Kurupt

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Kurupt
Background information
Birth name Ricardo Emmanuel Brown
Also known as Young Gotti
Kurupt The Kingpin
Born November 23, 1972 (age 34)
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre(s) Hip hop
Years active 1992–present
Label(s) Death Row Records
Antra Records/ Interscope
D.P.G. Recordz
Gangsta Advisory Records
Associated
acts		 Tha Dogg Pound, Daz Dillinger, Soopafly, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, RBX, Xzibit

Kurupt, also known as Young Gotti and The Kingpin, (born Ricardo Emmanuel Brown on November 23, 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an African American gangsta rapper and 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.

He is one of the Doggs

Contents

[edit] Early life & career

Kurupt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later moved to Hawthorne, California as a teen to live with his father. As a result, he has associated himself somewhat with Philadelphia and its rap scene, including Philly rappers such as Beanie Sigel. He lived in Hawthorne and later moved to South Central on his own.

After a rap battle with future star Snoop Dogg at a club one night, the two felt camaraderie, and agreed that if one of the two got a record deal they would put the other on. When Snoop was discovered by Dr Dre and signed to Death Row Records, Kurupt was also signed to the label.

Snoop's cousin, Daz Dillinger, was also signed, and the three formed a group called Tha Dogg Pound. The pair had well-received appearances on the first two major Death Row releases, The Chronic and Doggystyle, and due to the successes of the albums their debut Dogg Food was widely anticipated and did well both critically and on the charts.

[edit] Mid '90s & fall of Death Row

After the signing of 2Pac to Death Row in September 1995, a "rap war" was sparked between Death Row and Bad Boy Entertainment. Kurupt and Daz became embroiled in it through "New York, New York," the single from Dogg Food; Queensbridge, New York duo Capone-N-Noreaga responded with "L.A., L.A."

When 2Pac was later murdered, Kurupt was one of the first artists to leave Death Row. He signed with Antra Records and released his debut solo album, entitled Kuruption! in 1998. It was a double-disc album, one drawing on the West Coast and one drawing on the East Coast, particularly Philadelphia. His second solo album, Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha, was released on Antra in 1999. Many of his fans consider this to be his best album, though it did relatively poorly commercially.

In 2001, Kurupt released is third solo album, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey. The album did relatively well, promoted by the single "It's Over." In the same year, Kurupt and Daz released the album Dillinger & Young Gotti under the DPG moniker. In 2002, Kurupt signed back on with Death Row Records in exchange for Dr. Dre's former role of Vice President.

Snoop Dogg and Daz, who held Death Row CEO Suge Knight responsible for 2Pac's death, were shocked by the move. This didn't sit well with them and a feud ignited between Kurupt and Snoop, Daz and DPG associate Soopafly. Kurupt faded into the background on Death Row, working on the album that would be pushed back numerous times; fans heard from him only on guest appearances or disses to his former groupmates.

When the album, Against Tha Grain, was finally released in 2005 to poor reviews and sales, Kurupt had already left the label a second time. The feud lasted about 3 years, until Snoop Dogg put together a meeting called the "West Coast Conference", which was a rounded up a large amount of rappers from the West Coast. The press conference was for artists to squash any problems, so they could all work together and make money in the future.

Fast forward to 2007. "Against Tha Grain" Tha E.P. will contain the missing and often sought after diss songs from "Against Tha Grain". Including the infamous "No Vaseleine Part 2" which has been compared to 2pac's "Hit Em Up". The EP is purchasable through forthepeopleent.com

[edit] Other

  • Kurupt's song "Callin' Out Names" has a line that he says "Muthafuck D, Muthafuck M The Only Xs I Know is Xzibit or RBX" is a diss to DMX. DMX is thought to have responded subliminally with Party Up.
  • Callin Out Names is also a blatant diss to other New York rappers such as AZ, Nas, the rest of The Firm, & Ja Rule. AZ responded to the song with a diss to Kurupt entitled "It's War"
  • Kurupt recently featured on The Game's LP : The Doctor's Advocate (2006) in a track called Bang which also featured Daz. He also featured again with Daz, this time on Lil' Wayne and Birdman's Like Father Like Son (2006), the track was called Cali Dro.

[edit] The Riflemen & The HRSMN

During his second stint on Death Row, Kurupt formed two separate groups:

The Riflemen, consisting of:

Nate Dogg is also a huge part of Kurupts Career. And,

The HRSMN, consisting of:

Though the former never released even a single and now seems defunct, the HRSMN have put out two mixtapes (one featuring songs by all the artists together, one just a loose compilation of contributions by each rapper). In interviews they have stated they are ready to begin working on finding a label for the project and releasing it, and though each one is busy with his own albums, they have each guested on each others' projects. [1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo albums

 Kuruption!
  • Released: September 1, 1998
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #8 (83,000 copies)
  • US Sales: 319,519 [1]
  • Singles: "We Can Freak It"
Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha
  • Released: November 2, 1999
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #31
  • US Sales: 507,893 [1]
  • Singles: "Girls All Pause"
Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey
  • Released: July 10, 2001
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #10 (83,000 copies)
  • US Sales: 348,272 [1]
  • Singles: "It's Over"
Originals
  • Released: 2004
  • Chart positions: N/A
  • Singles:
Against Tha Grain
  • Released: August 23, 2005
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #60
  • Singles:
Same Day, Different Shit
  • Released: June 20, 2006
  • Billboard 200 chart position: N/A
  • Singles:
Against Tha Grain Tha E.P.
  • Coming in 2007
  • Billboard 200 chart position: N/A
  • Singles:

