Touré goes to Death Row Records to interview Suge Knight at the height of his power. In the middle of the interview, Touré asks the wrong question, and Suge gets angry. Touré gets up to leave, but Suge won’t let him go. Suddenly there are gangbangers at the door threatening a beatdown, and Touré sits in his office for an hour in absolute terror as Suge slowly applies psychological torture.
Full transcript below.
ANNOUNCER [00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network. Black Culture Amplified.
TOURE [00:00:04] I’m Toure. Star Stories is brought to you by theGrio Black Podcast Network. Home of the Blackest Questions with Dr. Chrissy Greer and Dear Culture with Panama Jackson. This episode of Star Stories is about Suge Knight.
TOURE [00:00:25] It was the scariest moment in my whole life. I didn’t think I was going to die, but I was pretty sure I was about to get stung by a very tough, hard-looking blood. Who is taking orders directly from Suge Knight? See, what happened was this. I was interviewing Suge in his office at Death Row Records at a time when Suge was the scariest man in hip-hop. He was a giant of a man with a football linebacker’s arms and chest. He looked like he could snap a normal person into like a twig and talk about a bull in a china shop. Back then, Sugar was a gangbanger running through the music business, doing whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted to. Had he put a gun to someone’s head and said, either your brains or your signature will be on that contract? Maybe. Did he hold some artists upside down out a window to convince him of something? Maybe. Had he run up into a famous record label’s office and roughed up the president, and stolen his pants? Maybe. All of that and more were in the wind in the music industry at that time. If you heard music business gossip, you heard rumors about Suge that made him seem like the toughest, wildest guy the industry had ever seen. Once, when I told a prominent executive that I wanted to interview Suge, he said, Don’t do that. Leave him be. It’s too dangerous. But I’m not the type of journalist who listens to that sort of advice. I go where I’m told not to go. I ask questions that others are too afraid to ask. This happens because I’ll be deep into the interview, and a question will appear in my mind—a tough question. And if there’s any fear inside of me about asking that question, a little devil will appear on my shoulder, and he will say, What’s the matter? Well, why are you scared to ask? What’s the matter with you? What’s he going to do, beat you up? Why are you being such a wimp? Oh, my inner voice can be harsh, but with all that goading going on, I can’t ignore that voice. So I ask questions I shouldn’t ask.
TOURE [00:02:48] I asked one rapper, who was then quite large, gigantic biceps, about him doing steroids. See, we had done an interview years before where I’d asked him about doing steroids and he said no. Months later, there was a story in the New York Times about him doing steroids. So he’d lied to me. But there’s nothing wrong with doing steroids if you’re not a professional athlete and you’re not a teenager. There was nothing wrong with him taking steroids, so why wouldn’t he just admit it to me? I was afraid to ask him that. So many butterflies. But then the devil came up on my shoulder. What’s the matter? Why are you being such a wimp? So I asked. Why aren’t you open about doing steroids? There’s nothing wrong with you doing steroids. I stopped my question. He took a long pause. The silence was deafening. He sucked in a long, deep, annoyed breath and said, “Rappers say you’re an asshole.” What? I just say you asked fucked up questions. So that happened? But you see how I get this voice that tells me to ask the damn question, you wimp. And I do. And sometimes it gets me in trouble. And this is a story about the time that stuff got me in really bad trouble. This is about the time Suge Knight scared the hell out of me.
