Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by
his stage name Kurupt, also known as Kurupt Tha Kingpin, Kurupt
Young Gotti or Young Gotstra is an American rapper and former Executive
Vice President of Death Row Records. He is a member of the rap
group Tha Dogg Pound, and is mostly known for his work with Death
Row Records.
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where
he lived for a while and later moved to Hawthorne, California to
live with his father.
As a result, he has associated himself somewhat with Philadelphia[1]
and its rap scene, including Philly rappers such as Beanie Sigel;
his first album, Kuruption!, was a double-disc that featured both
east and west coast CDs. He is the cousin of rapper Redrum781, known
from the Bloods & Crips Bangin' on Wax albums, and Damu Ridas.
He was a member of the Rollin 60's Neighborhood Crips.
Kurupt was signed to Death Row Records in the early '90's, making
up a core roster that consisted of himself, Daz Dillinger, Lady of
Rage, Snoop Dogg and RBX, led musically by Dr. Dre. These artists
gained maximum exposure by appearing on Dre's breakthrough album,
The Chronic, during which Kurupt and Daz developed a close working
relationship. After forming two-man crew Tha Dogg Pound, they were
heavily featured on Snoop's debut Doggystyle, even given their own
song alongside Rage, "For All My Niggaz & Bitchez."
After the signing of Tupac Shakur to Death Row in September 1995,
a rivalry was sparked between Death Row and the east coast's Bad
Boy Entertainment. Death Row became a divided label, with Suge Knight
and 2Pac demanding every rapper on the label diss an assortment of
east coast artists hailing from or affiliated with Bad Boy. Having
already thrown in on the Ruthless Records/Death Row conflict, Kurupt
and Daz joined in the feud with their single "New York, New
York," featuring Snoop Dogg; the song was interpreted as a diss
against NYC and although it did not diss anyone specifically, it
incited the response "L.A., L.A." The duo's album, Dogg
Food, became highly successful, despite being the first Death Row
release not produced (it was, however, mixed) by Dr. Dre.
The time after Dogg Food's release was a hectic one for Death Row.
Artists discouraged by the rising conflict included RBX, who left
the label; Lady of Rage, whose project was continually postponed;
and Dr. Dre himself, who began to resent Suge's controversial strong-arm
tactics and thirst for the spotlight. When Andre jumped ship for
Aftermath Entertainment, Daz became the main producer for Death Row,
handling much of 2Pac's All Eyez on Me and Snoop Dogg's Tha Doggfather,
on which Kurupt was featured relatively sparingly, in contrast to
his former high profile on label projects.
[edit] Life After Death Row
2Pac's 1996 murder began a mass exodus of artists from Death Row
Records. Kurupt was one of the first to leave, preceded only by Nate
Dogg; he initially signed with A&M, on which he founded an imprint,
Antra Records. It was through this deal Brown released his debut
solo album Kuruption! in 1998, with appearances by Dr. Dre, Buckshot,
and former foe N.O.R.E. The video for the single, "Ask Yourself
a Question" was directed by writer-journalist-filmmaker Barry
Michael Cooper (who wrote the screenplays for "New Jack City", "Sugar
Hill", and "Above The Rim"); it featured Dr. Dre,
producer of the song. The video was filmed in Philadelphia, Pa.,
in November, 1998.
Though the double-disc effort featured only a bit of Daz production,
he and his former groupmate were still on good terms; when Dillinger
followed in his tracks and left Death Row in 1999, he produced several
tracks for his groupmate's second album Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha, marking
the end of Kurupt's tenure at Antra. The record featured a widespread
diss track called "Calling Out Names," on which Kurupt
called out various rappers, including DMX, accusing the east coaster
of stealing his contract deal with Ja Rule. During this time, he
linked up with fellow Californian Ras Kass, Wu-Tang Clan-affiliate
Killah Priest and former Universal Records wonder Canibus to form
a group called The HRSMN; despite repeated promises of an album,
the group's only release has been an unfinished white label.
While Suge owned rights to Tha Dogg Pound name, Kurupt and Daz formed
the core of an extended family called DPG (Dogg Pound Gangstaz)/DPGC
(Dogg Pound Gangsta Crips), the latter of which also prominently
featured Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Soopafly, and others intermittently.
Daz and Kurupt went on to release Dillinger & Young Gotti under
the name DPG, which garnered lukewarm reviews.[2] Kurupt's following
solo album for Artemis Records, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey, fared
better, with production from Daz and up-and-coming producer Fredwreck;
his then-fiancee, Natina Reed, provided the hook for the single "It's
Over."
[edit] Second Term on Death Row
After an unofficial remix/compilation Dogg Pound album called 2002
in early 2002, questions began to arise as to the status of Tha Dogg
Pound vs. Death Row. While the duo officially said they weren't sure,
Kurupt signed back to Death Row in exchange for the role of Vice
President[citation needed]. This apparently shocked his groupmates,
especially Daz, who'd had a much more volatile falling-out with Knight;
a verbal war erupted wherein Kurupt and Daz repeatedly dissed each
other viciously, on records and in interviews.[3][4] While this was
going on, Kurupt was mentoring a new roster of Death Row artists,
including Spider Loc, Crooked I, and Eastwood; he also began work
on his next album, Against tha Grain, and formed a new group: The
Riflemen,[5] consisting of Kurupt, Mobb Deep, Jayo Felony, 40 Glocc,
and The Alchemist, though the possibility of a record from this ensemble
has seemingly faded over time.
