News of February 21, 1996
MCA Buys Into Interscope, Tupac's Album Distributed by PolyGram
200 million dollars for half of Interscope, but not for every song: Why MCA left Tupac's new album to a competitor in February 1996.
On February 21, 1996, MCA finalized its entry into Interscope Records: 200 million dollars for half of the label, with the option to acquire the remainder in three to five years. Interscope was the distribution partner of Death Row Records; Time Warner had previously parted ways with the label.
A Clause for “Offensive” Records
On the same day, Tupac’s All Eyez on Me topped the charts. But the album was distributed not by MCA, but by PolyGram. The contract allowed Interscope to distribute records that MCA considered offensive through other companies. In this way, the corporation kept its distance from the debate over gangsta rap, over which Time Warner had failed.
In late October 1996, MCA changed course: Tupac’s posthumous album The Don Killuminati was the first gangsta rap record that the corporation manufactured and distributed itself as part of the partnership. It was stated that the album had been reviewed and the decision made to release it.