[edit] With Tha Dogg Pound

Album cover Album information
Dogg Food
Dillinger & Young Gotti
2002
The Last of Tha Pound
Dillinger & Young Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez
Cali Iz Active
Dogg Chit
Weastcoast Aftershocc

[edit] With The HRSMN

[edit] Selected Appearances

(not including freestyles and spur-of-the-moment radio show songs)

  • 1992 "Lyrical Gangbang" (Lady of Rage, Kurupt & RBX), "Stranded on Death Row" (Kurupt, RBX, Lady of Rage & Snoop Doggy Dogg) & "Bitches Ain't Shit" (feat. Dat Nigga Daz, Kurupt & Snoop Doggy Dogg). (From Dr. Dre's album The Chronic.)
  • 1993 "Serial Killa" ~as Tha Dogg Pound~ (feat. The D.O.C. & RBX); "For All My Niggaz & Bitches" ~as Tha Dogg Pound~ (feat. The Lady Of Rage); "Doggy Dogg World ~as Tha Dogg Pound~ (feat. The Dramatics); & "Ain't No Fun (If The Homies Can't Have None)" (feat. Nate Dogg & Warren G) (all off the Snoop Doggy Dogg album Doggystyle)
  • 1996 "Music Makes Me High (Remix)" (with Lost Boyz, Canibus, & Daz from the 12" Single)
  • 1997 "Can You Handle It" (feat. Daz, McGruff, & D.J. Rogers Jr.) (off the Heavy D album Waterbed Hev)
  • 1998 "The Comeback" (feat. Daz Dillinger) (from the TQ album They Never Saw Me Coming)
  • 1999 "Gangsta, Gangsta (How U Do It)" (from the Chris Webber album Too Much Drama)
  • 2000/2002 "Where I Wanna Be" (feat. Kurupt & Nate Dogg) (off Shade Sheist's album "Informal Introduction" & Damizza's "presents...Where I Wanna Be")
  • 2000 "O.G. To Me" (feat. Daz, Jayo Felony)(off Scarface's album "Last of a Dying Breed")
  • 2001 "Who Ride Wit' Us" & "Make It Happen"(with Tone Toven) (both from the various artists album entitled "Nuthin' But A Gangsta Party 2")
  • 2001 "Skunk" (featured on Choclair's album Memoirs of a Blake Savage)
  • 2002 "Blast Off" (from the various artists album entitled "Chronic Jointz: Da Hitz Vol. 1")
  • 2003 "The Dungeon" (off the Canibus mixtape My Name Is Nobody)
  • 2004 "Ain't No Way" ((from the HRSMN) off the unreleased album Catch Me If You Can
  • 2005 "West Coast" (Introduction by Kurupt) (off the Yama album "Amor")
  • 2005 "Keep it G" feat Bohemia The Punjabi Rapper (featured on Dj Scorpio's album West Coast Desi)
  • 2006 "Baby Who's Is It" (from the Teena Marie album "Sapphire")
  • 2007 "Hood Or Nothing" (from the Westside Bugg album "The Roach Motel")

A full list of Kurupt's appearances can be found at www.Discogs.com:[2]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Acting

[edit] Composer

[edit] Appearances

  • 1995 "Murder Was the Case: The Movie"
  • 1998 "Straight from the Streets"(Video)
  • 1999 Charlie Hustle: Blueprint of Self-Made Millionaire (TV)
  • 2000 The Up In Smoke Tour(Video)
  • 2003 "Hardware: Uncensored Music Videos - Hip Hop Volume 1"(Video) (segment "The Next Episode")
  • 2003 Tupac: Resurrection
  • 2005 "Brothers in Arms: The Making of a Modern Western"
  • 2006 "Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops"

[edit] Awards

[edit] Grammy Award nominations

Kurupt has been nominated for one Grammy Award but has not yet won an award as of 2006.

Category Genre Song Year Result
Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group (with Daz) Soundtrack "What Would You Do" 1996 Nominated

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Has recently been engaged to west coast gangsta rapper Gail Gotti.
  • Was previously engaged to R&B singer Natina Reed, of the group Blaque and was also previously engaged to Brooklyn, New York rapper Foxy Brown.
  • Is an expert of the so-called C-Walk, a Crip Gang ritual. He also made a song about it called "C-Walk" featuring the Crip members Slip Capone & Tray Deee.
  • Wrote and produced the song "Streets on Fire" with Porno for Pyros for the film Dark Blue, which was never released on an album.
  • His brother is a rapper named Young Roscoe
  • Is Associated with the Rollin 60s Crip Gang
  • Has had feuds with rappers in the past dissing artists such as DMX, Ja Rule, Foxy Brown, 50 Cent, Bad Azz, Soopafly, Snoop Dogg & even his partner in Tha Dogg Pound [Daz Dillinger].
  • Has his own Porno DVD named "Kurupt Uncut"

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22680&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=300
  2. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002277011
  3. ^ http://www.urbanconnects.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=375

[edit] External links

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