More hurt by the conflict than he let on,[6] Kurupt continued to
work disses into his solo album; a bootleg version of the project,
Originals, was released in 2004 after repeated delays of its official
release, as well as those of Crooked I and other Death Row artists.
In 2005, Snoop Dogg began acting as a diplomat between the two parties,
and Tha Dogg Pound reunited under its original moniker in April of
that year at a west coast unity event hosted by Snoop.[7] Against
tha Grain was released, but by that time Kurupt had already left
the label a second time, and publicly denounced the disses inherent
in the record; an EP called Against tha Grain E.P. has also surfaced,
containing said disses to his cohorts. Since their reunion, Kurupt
has claimed both members got over their previous problems with no
issue.[8]
[edit] Dogg Pound reunited
Kurupt and Daz released Dillinger & Young Gotti II: The Saga
Continuez in 2005, Cali iz Active (as DPG with Snoop Dogg)[9] in
2006, and Dogg Chit in 2007; while he originally touted Dogg Chit
as the heir to Dogg Food's legacy,[1] he has since stated that none
of the group's intermittent releases are to be considered actual
albums—more like mixtapes, and that the upcoming 100 Wayz (originally
titled Westcoast Aftershocc) is to be considered the second actual
Dogg Pound release.[8] '06 also saw the release of Snoop Dogg's album
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, on which Kurupt appeared. After putting
out Digital Smoke with J. Wells, Brown also released an album with
his younger brother Roscoe entitled The Frank and Jess Story. Kurupt
appeared on Snoop Dogg's 2008 album Ego Trippin'.
Before 100 Wayz, Tha Dogg Pound's Gangsta Grillz mixtape was released,
hosted by DJ Drama;,[10] followed by an album called BlaQKout with
DJ Quik due out on April 28, 2009[11]--the single for which, "Fuck
Y'all," is a diss to former Quik partners AMG, Hi-C and 2nd
II None. Additional planned (but yet unseen) solo projects were announced
as well, including an album with Fredwreck called A History of Violence,
G-Boy Status with producer Bink!, and an album with Tha Alkaholiks'
J-Ro,[12] an album by produced by Snoop Dogg, DJ Quik and Teddy Riley
(as QDT) called Niggarachi Presents: Kurupt the Kingpin, an album
done jointly by DJ Premier and Pete Rock, as well as a Dogg Pound
album with Pete Rock.[13] None of these albums have come to light
thusfar.
Kurupt has been featured on many tracks with other independent artists
over the last few years and released his first solo album in four
years, Streetlights, on April 20, 2010. Kurupt is currently recording
with MC Eiht, King T, Jayo Felony, Tha Chill, and Sir Jinx for a
project called "First Generation". Kurupt also plans to
release the long anticipated HRSMN album in 2011 as well.
[edit] Discography
Main article: Kurupt discography
[edit] Studio albums
1998: Kuruption!
1999: Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha
2001: Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey
2004: Against tha Grain
2006: Same Day, Different Shit
2010: Streetlights
[edit] Compilation albums
2005: Originals
2010: Down and Dirty
[edit] Collaboration albums
2003: The Horsemen Project (with The HRSMN)
2007: Digital Smoke (with J. Wells)
2008: The Frank and Jess Story (with Roscoe)
2009: BlaQKout (with DJ Quik)
2009: Tha Tekneek Files (with Roscoe)
[edit] EPs
2007: Against tha Grain E.P.
[edit] Filmography
1995 Murder Was the Case
1998 Straight from the Streets (Video)
1999 Charlie Hustle: Blueprint of Self-Made Millionaire (Video)
1999 3 the Hard Way[disambiguation needed] (Video)
2000 The Up In Smoke Tour (Video)
2001 Keepin' It Real (as Raw-D)
2001 The Wash (as Maniac)
2002 Kurupt: G-TV (Video)
2002 Half Past Dead (as Twitch)
2002 Dark Blue (as Darryl Orchard)
2003 Fastlane (TV episode called "Dosed" (as Fallon)
2003 Hollywood Homicide (as K-Ro)
2003 "Hardware: Uncensored Music Videos - Hip Hop Volume 1"(Video)
(segment "The Next Episode")
2003 Tupac: Resurrection
2003 "Vegas Vamps"
2004 "I Accidentally Domed Your Son" (as Krego)
2004 Johnson Family Vacation (as himself)
2005 "A Talent for Trouble" (as himself)
2005 Brothers in Arms (as Kansas)
2006 "Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops"
2006 Stand By Your Man (as Joker)
2007 Half Past Dead 2 (as Twitch)
2008 Vice(as TJ Greene)
2008 Days of Wrath (as Bobby)
2008 Loaded (as Dyson)