The artists responsible for the success of Death Row Records in the label’s hey day have found a new recording home.
Daz Dillinger revealed to AllHipHop.com that he has aligned with London based entrepreneur and former worldwide Death Row partner Ron Winter for a new joint venture called Neu-Ro Records. The label will be focused on releasing music from former Death Row as it works to produce and re-release material from the Death Row catalog as well.
In addition to Dillinger, the joint venture will include releases from artists such as Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Soopafly, The Lady of Rage, RBX, Big Pimpin Delemond, C-Style and G-Funk Twinz, as well as various other DPG artists.
The launch of Neu-Ro comes after a recent meeting between Winter and a team working on Snoop Dogg’s Simply Stupid Tour.
“Ron Winter knows the brand and how important the brand is and how important it is to have the artists who developed the brand to jointly assist in running the operation,” Daz told AllHipHop.com in a statement.
In the coming months, Neu-Ro will release a slew of projects it described as “the best of the old and the new” from the Death Row artists. The label is also gearing up to release That Was Then –This is Now, a Hollywood-style documentary on the Death Row experience.
A soundtrack to the film is also slated to for release. Along with the newly signed Death Row artists, Neu-Ro is working with the label’s original cartoonist and graphic artist, Joe Cool, to set up and create a merchandise line featuring the original Dogg Pound characters as well as an urban children’s book division based on the characters.
The division’s first release will be Snoop Dogg’s Where’s the Cheese?. News of the joint venture opens a new chapter for those associated with Death Row.
Despite a successful track record in the 1990’s, the controversial label was prey to a number of high profile setbacks in recent years.
Years after mega-producer Dr. Dre left Death Row in 1996 to form Aftermath Entertainment and the death of rap icon Tupac Shakur that same year, the label’s head, Suge Knight, became embroiled in a string of lawsuits and police investigations for various cases.
A suit brought against Knight by Lydia Harris over profits owed to Harris after she was forced from the label resulted in a huge judgment for the former Death Row executive as well as Knight declaring bankruptcy in 2006.
After it was placed on the auction block, Death Row was bought by WIDEawake Entertainment, an entertainment development company, in January for $18 million.
As a key component in the joint venture, Winter deemed his coming aboard Neu-Ro as an offer he could not refuse in light of Death Row’s musical legacy and setbacks for the label over the last few years.
“I could not pass up an opportunity to continue the success of the Death Row’s operations after Suge withdrew and the catalog fell into hands of banker types,” he said.
The operation of Neu-Ro will span across the globe with offices in Los Angeles and London.
Winter, along with Snoop Dogg and Dillinger, will oversee the running of the company with legal tasks handled by Bret Lewis and promotion coordinated by BigA. Universal will take on distribution for Neu-Ro.