14:10So I said, you know what?
14:13If I give you a couple of guns, will you leave my house and let my wife and kids go?
14:25So I told them I have a gun here, one here, and one there.
14:33And that's the only guns I got in my house.
14:37He put the call in, let my wife and them go.
14:41And then I had to take this probation that made me fire every security that I had around me.
14:50Because everyone who had a criminal record couldn't be around me.
14:53It was a violation.
14:55So I had to fire all my security.
14:57I had no guns in my life.
15:00And no one wanted to kill me.
15:02So imagine that.
15:06Snoop Dogg was again facing death.
15:09But this time, he was at his most vulnerable.
15:12He now had to take a long look at how things got to this.
15:16They broke me, man. They broke my spirit.
15:19When my murder case, Tupac get killed, Death Row want to kill me.
15:25That's crazy.
15:27I don't really understand death, and I never did.
15:32And even as a kid, my homies started dying from gang bang.
15:36Like all the time.
15:38We'd go to school, we'd play football.
15:40It's like you don't become numb to it, but it's like it's a feeling of,
15:46okay, all right, I guess it's what it's supposed to be.
15:51And I look back at all of the rappers that was writing about death.
15:56They all dead.
15:59Our pen is what we was writing.
16:02I hope I live to see 21, and blah, blah, this and that,
16:05and I know I ain't going to make it, and death around the corner,
16:08and I'm ready to die.
16:10That's the era we come from, to prepare ourselves for death.
16:14And it just made me feel like my pen created this.
16:18I got a baby. I got a wife.
16:21What the s*** to live for?
16:24I wanted to live.
16:28Snoop Dogg knew he had to face Suge Knight one last time.
16:35I seen him in Vegas.
16:38I was moving around, doing my thing.
16:43And I'm like, turn around.
16:51And my security, he immediately on him.
16:54Boom.
16:56He shook like doggy dog.
16:59Man, tell this n***a I ain't tripping, man.
17:01Tell this n***a to kick back.
17:04I said, all right, n***a, check it out.
17:06You know where I'm at.
17:08He said, n***a, let me come holler at you.
17:11I said, let me finish with this real quick.
17:13What was the temperature at that point between the relationship?
17:15Hot, n***a.
17:16Right, okay.
17:18Yeah.
17:19Hot.
17:20Like, I had n***a that wanted to write.
17:22They seen him before I did.
17:23Right.
17:25Let me holler.
17:26Right.
17:29So this is what I do.
17:30I say, when I finish with this little whoop-wop I'm with,
17:33I'm going to have my folks come down here and tell you what room I'm in.
17:38And then when you come up to my room,
17:41ain't going to be nobody in there.
17:44Just me and you.
17:46About 45 minutes, I send my n***a down.
17:48Go get cuz and tell him to come up.
17:50I said, matter of fact, don't even come up with him.
17:52I want him to feel comfortable.
17:55Matter of fact, give him the wrong key.
18:01Come on in.
18:07The whole conversation is, n***a, I loved you, n***a.
18:12I could have saved you.
18:15I had nothing but love for you.
18:17And his conversation was, n***a, I love you.
18:19I got nothing but love for you.
18:22Why did you try to get me bop-bop when you love me?
18:27There's n***a outside that wants your head right now.
18:32You know what?
18:33I forgive you.
18:36I ain't going to do nothing to you.
18:38You can go and walk up out here and we're going to be cool from this day forward.
18:41And we've been straight.
18:47I wasn't ready to go to war.
18:49And I was like, n***a, I got to defend my pride.
18:52But my pride would have got me killed.
18:54Sometimes you got to be smarter than the average bear.
18:57You got to know and understand why you're here.
19:00And looking at my family and where I want to be
19:03and how I got to prepare myself in order to be here.
19:07And that's what forced me to find a new path.
19:13I started writing life.
19:16So my pen became more, I'm going to live my life.
19:21Let me have fun.
19:23Let me live a little bit.
19:24I'm going to wake up tomorrow.
19:28And then my life became that as well.
19:30I made it out barely.
19:32So I want to give my kids a better chance to make it out
19:34by putting them in an environment where they have less to deal with.
19:37They have no gang activity.
19:39They're not worrying about getting shot at, looking over their shoulders, this and that.
19:44When I was younger, I had no respect.
19:46I just did whatever I wanted to do.
19:47But as I become a grown man, it's my job to do what's right.
19:50You have to start doing some things that matter for the future.
19:53I just feel like out of that tree, something had to fall.
19:58There's always a great family portrait in the beginning.
20:01And by the end, there's two or three key people in that family picture that's gone.
20:05But then there's something that's still there,
20:07and they're keeping the legacy going on from just surviving.
20:10Just being able to be peaceful and be smart enough to say that
20:13I'm going to leave that behind and I'm just going to smile a little bit and be me.
20:17To make people happy, to inspire, to influence.
20:21And me personally, I love the fact that people love me and follow me.
20:25I want to be loved while I'm here.
20:28And the only way to get love is to give love.