Sunday, February 1, 2015

'Straight Outta Compton' — Real Life Imitates Art as Suge Knight Charged with Murder in Fatal Hit-and-Run

Here's TMZ with a follow-up, "Suge Knight -- Arrested for Murder in Hit and Run (UPDATE)."

And at LAT, "Suge Knight's arrest foreshadowed in 'Straight Outta Compton' scene":
On a film set in Leimert Park, an actor playing rap mogul Suge Knight angrily peeled out of a parking lot in a Jeep. The film, "Straight Outta Compton," tells the origin story of N.W.A and its famed members, including Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.

The fictional reenactment on the set late last fall took on eerie overtones this week after Suge Knight's arrest on suspicion of homicide. Police allege he ran over two men with his truck, killing one, Thursday following an altercation in connection with the film.

Knight's character has only a minor role in the film, with the parking lot scene depicting a pivotal, early '90s moment in Dr. Dre's business relationship with Knight, one of rap's most feared players.

Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are both producers on the Universal Pictures film, but Knight was not involved, director F. Gary Gray said during the shoot in September. When asked if the former record label exec had ever visited the set as many former associates and N.W.A group members had, the otherwise talkative Gray gave one flat answer: "No."

The history between Knight and Dr. Dre (a.k.a. Andre Romelle Young) is one of success and tragedy. Dre and Knight co-founded Death Row Records after N.W.A's demise in the early '90s.

The label launched such rap luminaries as Snoop and later signed Tupac Shakur, as well as mainstream chart topper MC Hammer.

Dr. Dre became one of the most respected producers in hip hop because of much of the work he did in that time period.

But Death Row also became the center of controversy, as Knight had numerous run-ins with the law over his business tactics. In 1996, he was sent to prison for nearly five years after the brutal beating of a rival of rapper Shakur's at a Las Vegas hotel; the beating occurred just hours before Shakur suffered fatal gunshot wounds.

Dr. Dre left Death Row in 1996, going on to break artists such as Eminem and 50 Cent, and eventually founded the multimillion-dollar headphones company Beats by Dre. Death Row Records went bankrupt, and Knight lost relevance for most in the music industry...
More.

0 comments: