There's an old saying; 'life is stranger than fiction'. That was proven yesterday when Hip Hop mogul Suge Knight stepped into the Hot 97 studios to do an interview with Angie Martinez. He brought along several guests including Crooked I, Eastwood and Kurupt. That's right, you read it correctly-Kurupt is apparently signed back with Tha Row which was formerly known as Death Row. Last week there were a lot of stories circulating around that Kurupt was headed back to Suge's camp, when messages on Tha Row website indicated that. There were immediate responses from Daz and Snoop's camp that Suge was attempting to pull a publicity stunt and that Kurupt and Daz had signed to Snoop's label Dogghouse Records and the group would be known as the Dogghouse Gangstas. Daz went so far as to tell folks that anyone who believes Kurupt is signing to Tha Row can suck a fat one.

Well, Suge showed up on Angie Martinez's show with Kurupt and pretty much ended all speculation. Kurupt is down with Suge once again. What that means for Snoop and his Dogghouse Records or the future of the Dogghouse Gangstas remains to be seen. What that means for Kurupt's upcoming collaboration DNA project with Tash of the Liks also remains to be seen. Suge promised to return to Hot 97 on Monday along with Kurupt to give a full, all out interview and answer all questions about the 'strangeness' of this situation. Folks may recall when Kurupt and Daz left Death Row there were hard feelings and harsh words expressed by Suge about their departure while he was incarcerated. Kurupt's old manager wound up suing Suge and winning a huge judgement after he accused the label of forcing Kurupt to sign and abandon him as a manager. From the sounds of the interview which can actually be heard on Tha Row's website [tharow.com], all that appears to be water under the bridge.

During the interview Suge noted that he had teamed up with Irv Gotti and the cats from Murder Inc. and that there is an LA Mob and now a New York Mob. Several years ago when 2Pac was alive Suge and Death Row were on track to open up a label called Death Row East. Eric B was slated to head that label. 2Pac mentioned that they had plans to sign all types of cats ranging from Big Daddy Kane to Craig Mack to The Wu Tang Clan. Those label plans never got off the ground. But with Suge announcing that Tha Row and Murder Inc. have formed an alliance, perhaps those plans have been revitalized. We'll keep you posted. One thing is for sure, Tha Row has been making waves with a flurry of new signings which recently include Left Eye from the group TLC and Brandy's brother Ray J. They are all set to be joined up with other artists like Tha Realest and Above The Law.

On another note it should be mentioned that Suge Knight and Death Row records were under federal investigation for racketeering. They were being investigated for everything ranging from murder to drug trafficking to money laundering and gun running. The charges were all dropped the other day and the only thing the feds could put on Suge was tax evasion which will require him to pay a 100 thousand dollar fine. Suge blamed a former accountant who embezzled money from his company as the reason behind him not submitting an income tax return.

Suge noted that he will be hanging out in New York during the weekend and will be looking to connect with 'real' brothers who are from the streets. He also said he wants to hang with parolees and he's come to the Big Apple with open arms. He also said he was looking for house parties to attend.

Since we're on the topic of life being stranger than fiction... OJ Simpson who has gone on record to say that Hip Hop most notably 2Pac helped him get through some of his rough times, is supposed to be dropping through Hot 97 on Friday [January 11th] to do an interview with Star and Buckwyld. I'm sure that will be 'a memorable' experience for all. He's here in NY filming a documentary about his innocence. He will be filming himself at Ground Zero which was the site of the terrorist attacks where he will be professing his innocence.

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