The rise of gangsta rap in the ’90s was heralded by several key figures, but it would have never reached the mainstream success it boasted without Suge Knight.
He served as co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records, the label that helped establish the likes of Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and 2Pac, and was a major player in the establishment of gangsta rap as a reigning musical style. His rapid rise harked just as rapid a fall, unfortunately, and — not long after Tupac Shakur was killed — Knight faced mounting legal woes that eventually landed him in prison and got him a lengthy sentence.
When will Suge Knight be released from prison?
Suge Knight’s once-flourishing career was weighted down by legal issues starting all the way back in the late ’90s. That’s when he was linked to the deaths of several prominent rappers — including Shakur and Eazy-E (AKA Eric Wright) — and his affiliations with several gangs were exposed.
Then his legal issues began in earnest. Knight served four years in prison, following the attack of Crips gang member Orlando Anderson, went back to prison for 10 months in 2003, and in 2006, he filed for bankruptcy, leading to the end of Death Row Records. His run-ins with the law continued until Knight’s lengthy prison sentence began in 2018, with the longtime rapper facing numerous charges for robbery and several violent altercations, but none of them led to his current incarceration.
Knight is currently serving 28 years at San Diego’s RJ Donovan Correctional Facility after he pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. He was found guilty of purposefully running two men over with his car back in January 2015, and in 2018 was sentenced to 22 years for the vehicular incident and six years for suffering three strikes under California’s three-strikes law.
The now-58-year-old rapper won’t be eligible for parole until October 2034, at which point he’ll be 69 years old. That’s if he is granted parole at all — if not, he’ll be forced to serve his entire sentence, which wouldn’t see him released until 2046, at which point he’ll be 81 years old.
