Kurupt

Known for his versatile lyrical game and casual precision, Kurupt is among the most revered rappers of his generation, praised by <a href="spotify:artist:2RE8NwNxsOyuNZDD0jRxHP">Kool Moe Dee</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>, among other top-tier MCs that preceded and have followed him. A Los Angeles transplant originally from Philadelphia, Kurupt came up battling, famously sparking an alliance with <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a> after an impromptu square-off with the future mainstream star. He soon made moves with appearances on <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>'s The Chronic and <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a>'s Doggystyle, and as one-half of <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Tha Dogg Pound</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz Dillinger</a>, he earned a Grammy nomination with "What Would U Do?," then topped the Billboard 200 with Dog Food (1995), the first <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Dogg Pound</a> album. Kuruption! (1998), his epic-length solo debut, hit the Top Ten of the Billboard 200, and was followed by many additional charting albums, including the <a href="spotify:artist:0b2XeWDPeBiLeskT6RFqMb">DJ Quik</a> collaboration BlaQKout (2009). Kurupt remained very active throughout a long gap between proper solo albums that ended with Tales from My Hood (2026), produced by DJ Battlecat and released on the <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a>-owned <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row+Records%22">Death Row Records</a>.

Born Ricardo Brown in Philadelphia, Kurupt moved to California at the age of 16, landing in Hawthorne before settling two years later in Los Angeles. He made his recorded debut with three nimble guest appearances on <a href="spotify:artist:6pXCjxMOBcWtvULYkFPVW6">the S.O.S. Band</a>'s 1991 album One of Many Nights. The same year, Kurupt and <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a> battled one another outside the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. The two resolved to support one another, beginning an alliance that strengthened when <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a> introduced Kurupt to <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row+Records%22">Death Row Records</a> co-founder Suge Knight. <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a>'s landmark late-1992 album The Chronic featured Kurupt on three tracks, including "Bitches Ain't Shit," on which he followed Long Beach native <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz Dillinger</a>. With <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a>'s encouragement, Kurupt and <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Tha Dogg Pound</a> and signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a>. The duo appeared in 1993 on the soundtrack of Poetic Justice, as well as on Doggystyle, <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a>'s Billboard 200-topping solo breakthrough. The following year, <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">tha Dogg Pound</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a>'s "What Would U Do?" was featured on the soundtracks of Natural Born Killers and the <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop</a> vehicle Murder Was the Case. Kurupt picked up his first of several acting credits in the latter, and "What Would U Do?" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. This all culminated with Kurupt and <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> topping the Billboard 200 in 1995 with Dogg Food, a multi-platinum album led by the number 21 R&B/hip-hop hit "Let's Play House," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4D0WfOUqTzqKysXt33VL3j">Michel'le</a>.

Kurupt signed a solo deal with major label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a>, through which he set up <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Antra+Records%22">Antra Records</a>, and in 1998 released Kuruption!, his double-disc solo debut. Boasting production from <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a>, DJ Battlecat, <a href="spotify:artist:1hFiH4ETB3NF2zmJPGzke4">Easy Mo Bee</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, among others, the album hit number eight on the Billboard 200. Kurupt then moved his label to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Artemis+Records%22">Artemis Records</a>, where he released his next two albums. Tha Streetz Is a Mutha, issued in 1999, entered the Billboard 200 at number 31. Space Boogie, released after Kurupt hit the Top 40 as a featured artist on <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>'s "The Next Episode," aimed for crossover success with more pop-flavored material and unlikely big-name guests like <a href="spotify:artist:6xs3t4VrfszbO3YJg2wLPa">Fred Durst</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:14ZxDAK6ITtZZqPdiWrvSn">Everlast</a>. It gave Kurupt his second Top Ten solo album. Meanwhile, Kurupt teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> for another <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Dogg Pound</a> album, Dillinger & Young Gotti. (<a href="spotify:artist:2o8GzHGSceBFF95jhoNC5U">Young Gotti</a> was fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> associate <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">2Pac</a>'s nickname for Kurupt.) Released by <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1fGNdi2u7XLBVYaq6fJUaT">Soopafly</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22D.P.G.+Recordz%22">D.P.G. Recordz</a>, the set presented a much more underground sound. Also during this period, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> released 2002, a collection of leftovers from <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Tha Dogg Pound</a>'s mid-'90s era, and Kurupt teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:0JYmatsiEQMn2v5KchV8u2">Killah Priest</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0OiS4KHxViIFnJooFTXl7V">Ras Kass</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2lQvoGjN6jJfsAkaywtgrB">Canibus</a> as the Four Horsemen, alternately known as the HRSMN. Various behind the scenes conflicts notwithstanding, Kurupt and <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> would continue to record on and off as <a href="spotify:artist:60CFNa0ggWjV8OSDey8aGT">Tha Dogg Pound</a> over the next few decades.

The rapper was remarkably prolific on his own and as a collaborator in the 2000s. Following Space Boogie, he released Against the Grain, which appeared in 2003 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dogg+Pound+Records%22">Dogg Pound Records</a>. Two years later, he appeared on Tha Row (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> rebranded) with Against tha Grain, a different recording that debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 60. (Adding more confusion, a revised version of Against tha Grain appeared at the dawn of the next decade under the title Down & Dirty.) Same Day, Different Sh*t, an album attributed to Kurupt's <a href="spotify:artist:2o8GzHGSceBFF95jhoNC5U">Young Gotti</a> alias, followed in 2006 with <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a> handling all of the production. Numerous 2009 projects were highlighted by BlaQKout, a highly acclaimed joint album with <a href="spotify:artist:0b2XeWDPeBiLeskT6RFqMb">DJ Quik</a>. Kurupt was also behind many mixtapes, including multiple titles with brother <a href="spotify:artist:5xFFhK1VYJZ4P6xetMYDWN">Roscoe</a>.

Kurupt began the 2010s by scoring his fifth charting solo album with Streetlights. <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7sfl4Xt5KmfyDs2T3SVSMK">Lil Jon</a> each produced a track, while the emergent <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a> did the G-funk-leaning remainder as executive producer. At the end of 2020, Kurupt traded verses with <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a> and Bad Lucc on <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Martin</a>'s "Get Bizy," on which he proclaimed himself as "the King of New York." In addition to continued work with <a href="spotify:artist:5Jz9kKRnCRLTodCH58MyB4">Daz</a>, Kurupt added to his already considerable discography throughout the decade with an assortment of anthologies, reissues, and mixtapes, plus dozens of featured appearances. In the early 2020s, as he continued the lend guest verses, Kurupt reconvened with the HRSMN for 2021's The Last Ride and partnered with <a href="spotify:artist:4MHbbhIPVJM9rq9exwwpZJ">C-Mob</a> as Gotti Mob for 2022's Don't Be Stupid. Also during 2022, <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a> acquired <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row+Records%22">Death Row Records</a> and subsequently re-signed Kurupt to the label. In 2026, Kurupt delivered his first true <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> album, Tales from My Hood, recorded with Battlecat. Later in the year, Kurupt, <a href="spotify:artist:3PyWEKLWI0vHPmoNrIX0QE">Rakim</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0ME1RawvWt3qOJnYnxVqeh">Masta Killa</a> connected with The Godbody LP, issued through Team League Entertainment. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi