Nov 15 2009
Movie Review: Welcome to Death Row
Many people know that I am a rock and roll dude. I worship at the feet of Gene Simmons, Dave Grohl and Warren Zevon. And while I do dip my toes into the pond of variety when it comes to my musical tastes I would say that rap is the genre I listen to the least. But despite this, Tupac Shakur holds a place in my personal Hall of Fame of musicians. His album All Eyez On Me is one of my top 10 favorite albums and the rapper himself is what I would consider a gift to the music world. Though I listen to him infrequently, 2Pac is and always will be a musical mainstay in whatever musical device I have on me or nearby.
The reason why I love 2Pac is because he manages to capture the listener with the power of his words and the thump of his beats. For an artist who is so very dead he still sounds so alive on tape/CD/record; his voice is captured in time and vibrant. And while it is violent I can’t help but be in awe of his musical prowess. And it can’t be denied that behind his success lies Death Row Records. The newspapers and magazines certainly have given their take on it and all of it seems negative. It is no coincidence, regardless of how out of whack the publicity was, that almost all of the founding members and movers and shakers of Death Row records are either six feet under or in prison. Very few have escaped its grip.
Death Row records has always been of interest to me: Suge Knight and his empire of music and power. Since I’ve been in a sort of 2Pac mood these days I decided to rent this documentary, titled Welcome to Death Row, on the rise and fall of Death Row records. The film is so well produced that it helps hide the fact that it takes sides exclusively against the company. If the opening title card doesn’t say it enough (Death Row did not allow music rights to be used in the film) then the words of all those interviewed live for the film does.
For those not in the know, Death Row Records came out of nowhere and, for a short time, was one of the most dominant record labels in the business. With Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Tha Dogg Pound, the soundtrack to Above the Rim and 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, Death Row had sold millions and millions of copies of records and made millions and millions of dollars. But while the money rolled in, so did the gang culture the rap music advertised. Though not all the artists were ‘gangsta’s’ the thoughts of power and the existence of violence and connections made Death Row a hub for gang activity and corruption. By the time co-founder Dr. Dre departed and uber-success and Death Row spokesman 2Pac was killed, Death Row was on its way down.
Welcome to Death Row shows this story starting with its founding under mysterious circumstances (money lenders and such connected to the drug business and drug barons etc), the myriad court cases surrounding is founders (Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, etc) and those that were betrayed by it’s creation (such as Eazy-E), the ups and downs of artist participation’s and office politics (Dre’s eventual departure due to a swing in power for co-founder Suge Knight), the rise of TuPac, the betrayal of the drug baron by the deep pockets of the label’s lawyer, the increase in violent behavior and immoral business handling (such as the beating of rappers trying out for gigs or technicians) to the eventual incarceration of the ‘godfather’ himself (Suge) and the buying out of the company by the distributor.
Impressively, the film manages to avoid race issues until the very end (when many participants, who are black, feel that ‘the man’ (aka Interscope, Death Row’s distributor run by ‘white folk’) took advantage of black entrepreneurs like Suge Knight and 2Pac once they were dead or in jail by making $400 million plus on the buyout of the company). I didn’t necessarily disagree with the assessment but, until that point, the documentary cleverly blamed corruption, greed and violence as opposed to race relations which made me happy.
When the film decides to take a viewpoint it manages not to glorify all that ‘gangsta rap’ was interpreted to mean in the mainstream eyes and ears. For instance, the participants, all former Death Row employees or relatives of key figures, agree that the East vs. West deal was handled poorly and should never have happened. They also agree that talent, no matter how misguided, like 2Pac, was lost senselessly. The film also avoids making any accusations regarding 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G.’s deaths. Despite these forays into depravity and violence the film does have a uniquely upbeat feeling to it: in the end when Death Row died, lessons were learned that, as far as I know, haven’t been repeated to such a destructive degree.
The documentary is pretty clear that Suge Knight is the bad guy: his glorification and public embrace of gang/mob violence plus the seduction of money makes him a terrifying figure. Throughout the film you are terrified of him. . .so imagine living through his regime at Death Row! Yikes. Everyone else is given a neutral light to shine in. . .Dr. Dre, who would probably be the most upset by being pretty much forced out of his own company, remains respectful and mature. Snoop Dogg defies his public bad boy image by being insightful (except in regards to the DA in his murder case. . .he has some words) while the many background people share intriguing and thought provoking reflections on a time that seems to have come and gone in both California and the music business.
If you are a fan of rap music then this documentary is a must since Death Row records was THE destination for hit rap albums in the mid-1990s. If you are looking for history lessons then the documentary might be a little too deep for the average movie goer (some knowledge of the rap industry and its leaders is necessary as is a basic understanding of music business) but will be intriguing to those willing to learn something new or to expand their current knowledge. The lack of Death Row’s music is kind of a bummer but the film maker’s make up for it by producing the creepiest hip hop soundtrack around. If you are watching this alone in the dark, like I did, don’t feel ashamed if you feel an oppressive darkness hovering over you: the film maker’s make the proceedings dark and grim and the music is the biggest proponent of it (a sequence describing 2Pac’s death, accompanied with gun shots and rapidly flashing images of 2Pac’s face is particularly haunting).
I love a good documentary and while Welcome to Death Row is a more talky version of the documentary (lots of talking heads, very little goings on otherwise) it still is compelling and puts some of the 2Pac records I love to listen to as well as the mid-90’s rap scene, in perspective. I highly recommend.