TOURE [00:04:16] I mean, I was in Suge Knight’s office past midnight. No one knew I was there. I had no cell phone because this was the mid-nineties. And I was refusing to listen to my fear. And it almost got me fucked up. Then they go back a step. I was in L.A. doing a story on Dick Griffey, a record executive who was like Suge before Suge. He’d actually mentored Suge, and he was there at the founding of Death Row. And after, it became a multi-hundred million dollar company with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and more. That’s when Dick Griffey said, Yo, Suge, you said that I would own a piece of this company. And so Griffey sued Suge and Death Row for his piece. Now they were still friends. So I asked Griffey to take me over to Death Row and get him to do an interview with me. Griffey set it up and drove me over to Death Row. When we got into Suge’s office, they bear-hugged, and Suge showed him around his office like a son, proudly showing his dad that he’s a big-timer now. The room had a carpet with the Death Row logo on it. There was a side room he showed us with a bed in case he said any women stopped by. He had a wall of monitors so he could see everything going on outside. He had a tank filled with piranhas. Then he had a little door in the corner. He looked at Griffey, and he said, You know what that’s for? And Griffey said, Yeah. I did not know what was back there. What was so funny? Seemed like something only tough guys knew, and me not knowing made me nervous. So Griffey left, and I was alone with Suge in his office and for 40 minutes, we talked about Griffey and what he had taught Suge in the founding days of Death Row. I could feel my time coming to an end. And I wanted to ask Suge about the lawsuit, but I was scared. What would he say? Was that wrong to ask about? Here comes the devil. What’s the matter? Are you scared? I can’t back down now. So I say to Suge Knight with my own mouth in English. So what’s up with the lawsuit? He paused and looked off, and said, “What lawsuit?” Like, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I said the lawsuit with Dick Griffey. You know what I’m talking about. Did I say that? Suge paused and glowered at me in silence.
TOURE [00:07:01] His energy had suddenly become menacing and scary. It was like the room had changed from an empty sky to a crazy thunderstorm, and I was caught all up in it. He said, “Turn off the tape recorder,” and he said it in a really low and menacing voice. I did, and now is getting really scared. I scooped it up and stood to leave. He said, “Where are you going? Sit back down.” And I didn’t really see anything else I could do. I wasn’t going to try to run out of his office. So I sat. Which marked a new chapter in our evening, because then Suge stood in the doorframe while I sat shivering. He yelled to someone out of sight to come here. Now a word from our sponsors.
ANNOUNCER [00:07:57] Thank you for listening to Star Stories with Toure. If you like the show, you’ll love the animated version of the series. Watch the adult cartoon series Star Stories with Toure at theGrio.com or theGrio’s Black Podcast Network’s YouTube channel. You’ll find the video links in the description section of this episode.
TOURE [00:08:20] Shug stood in the doorframe while I sat shivering. He yelled to someone out of sight to come here. Suddenly, in the doorframe was a young, tough, muscled Blood who was glaring right at me. He looked like he had just gotten off the block five minutes ago, and he had an epic screw face that was scaring me to my soul. And he was just waiting for Suge’s OK to move in and pummel me. I honestly didn’t know what he was going to do, but I knew that I would not have any answer. Suge said to him, “This guy wants to come in here talking about a lawsuit?” The kid made a fist and ground it into his palm in rage. I thought that kid is going to eat me alive. Suge continues talking smack. The kid kept staring at me. I was paralyzed with fear. I thought I was going to be attacked by one of the fiercest men I had ever encountered. I thought, okay, if I leave here with just one broken bone, then I can accept that which is completely insane. But that’s where I was. But then Suge dismissed the guy. Now I was alone with him. He walked over toward me, and I was sure he was about to punch me. And it would be like being in a car crash where you feel the other car hit your body. But he just stood over me and said, “Stand up. