Rapper Crooked I is
preparing to release a documentary chronicling his rocky relationship with his
record label, Death Row.
According to Crooked
I, Death Row and Suge Knight have prevented him from releasing his album due
to contractual obligations with the label.
In order to pacify
eager fans, the rapper is working on a DVD documentary titled “Leaving
Death Row.”
“He [Suge
Knight] can’t prohibit me from doing that because its film,” Crooked
I told AllHipHop.com. “It’s cool because I have people like Master
P and Russell Simmons [in the documentary]. P is in there talking about when
people leave him he don’t trip. I got the first person who ever left Death
Row, which was RBX, all the way up to me the last person to leave.”
Crooked I said
that the documentary focuses on various artists and their time spent with the
legendary record label, which brought forth such titans as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,
Tupac Shakur, Tha Dogg Pound and others.
“The DVD
is really more about leaving a state of mind and not just about leaving the
label,” Crooked I continued. “A lot of artists want to be fake as
thugs; I’m all about adopting a business state of mind.”
On the music end,
Crooked I said that his fans getting his music was simply a matter of time.
“It was a
four-year deal and really, after the 4 years I don’t want to extend this.
I told him man in four years n***as get college degrees and I didn’t do
nothing. I did about 4 albums worth of material over there and wrote for numerous
people. Suge still got that music and he can put it out, I don’t care
put that s**t out, especially if you feel like you invested money in me,”
Crooked I said.
Shortly after deciding
he would no longer record for Death Row, Crooked I’s label, Dynasty inked
a deal with Treacherous, a label that has a distribution deal through Universal.
“They’re
distributing my label through their distribution deal with Universal, so I have
the greatest deal of a lifetime. I’m in here making what a person should
make off their album with all the distribution in the world and legally they
can’t do anything because of this [cease and desist] order [Knight sent].
Suge Knight was
not available for a response as of press time.