Ricardo Emmanuel Brown, known as Kurupt or “Young Gotti,” was born on November 23, 1972, in Philadelphia and grew up in Hawthorne, near Los Angeles. He joined Death Row in 1992, rapped on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, and formed Tha Dogg Pound with Daz Dillinger. Their album Dogg Food came out in October 1995, less than three weeks after Tupac was released from prison and signed to Death Row.
Labelmates in a year of crisis
1996 was the year Tupac and Death Row escalated their feud with Bad Boy in New York, and Tha Dogg Pound played their part. They shot the video for New York, New York in Brooklyn in December 1995; shots were reportedly fired at their trailer, and the song was taken as a provocation on the East Coast (see East Coast vs. West Coast).
On All Eyez on Me, Kurupt appears on Got My Mind Made Up with Daz, Method Man and Redman. More recordings with Tupac surfaced later, including Initiated on Daz’s 1998 album and My Homeboyz (Back to Back) on Kurupt’s Against tha Grain (2005).
The studio argument
A widely told story goes back to a 2003 interview with Daz Dillinger: Kurupt came into the studio drunk with a bottle of Hennessy, knocked it over and needled Tupac, who wanted to work, until Tupac threatened to beat him up. According to Daz, this happened in Cancún, and only his and Nate Dogg’s intervention calmed it down. Kurupt’s own version is not on record, so this remains one person’s account.
After Tupac
After Tupac’s death Kurupt left Death Row and co-founded Antra Records with a Philadelphia attorney. Since Death Row owned the group name, he and Daz recorded as DPG. In 2002 Kurupt surprisingly returned to Death Row as a vice president, sparking a public feud with Daz, who had broken with Suge Knight. By 2005 Kurupt had left the label again, and the two have worked together since.
Kurupt’s filmography lists several documentaries, including Tupac: Resurrection (2003).