"Christmas On Death Row" (December 3, 1996)

I thought to myself... I might be the only person to want to revisit the Death Row Records Christmas album from 1996, but... I was wrong (yet again)! The good homie, Chaz Kangas, had already tackled a thorough retrospective on the album for an article in LA Weekly (12/16/14): He shares: "If you grew up an outspoken hip-hop fan around the holidays, chances are some well-meaning Secret Santa stuffed your stocking with a little holiday compilation called Christmas on Death Row. Yes, this album exists. Christmas on Death Row is an album that’s puzzled used CD store clerks since its release in 1996. It’s still baffling that the label that gave us The Chronic, Doggystyle and nationwide gangsta rap hysteria devoted its resources to a full-length album of Yuletide tunes. As great as the cover is — and we swear on Dasher and Dancer that a Death Row Christmas album couldn’t have a more perfect cover — once you press the play button, the album become quite (North?) polarizing. The cold December of 1996 was a weird, transitional time for Death Row Records. Flagship star Tupac had just been murdered. Dr. Dre had left the label, desperate to drop his “gangsta” image as he prepared his inaugural “positive” release on his new Aftermath imprint. Offshoot Death Row East was proving to be just a theory, and a roster of West Coast veterans sat with unreleased, completed albums while label head Suge Knight began what turned out to be a five-year prison bid. Wanting to ensure his label’s stability in his absence, Knight ended the year by overseeing the release of a double-disc Death Row Greatest Hits and Christmas on Death Row." Cont'd below...

"Although it’s been said, many times, many ways, this really isn’t much of a Christmas gangsta rap album. Opener “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto” featuring Snoop Dogg, Bad Azz, Daz Dillinger and Nate Dogg, is what you would expect going into the album, both in terms of subject matter and quality. Snoop’s verse (a take on “The Twelve Days of Christmas”) sounds like it was written without really hearing the beat. Still, the track grooves enough, until we get to the album’s next cut, a surprisingly straightforward Danny Boy rendition of “The Christmas Song.” The bulk of the album contains similar rap-free, soulful renditions of Christmas standards. Some are passably cool, but then there are baffling moments, like 6 Feet Deep’s cover of “Frosty the Snowman,” which is almost insulting in its faithfulness to the original. It’s a cover of “Frosty the Snowman” on a Death Row album that sounds note-for-note like it could have been recorded by 98 Degrees... So, in the hyper-specific niche of hip-hop Christmas albums, were exactly does Christmas on Death Row fall? Probably somewhere in the middle. Death Row was far from the first hip-hop label to have a Christmas compilation. Profile’s Christmas collection in the mid-'80s gave us fun like “Dana Dane’s Coming to Town,” and 93’s A LaFace Family Christmas introduced OutKast to the world with “Player’s Ball,” a song that in its original version was about partying on Christmas Day. Christmas on Death Row wouldn’t be the last hip-hop holiday album, either. Ten years later we got A Dipset X-Mas, which wound up being the last major project to feature rapper Stack Bundles before his untimely death, as well as several Jim Jones Bad Santa-themed Byrdgang mixtapes in its wake. Compared to these projects, while it has the least amount of actual rapping, the soulful stylings make Christmas on Death Row one of the most consistent collections to throw on as background noise at the office holiday party while you try to make a move on Jennifer from accounts transferable." - Thanks, Chaz!

The First Annual "Source Awards" (April 25, 1994)

The 1st annual Source Awards were held on this day in 1994 at the Paramount Theater in NYC. Perhaps the most memorable moment in its first year was 2Pac and his Thug Life crew busting on stage to perform 'Out on Bail' while blatantly interrupting A Tribe Called Quest's acceptance speech for Artist of the Year (Group). It's been said that it was all a misunderstanding, but had it been televised, I imagine it would have caused even more ruckus. Matter of fact, had it been televised, perhaps Sticky Fingaz wouldn't have (allegedly, even though it's on Youtube) shot several rounds into the ceiling during Onyx's performance of 'Throw Ya Gunz.' In 1995, the Source Awards were televised and of course, it captured the classic Suge Knight moment dissing Puffy and Snoop exciting the crowd asking “The East Coast ain’t got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?” I'm still wondering how Biggie won Lyricist of the Year over Nas in 1995, but I digress. Here is the list of winners in 1994: 

A Tribe Called Quest (Artist of the Year: Group) | Dr. Dre (Artist of the Year: Solo) | Wu-Tang Clan (New Artist of the Year (Group) | Snoop Doggy Dogg (New Artist of the Year (Solo) | Snoop Doggy Dogg (Lyricist of the Year) | Dr. Dre 'The Chronic' (Album of the Year) | Ice Cube 'Check Yo Self' (Video of the Year) | KRS-One (Live Performance of the Year) | Buju Banton (Dancehall Artist of the Year) | Wu-Tang Clan ‘Method Man’ (Single of the Year)  | Menace II Society (Motion Picture Soundtrack of the Year)  | MC Eiht in Menace II Society (Acting Performance of the Year)  | Mary J. Blige (R&B Artist of the Year)  | Dr. Dre (Producer of the Year)

'See, tonight, is the night, of all nights!' - 'Ol Dirty Bastard

Dr. Dre "Straight Offa Death Row" (Vibe, 1996)

"Another California earthquake ripped through the hip hop nation and once again its epicenter was Death Row Records. Dr. Dre, cofounder of the four-year-old company and the creative force behind its $125 million success, has reportedly left to form his own label. At press time, none of the parties involved would comment on Dre's departure, but sources told VIBE it's just a matter of time before he signs with Interscope and announces his new plans. Since January, rumors of Dre leaving Death Row ricocheted through the industry like stray bullets. The alleged reasons were myriad: Death Row cofounder and CEO Suge Knight was upset that Dre didn't appear on Saturday Night Live with Tupac in February or show up at Snoop Doggy Dogg's murder trial; that Dre wanted to introduce rock, reggae, and jazz into Death Row's musical mix while Knight wanted to stick to hip hop and R&B; and that Dre was leaving to hook up with Def Jam's Russell Simmons. Neither Death Row nor Interscope would comment. Simmons, however, wanted to clarify his role in the drama. "The rumors of me signing Dre are false," he says. "I'd pay any amount of money to be in business with him, but we've had no discussion." - Vibe Magazine, 6-7/96. These were pivotal times in hip-hop.

Death Row Records "Press Kit" (1997)

"Death Row Records is an independently owned, African-American record company founded approximately four years ago by Suge Knight, chief executive officer and former president, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. The label's artists are among the most popular in the music industry. Its success as an independent record company is virtually unparalleled. Since its inception, Death Row Records has sold approximately 26 million records accounting for gross receipts in excess of $170 million. Although Death Row Records' artist roster includes significant talent in the rap game, it also releases rhythm and blues music. Rap is a style wherein a combination of talking, as well as singing, is set to hip-hop music. Death Row Records' principal artists, most notably Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2Pac and MC Hammer have "crossed over" from appearing regularly on the rap charts to noticeable appearances on the rhythm and blues charts as well. The charts are an expression of the sales and popularity of various forms of recorded music." The company overview and more, cont'd below...

"Much of Death Row Records' music chronicles the observations and experiences of young African-America, often describing situations which occur in the urban ghettos of this country. These observations and experiences represent a part of life in America that is non-mainstream and that the government, prior to the popularity of rap, was able to control, list and keep from the middle class. The current appeal of this music to suburban America has caused great concern to the government, politicians and others, looking to benefit from and capitalize on these events."  - 1997.