Death Row Records was an American record company founded in 1991 by Suge Knight and other associates, record label almost instantly became a sensation by releasing a succession of multi-platinum hip-hop albums from West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Tupac Shakur, and others during the early-to-mid-1990s. At its peak, Death Row Records was making over $100,000,000 a year, but by the late 90s the label began to decline in the wake of the shooting death of its sta