Former record label honcho Marion “Suge” Knight claims Deion Sanders never paid back the $500,000 he invested in Sanders’ aspiring rap career.
Rap and Hip-Hop were on fire in the 1990s. Dual sport superstar Sanders wanted to get in on the action. Sanders reportedly reached out to Knight who co-founded Death Row Records in 1991 with Dr. Dre and The D.O.C.
“When Prime wanted to be a rapper, I spent over half a million dollars of my own money,” Knight told Nick Cannon in a jailhouse phone call that aired on his podcast, “The Daily Cannon.”
“I put guys in the studio, I paid [music producer] Dallas Austin, I did all these songs, did everything.
“Then one day he [Deion’s agent] came to me and said, ‘Well, Prime’s deal’s with Nike and Death Row is a Black-owned company, and we don’t really want to deal with a Black-owned company, even though you paid for everything. We signed to you, put us on the Interscope label brand.”
In 1994, Sanders signed with MC Hammer’s Bust It Records. In December of that year, he released his debut album Prime Time on Bust It Records/Capitol Records.
Sanders’ first single “Must Be The Money,” was his introduction into the music industry.
In unrelated news, music mogul Akon is threatening to file a defamation lawsuit against Knight over allegations he made on the first episode of his “Collect Call” jailhouse podcast.
Knight accused the “Locked Up” singer and his associate, music producer Detail, of s-xually assaulting 2 young girls.
Knight reportedly said, “Akon, you f—ed the little girl, 13, Detail f—ed the little girl, 12 years old. Y’all basically raped them.”
“The world knows a lie when they hear it,” Akon wrote on Twitter/X. “It’s unfortunate that this man is going out like this. It’s sad and seriously embarrassing. Regardless of our history, I’m still going to be praying for him.”
The world knows a lie when they hear it. It’s unfortunate that this man is going out like this. It’s sad and seriously embarrassing. Regardless of our history, I’m still going to be praying for him. ??
— AKON (@Akon) October 29, 2023
He continued: “It’s unfortunate that I have to defend myself from these lies and I will be involving my legal team in filing a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Knight, my prayers for him will still continue.”
