KXNG Crooked Claims Death Row Owes Him ‘Six Figures’ for 2003 ‘Dysfunktional Family’ Soundtrack
Last week, Snoop Dogg brought back the entire Death Row catalog to streaming services, which included classics such as Doggystyle, All Eyez on Me, The Chronic and more. On Friday (March 10), former Death Row artist KXNG Crooked claimed on social media that he’s still owed “six figures” for one of the label’s past releases.
According to Crooked, his frustrations stem from his contributions to the 2003 comedy-laden documentary Dysfunktional Family starring Eddie Griffin. The 17-track soundtrack featured Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Ashanti and more. “I see the DysFunktional Family soundtrack I’m owed six figures for hmmm,” Crooked claimed on Twitter while retweeting Snoop’s original tweet that included images of earlier Death Row releases, including the soundtrack.
Billboard has reached out to Snoop Dogg, Death Row and Gamma — who Snoop sold a stake of the label’s catalog to in December — for comment.
Formerly named Crooked I, the West Coast MC signed to Death Row in the ’90s under the tutelage of Suge Knight. His features from Dysfunktional Family span from “We Ballin'” and “Get Off Tha Block.”
In a 2012 interview with AllHipHop, Crooked reflected on the full-length project and his past contributions. “I was watching [Eddie Griffin’s] Dysfunktional Family the other day, and I had nine songs on that soundtrack,” he said. “It took me back listening to those old songs again. That was like in 2003. But I’m looking to the future.”
He later touched on why he ultimately parted from the label. “There is no real Death Row Records anymore. Once Suge was removed from the picture, there was no Death Row. You can’t be Death Row without Suge,” he said. “My terms were to have me do a brand new album for a $1 million. They gave me the run around, and I told them I was cool.”
Though Crooked officially left the label in 2004, he expressed joy for Snoop’s acquisition on Twitter, saying, “I’m glad Snoop owns DR! If there’s a conversation [to] be had about my old music, I’d much rather have it with him!”
Check out Crooked’s tweets below.
Carl Lamarre
Billboard