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t really see I had a choice. When I stood, he put his tree trunk up an arm around my shoulders and dug his huge fingers into me. He walked toward the piranha tank and toward the door that. I didn’t know what it was for, but I could feel his fingers digging into me so much that he was practically dragging me across the room. I was like, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Totally freaked out, totally thinking maybe he’s going to. I don’t know. We stopped near the piranha tank, and he said, “You done burnt your bridge with Death Row.” Don’t you ever come in here asking about lawsuits? One day you’re going to need us and blah, blah, blah, some more scary threats. And I could barely hear him over the pounding of my heart and the noise in my mind. What’s he going to do next? Finally, he let go of me, and I started walking to the door. He said, Where are you going? Sit your ass down. And I did. At that point, I thought, okay, I didn’t get beat up, and I do have an interview on this tape, so maybe I’m actually going to work this out. Then Suge said, “Rewind your tape.” Jesus, Help me now. I have nothing. So the tape is rewinding, and we’re sitting there in silence as it whirs along, and then it stops. He says, “Pressed record.” Now I’m eracing our interview. I can’t. But, then, as the rerecord starts happening, he, on his own, answered the first question I had asked him about an hour earlier, and he gave the exact same answer he’d had the first time. Then, without me saying anything, he went into the second question I’d asked and then the third. I wasn’t saying anything because my ability to speak English was gone then, thanks to the massive amount of stress and fear I was feeling. But Suge was fine. He remembered all of my questions and all of his answers and ran them down in order for 40 minutes. A stunning display of memory and recall all by himself and without prompting. He repeated the entire interview that we had done until the point where I asked him about the lawsuit. And when he got to that point, he said, okay, you got your interview. Now get out of here. Practically ran out of there, walking rapidly out of his office and straight out the front door, jumped right into Dick Griffey’s car. Now, that was a situation where I fucked around and found out. And most people who find out walk away chastened. They learn, and they change. But not me. I still get in interviews and get the devil on my shoulder going. What’s the matter? Why are you scared? Are you afraid to ask? So I’m still not afraid to ask anyone anything. Even though I came within an inch of the beating of my life, I’m still out here asking whatever I feel needs to be asked. Maybe I’m courageous; maybe I’m dumb. Or maybe I just know that when I was with Suge, I went there, and I almost got stomped. But when I look back on that moment, I don’t focus on the word stomped; I focus on the word almost.
TOURE [00:13:43] Star Stories is brought to you by theGrio Black Podcast Network, home of TheGrio Daily with Michael Harriot and Writing Black with Maiysha Kai. If you like this episode of Star Stories. Check out the one about Prince. Remember to rate and review. It matters. I’m Toure.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:14:03] I’m political scientist, author, and professor Dr. Christina Greer, and I’m the host of The Blackest Questions on theGrio Black Podcast Network. This person invented ranch dressing around 1950. Who are they?
Guest Marc Lamont Hill [00:14:16] I have no idea.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:14:17] This all began as an exclusive Black history trivia party at my home in Harlem with family and friends. And they got so popular it seemed only right to share the fun with our Grio listeners. Each week we invite a familiar face on the podcast to play. What was the name of the person who was an enslaved chief cook for George Washington and later ran away to freedom?
Guest Roy Wood, Jr. [00:14:39] No, this is why I like doing stuff with you because I leave educated. I was not taught this in Alabama public schools.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:14:46] Question number three. You ready?
Guest Eboni K Williams [00:14:47] Yes. I want to redeem myself.
Guest Amanda Seales [00:14:49] How do we go from Kwanzaa to like these obscure? It is like the New York Times crossword from a Monday to a Saturday.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:14:59] Right or wrong, because all we care about is the journey and having some fun while we do it.
Guest Kalen Allen [00:15:04] I’m excited. And I am also a little nervous
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:06] Oh, listen—no need to be nervous. And as I tell all of my guests, this is an opportunity for us to educate ourselves because Black history is American history.
Guest Eboni K Williams [00:15:15] Latoya Cantrell.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:17] That’s right. Mayor Latoya Cantrell.
Guest Michael Twitty [00:15:19] Hercules Posey.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:20] Mm-hmm. Born in 1754 and he was a member of the Mount Vernon slave community, widely admired for his culinary skills.
Guest Michael Twitty [00:15:27] I’m going to guess Afro-punk.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:30] Close, it’s Afro Nation. So last year
Guest Kalen Allen [00:15:35] I’ve never heard of that.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:36] According to my research, it’s Samuel Wilson, a.k.a Falcon.
Guest Jason Johnson [00:15:39] Wrong Wrong, I am disputing this.
Guest Roy Wood, Jr. [00:15:44] I just don’t know that in a day it’s for myself. A little water while you tell me the answer.
Dr. Christina Greer [00:15:48] The answer is Seneca Village, which began in 1825 with the purchase of land by a trustee of the A.M.E. Zion Church. So give us a follow, subscribe, and join us on The Black as Questions.
