Crooked I
Born in Los Angeles, Crooked I was raised in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oklahoma. He also spent a short stint in Philadelphia. Regardless of his location, Crooked I was drawn to music throughout his childhood. His mother and her twin sister were in a singing group and they encouraged him to pursue music making. In 1993, shortly after Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” came out, Crooked I met Snoop, Big C-Style and Daz Dillinger at a local recording studio.
Crooked I eventually became a member of C-Style’s Dogg Pound Productions and was opening shows for the crew around the world. By 1995, Crooked I was signed to Virgin Records, a major accomplishment for a teenager.
“Just having a deal, finally, was an accomplishment for me at that time,” he says. “I thought I was ready, but I’m more ready now because I have a better understanding of everything now. Back then I was more raw talent than moulded. At that time, I thought I was ready to smash on the world.”
Eventually, Crooked I was featured on the “Ride” soundtrack on a song with Snoop Dogg and on the “Caught Up” soundtrack with the Luniz. He also became one of the most talked about guests on the world famous Wake Up Show radio program. Although his relationship with Virgin was eventually dissolved, appearances on critically acclaimed albums from Kurupt and Sway & King Tech soon followed.
With these appearances, Crooked I displayed an uncanny ability to rap with a gangster act such as Snoop and a hard-core East Coast act such as Heltah Skeltah. He credits the ability to his travels as a youth.
“That’s what gave me the appeal that I’ve got,” he reasons. “I’ve got a Universal appeal because I can go on the East Coast and do a show, go to the Midwest, South and do the same thing. Since I’ve lived in all of those places, I’ve got a feel for the different types of music. I was exposed to a lot of different types of music growing up and I think that that’s what made me so versatile.”
And Death Row is the company that has allowed him to display that versatility. In addition to having faith in his musical direction, the company helped him with some financial concerns during the negotiation process, without any guarantee that he would sign. “That showed me a sign that it was going to be some good faith going on,” Crooked I recalls. “Then I knew that I needed to mash with them.”
In 2000, Crooked I made noteworthy appearances on Death Row’s “Too Gangsta For Radio” album. On “Gangsta Rap,” he teamed with Treach and Scarface, and on “Death Rizzo” he addressed the sceptics who said signing with Death Row was a mistake.
“I did that song because everyone was telling me that I should go with this label and that label because I had a lot of options,” he says. “Everyone was saying that Death Row had a bad rap because of all the negativity surrounding them. While everyone was saying all of those negative things, Death Row wasn’t doing anything but positive things for me. So when I made my decision final, a lot of people didn't like it. I started hearing through the grapevine that people didn’t want to work with me on a business level any more because I was over there. I plan on having the same status that a Snoop’s got, that a 2Pac’s got. I don’t want nothing less.”

K9
Leading gangsta rap beyond the new millennium K9 moves together that smoothed out Cali gangsta style with the hard core roughness of the dirty south. Driven by true-life experienced, K9 utilizes his unique lyrical deliverance to stimulate that old skool gangsta flow while at the same time generating exactly what his audience wants. An artist who can relate to the streets, an artist who provokes harsh images of reality through words, an artist who is motivated by everyday life's tragedies and celebrations, an artist who aims at bringing out positive through the negatives his eyes have seen. A real person, rapping about real things, how they really happen.
By working with such artists as Outlawz, Dre'sta the Gangsta, Tamia, Gonzoe, Mokenstaff, and The Lost Souls, K9 has begun to to develop a balanced knowledge of certain aspects within the industry, and continues to remain focused and dedicated towards leading Death Row back to the top of the rap game. Claiming Eazy-E, Kool G Rap, and the late great Tupac Shakur as his mentors, K9 has developed a style comparable to no other. His keen sense of reality and empathetic outlook on life has enabled K9 to reach out beyond the gangsta community and into the minds of youths and adults all over by relaying positive messages of personal growth beyond life's hardships.
When asked about his own music K9 replies "my music.. it aint all good, but at the same time it aint all that bad. I try to take something from everything, whether its good or bad, and learn from it. Im gaining knowledge of life, of being a hustla on the streets, of turning the negative into a positive and conveying the messages to the youth. I see alot of misguided youth out there, being misguided by their own parents or other adults, thats what we dont need. By me rapping about what I see and what I go through I'm not trying to promote gangsta lifestyle, I'm trying to let y'all know what its like growing up these days and what it takes to survive. That's what I'm all about!"
By rappin about the true gangsta lifestyle and giving the people what they really want, K9 promises to be one of the hardest rappers to hit the scene since Tupac, hard not only for the beats, lyrics, and style he brings, but hard for the influence he is going to have over the whole game.
True baller, true life, true gangsta!

Top Dogg
Top Dogg is a rapper out of Compton that signed to Death Row just before the Snoop departure. Although many didn’t notice him until the Chronic 2000 album was released, his debut was on the Gang Related soundtrack. The track was “Going Back To Cali” which was apparently directed at Puff Daddy and showed the world that Death Row had a talent on the rise. Many have criticised Top Dogg for being too similar to Snoop Doggy Dogg, but really the only similarity is the way the lyrics flow. Top Dogg appeared in the song and music video “All About You” on Tupac’s Greatest Hits, and will hopefully be releasing a solo album in the near future.

Tha Realest
Tha Realest is a rapper from Dallas, Texas. He has a unique sound as he sounds like a west coast rapper but he has a slow deep southern accent. He spent the majority of his childhood living with his grandmother. Formerly know as Tenkamenin (as he is called on the Gang Related soundtrack) he changed his name because Suge stated that not many people could pronounce it and they didn’t know the history behind him. Tha Realest has been said to sound a lot like the late Tupac and was signed to the label shortly after his death. Tupac apparently intended to sign him under his subset Makaveli Records. He has featured on Chronic 2000, the “Gang Related” soundtrack, and the “Too Gangsta For Radio” album, and will hopefully be releasing a solo album in the near furture.

Swoop G
Swoop G is a Long Beach native who joined Death Row in 1999. During the initial stages with Tha Row he did a lot of work with the DPG’s. Swoop G made his debut on the “Murder Was The Case” Soundtrack featuring on “Who Got Some Gangsta Shit?” track. He has also featured on “Chronic 2000” with the track “Don’t Forget Where You Came From”, the “Too Gangsta For Radio” album, and Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Dead Man Walkin’”. He was originally signed on Doggystyle Records, a subset of Death Row.

Danny Boy
Danny Boy is a rhythm & beat artist from Chicago who later relocated to California. He signed with Death Row in 1994 when he was still in high school. When he moved to California, Suge Knight became his legal guardian. He has been featured on many of Death Row's tracks. One of his famous tracks where he is featured is "I Ain't Mad At Cha" by Tupac, where Danny Boy did the background/chorus vocals. His voice sounds similar to R. Kelly's in many ways. His work on The Chronic 2000 on the track "Beautiful Lady" with K-Ci Hailey showed the capabilities of his voice. He completed a solo album in 1996 but continues to wait for it to be released as many changes need to be made and it doesn't look like it will be released soon.

Mac Shawn
Death Row Records signed Mac Shawn in 1998. He's from the Bay Area and has an original hard flow. Mac Shawn will be a major artist to Death Row on upcoming albums. He is signed to work with Daz on Dogg Pound Records. He is the younger cousin to rapper E-40. Mac Shawn did an excellent job on Chronic 2000 especially on tracks "It's Goin Down", which features Daz Dillinger and Tha Realest, and on "I Thought You Knew", featuring E-40 and Daz Dillinger. Mac Shawn is now working under Dogg Pound Records so expect to see more from him in the future.

Jewell
Jewell is one of the original members of Death Row. She has been featured singing vocals on many of Death Row's releases including some hit songs such as "Fuck Wit Dre Day [And Everybody's Celebratin']." She has completed a solo album that has tracks produced by DJ Quik. However, this may not be released for some time. Jewell has done work for outside rival record labels such as No Limit Records. Suge Knight has warned her and other Death Row inmates to be careful who she works with. Jewell will continue to be featured in songs doing background vocals on major releases and her solo album will eventually be released, but for now sits on the back burner.

Lil C' Style
Lil C' Style is a rapper from from Long Beach, California. He was signed on Death Row awhile back to the sublabel Doggystyle Records (which was run by Snoop). He left Death Row after doing many cuts because of his conflict with Snoop. Lil C' Style's sound is original and the flow is smooth and crisp. He should be appearing on many projects in the future as he is now working under Dogg Pound Records.

Young Doobie
Young Doobie is an artist that represents The South on Death Row. He recently added the 'Young' in front of his name. He is a hardcore rapper that looks to have a bright future. When Young Doobie raps, he does it in Texas style -- loud, slow, and meaningful. When you listen to Doobie rap, he gets his point across. Doobie has a solo album that will be released in the future. Check out Doobie's track "I'm Country" on The Chronic 2000.