Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American record executive and convicted felon who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in the 1990s. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in 2015.
Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg (Doggystyle) and 2Pac during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US $150 million a year.
Orlando Tive "Baby Lane" Anderson was an American gang member suspected in the murder of Tupac Shakur. Anderson belonged to the California-based gang known as the South Side Compton Crips. Detective Tim Brennan of the Compton Police Department filed an affidavit naming Anderson as a suspect; he denied involvement and was never charged. Anderson's uncle, Duane Keith Davis, was charged with Shakur's murder on September 29, 2023.
Biggie & Tupac is a 2002 feature-length documentary film about the murdered American rappers Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur by Nick Broomfield.
The Crips are a primarily African-American alliance of street gangs that are based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips began as an alliance between two autonomous gangs, and developed into a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members have traditionally worn blue clothing since around 1973.
The Pirus are a subset of the larger Bloods gang alliance, an organized crime group in the United States.
Sanyika Shakur, also known by his former street moniker Monster or Monster Kody, was an American author and former gangster. He was a member of the Los Angeles-based Eight Tray Gangster Crips. He got his nickname as a 13-year-old gang member when he beat and stomped a robbery victim until he was disfigured. Shakur claimed to have reformed in prison, joined the Republic of New Afrika movement, and wrote a 1993 memoir called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member.
On September 7, 1996, at 11:15 p.m. (PDT), Tupac Shakur, a 25-year-old American rapper, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. The shooting occurred when the car carrying Shakur was stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. Shakur was in Marion "Suge" Knight's car, who was also injured in the shooting. Although Knight was only grazed by a bullet in the shooting, Shakur died from his injuries on September 13, 1996, seven days after he was shot.
RedruM 781 was an American rapper from Inglewood, California. RedruM 781, Tweedy Bird Loc and producer Ronnie Phillips organized the hip hop project Bloods & Crips, a collaboration between Bloods and Crips members. He was a Piru gang member himself. redruM 781 is also known for his key role on "Bangin' on Wax", he and his fellow female MC Bloody Mary were the two key players for getting this particular Bangin' on Wax project off the ground. He was the cousin of the rapper Kurupt, with whom they had a long-time beef.
The American rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., was murdered in a drive-by shooting in the early hours of March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. He was 24 years old. Prior to the event, Wallace promoted his second studio album Life After Death, and attended an after-party in Los Angeles instead of traveling to London.
Duane Keith "Keefe D" Davis is an American gangster. In 2023, he was charged with involvement in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
Wardell Fouse, also known by his aliases Darnell Bolton and Poochie, was a Bloods gang member who was implicated in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. Since Fouse was deceased by the time his alleged involvement became known to the investigating police, no charges were filed against him.
On April 3, 2002, Alton "Buntry" McDonald, a member of the Mob Piru Bloods and a production manager at Death Row Records, was shot dead at a gas station in Compton, California. The murder was believed to be the result of fighting between two rival "sets" of the Bloods, the Mob Pirus and the Fruit Town Pirus.
The South Side Compton Crips are a "set" of the Crips gang alliance, based in Compton, California. This gang is known for the murder of Tupac Shakur.
The Fruit Town Piru are a "set" of the Piru gang alliance, which itself is part of the larger Bloods alliance. This Piru set is known for its rivalry with the Mob Piru Bloods during the early 2000s.
"Piru Love" is a song from the 1993 album Bangin' on Wax by the gangsta rap group Blood & Crips. It was subsequently released as a single, along with several alternate versions of the song. It is the group's most popular single.
On October 16, 2002, Death Row Records employee Henry 'Hendog' Smith was murdered in a drive by shooting in Vermont Vista, Los Angeles. Smith was a close friend of Suge Knight and was known for designing the logo for Death Row Records. During the time of Smith's murder, the Mob Piru Bloods affiliated with Death Row Records were embroiled in a gang war with another Bloods set known as the Fruit Town Piru, which resulted in the deaths of several of Suge Knight's associates. However, investigators attributed Smith's murder to the Denver Lane Bloods, rather than the Fruit Town Piru.
On June 1, 1997, Death Row Records employee and Mob Piru Bloods member Aaron "Heron" Palmer was shot dead in Compton, California. Palmer's death was followed by the murders of several other Mob Pirus from Suge Knight's inner circle, as part of a gang war between the Mob Piru and another Bloods set (subgroup), the Fruit Town Piru.
The Lueders Park Piru are a "set" of the Piru gang alliance, which itself is part of the larger Bloods alliance. The Lueders Park Piru has its origins in the Lueders Park Hustlers, an independent street gang which was instrumental in the formation of the Bloods gang alliance in 1972.
In gang terminology, a set refers to a subgroup within a larger gang alliance. Sets vary in size and internal structure, and different sets within the same gang are known to fight one another. The term "set" is often used in gangsta rap when describing gang activities.
