But years ago, in the city known as Long Beach, someone by the name of Crooked I was the buzz from the Bay Area to Crenshaw. It was rumored that he, and he alone would resurrect a West Coast that saw its artists go Hollywood and take out the “G” ‘cuz the “G” was no longer in them. On a sunny afternoon in Long Beach, Calif., when Daz Dillinger, Big C-Style and an infamous music mogul by the name of Suge Knight came knocking at the doorsteps of Dominic “Crooked I” Wickliffe to offer him a record deal with Death Row Records—no one could predict that on that fateful day, it would be the beginning to the end of Cali’s hottest young gun, Crooked I. In fact, the rapper was suppose to record a few albums, bring California back to the promise land, instill gangsta music back into a music genre that today promotes thugs who sing lullabies with self-proclaimed R&B divas that shoot for platinum status more so than any gun they claim is safely tucked under their belt; and lastly, to reinvent Death Row Records (changed to Tha Row in 2003) with a new sound and celebrity makeover. Almost five-years later since that sunny afternoon - Suge Knight has been incarcerated on numerous occasions; Tha Row is basically “Thafunct” and no one has heard a peep from Wickliffe since his latest testament on the single Still Tha Row from the “Dysfunctional Family” soundtrack in 2003. Consequently, he has left the label most noted for its gang affiliations, documented accounts of beat-downs at Suge’s office and all of its legal battles that included an ugly court case between Suge and Afeni Shakur, over the rights to ‘Pac’s posthumous music collections. Now Crooked I himself is in a similar situation. After fulfilling his contract obligation that held him hostage for four years at Tha Row, with no album ever to be released under Suge’s jurisdiction, he’s now been dragged to court by the same man that he proclaimed to have a sincere “love” and “respect” for; possibly over money, even jealousy and envy according to Crooked I—ironically, Crooked I himself is still ambiguous as to why his former friend turned foe is trying to stop him from getting his fare share of paper and progress. With a new start at his career and the chance to set the record straight about his relationship with Suge and Tha Row, Crooked I has evolved into a young man with a vision and opinions about everything and almost everyone. You’re gonna need the sticky and green leafs for this one. Roll up and enjoy the ride! “Being on Death Row Records is way more than being on any other label in this whole world,” says Crooked as he prepares me for what would turn into an impromptu autobiography instead of a normal interview. “It’s more drama, it's more pressure, it’s more that you are representing out there. It’s similar to being in a gang because there are real Los Angeles street gangs who don’t get along with Death Row and it ain’t even about their music or nothing, they see somebody from Death Row and it’s on on-site.” The overwhelming drama that led to many altercations for Crooked between him and opposing Death Row fractions ultimately weighed too much on the shoulders of a young man who thought signing to a major label would propel him to stardom instead of bringing him closer to death. The details about Crooked’s relationship with Suge for most of the world outside of Cali, was sketchy at best. But he makes no mistake about it that his loyalty to Suge and Tha Row was unwavering in the beginning, despite the controversy that lingered. “That whole element right there was always a concern but I was like I’m gone ride and stay down and represent this label. But at the same time I’m going to try to spread something positive,” he says. His positive outlook while at the label, under Suge’s watch conditioned him to remain patient. Suge would have Crooked I come to the studio and write songs for other Death Row artists. The highlight of all studio sessions for Crooked would be when the late Left Eye, who was also signed to Tha Row, came through and instilled an all-bullshit-aside mantra. “On Death Row Records she brought it to the table, man. She made that place…if you knew Left Eye was going to be at the office, you wanted to be at the office,” says Crooked, who viewed his relationship with Lisa Lopez as one of real siblings. “She was on some hey, ‘let’s clean our system out, I got these herbal teas; let’s write some shit like this that people ain’t thinking about writing. Let’s make the right moves so we can keep our creative juices flowing. Suge cut these checks to everybody so they can keep their morale up.’” Lopez’s untimely death ended any real chance for Tha Row to reincarnate itself. The sporadic assignments would soon not be enough for Crooked I who sees himself one day following in the footsteps of Jay-Z—rapper turned executive. At the time that Suge came knocking, Crooked I clearly explained his vision of owning his own label, ironically called Dynasty Records. But the chance to capitalize on releasing an album at the time when the streets were abuzz about his potential to put the West Coast atop rap music was too good of an opportunity to pass up. “You know it was only a short term deal. I would give them three projects and bounce.” Three projects would have been considered a dynasty in comparison to how things unraveled. Suge couldn’t muster to put out one album and following the breakup, Suge reinforced his authority when Crooked I received a cease and desists order from Tha Row to have all recorded Crooked I materials halted from production. What did this mean for Crooked I? It meant that his new album that was being funded by Treacherous Records, which had a distribution deal with Universal, would have to stop financing the project; translation—‘put that shit back on the shelf.’ “So now I was like ‘hmm, alright, he can’t stop me from visually telling my story.’ He might be able to hold me up with that but I’ll bring it to the film, I’ll bring it to the camera then.” Crooked I’s entire ordeal gave birth to Life After Death Row, a DVD documentary where Crooked I allows viewers to get his version of what happened. But the DVD is not entirely about his personal experience, rather the uncanny odyssey to which many artists succumb to while in search of establishing music careers. Giving a little taste of what to expect Crooked I tells: “As I traveled on the Hip hop Summit with Russell Simmons and started talking to Russell more and more, he gave me insight into a lot of other things, then the DVD just started expanding and it’s not just me anymore leaving Death Row Records. It’s about Loon, his perspective on him leaving Bad Boy Records, Dylon leaving Bad Boy; it’s about Master P and how he acquired Snoop Dogg from Death Row…and it ended up being more about transition from one thing to another. It’s packed with all kinds of good shit for the fans of hip hop.” Finally on his own as he envisioned, Crooked I feels in control, thus the title of his forthcoming project Boss Music. A lot of time and opportunity has passed him by, since last being thought of as some sort of savior; now that title has been bestowed upon a Compton native by the name of Game. When asked how he feels regarding the latest class of emcees from the west, Crooked I quickly points out that he has no personal gripes and wants to spread nothing but love. But history tells us that love isn’t as fond as automatics on the streets of California. And in a State that’s resuscitating itself with a breath of hip hop talent, usually there’s an ego or two that sets the blaze to all out warfare and someone has to be appointed to quell the tensions. “I’m not concerned with who’s the king of the West Coast,” he says, in spite of wanting to be remembered as one of the best emcees of all time. “I got to give it up to Game because every time Game gets in front of a mic out here on the West Coast he automatically says, ‘the new dudes out here on the West Coast are Game and Crooked I.’ I’m concerned with are you guys really trying to get down and work with each other and bring each other back up and help each other in this West Coast community, or are you just blowing smoke? Leading the forefront to a revolution in hip hop would look nicely on anyone’s resume, and until Game garnered acclaim with the help of Dr. Dre and 50 Cent the cache of good product stirring in the West Coast was still only considered heat instead of that fire. Voice Your Opinion:
Now that Long Beach has another voice with an aptitude for attention and spits with aggression, it’s only a matter of whom or if anybody will care to listen. What will Crooked I have to say about Tha Row that hasn’t been said before? Will Boss Music translate into boss-like dollar signs and does he have the muscle to even leave a footprint in that category of great emcees that he so emphatically wants to surmount? Will Crooked I find life after death, after all? CLICK HERE to comment.
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