Marion Hugh Knight Jr. was born on April 19, 1965 in lower-middle class Compton, California to Maxine and Marion Knight Sr. Knight's father, Marion Knight Sr., worked as a janitor at UCLA before becoming a truck driver.
During his childhood, Knight played Pop Warner football with future South Side Compton Crip Duane "Keffe D" Davis.
As a teenager, he met Sharitha Golden, whom he'd later marry, at a party. For the rest of the night, he refused to allow her to dance with anyone else.
Knight, who grew up in a neighborhood viewed as Bloods street gang territory, nevertheless never joined the gang. However, he has publicly stated that his father, Marion Knight Sr., and uncles "taught him the streets".
In 1985, Knight was offered an athletic scholarship to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he played college football for two years, wearing jersey #54 as a defensive lineman. Golden lived with Knight during his time in Las Vegas. According to Golden, Knight suspected her of socializing with other men and once cut off her ponytail out of jealousy. In 1987, the San Franciso 49ers rescinded an offer extended to Knight to join the team after he shot his friend, Ricky Crockett. Though Crockett refused to cooperate with the police investigation, Knight was sentenced to five years of probation. Knight and Golden subsequently moved back to Compton.
Undrafted, Knight was invited to attend the Los Angeles Rams' training camp. Though he was cut, he subsequently played for the Rams for two games during the 1987 NFL players' strike.
The following year, Knight worked as a bouncer for various Los Angeles nightclubs. After meeting R&B superstar Bobby Brown at an after-party, Knight intervened on the singer's behalf and confronted a drug dealer who'd threatened Brown's life over an unpaid debt. Knight then joined Brown on his subsequent tour, serving as his bodyguard.
In early 1990, Knight introduced himself to then 19-year-old rapper Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle at a Benihana restaurant on behalf of Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, whom Knight was managing, who purported to be the writer of Van Winkle's hit song "Ice Ice Baby". Three weeks later, Van Winkle encountered Knight, who was accompanied by five other individuals, when he entered his hotel room, himself accompanied by two bodyguards and his DJ, Floyd "DJ Earthquake" Brown. After beckoning Van Winkle to the balcony to discuss a business deal, Knight convinced Van Winkle to sign over points on his hit album To the Extreme.
Johnson received a $400,000 advance from the deal. Knight's 25% management fee netted him $100,000. Two weeks later he introduced producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young and rapper Tracy Lynn "the D.O.C." Curry, whom he'd begun to manage, to his mentor, entertainment attorney Virgil Roberts. Young and Curry, both under contract to Ruthless Records and integral to the label's success, were unhappy with their financial compensation from the company.
Following Ruthless' general manager Jerry Heller's refusal to provide Young copies of his contracts, Knight and associates confronted the label's attorney in his office, armed with baseball bats, and demanded the contracts, which resulted in the attorney soiling himself.
In 1991, Knight convinced Young to leave his position as in-house producer for Ruthless Records in order to found a record company with himself and Curry after traveling to Young's Calabasas, California home and informing him and live-in girlfriend, R&B singer Michel'le Toussant, that Ruthless was only contractually obligated to pay them $0.02 for every record sold.
Following Young's request to meet in order to discuss business, Ruthless founder and owner Eric "Eazy-E" Wright arrived at the appointed place, a recording studio, only to be confronted by Knight and some of his associates instead. Only after Knight showed Wright a scrap of paper containing his mother's address, did Wright sign release papers for Young, Curry and Toussant.
Heller consequently hired ex-Israeli special forces soldier Mike Klein to provide security for Ruthless' staff.
The label's staff and offices were consequently outfitted with firearms, including shotguns and Uzi submachine guns.
In addition to Roberts, who'd become the president of Solar Records, Knight was also mentored by the label's owner, Dick Griffey. The two allowed Knight, Curry and Young to move into the third floor of the company's office building in order to record music and conduct business. The duo even paid the lease on Knight's car at times.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorney David Kenner introduced Knight to his former client, convicted drug kingpin Michael "Harry-O" Harris, at the prison where he was incarcerated in order to discuss founding a record company of their own. Harris provided $1.5 million in February of 1992. Harris, who devised the names of both companies, also suggested that the launch party be held at legendary Beverly Hills restaurant Chasen's. The party invitations resembled court subpoenas.
Harris financed the outfitting of Death Row's offices with red carpets (by Knight's request) and state-of-the-art recording equipment with cash in small bills. A red telephone was installed in the offices to be used only to receive calls from Harris from prison.
At Knight's urging, his friend and Bloods street gang member James McDonald recruited fellow Mob Piru Bloods to provide security for the company.
On July 13, 1992, Knight noticed one of a pair of brothers who happened to be friends of Young's and aspiring rappers, using Harris' telephone. Following a verbal confrontation, Knight ordered the duo to their knees at gunpoint before further ordering them to strip. According to witnesses, after Lynwood Stanley refused, Knight fired a shot past his ear and pistol-whipped him. After collecting both Lynwood and George Stanley's driver's licenses, Knight allegedly threatened retaliation if they reported the incident. After leaving the building, the siblings immediatley flagged down a police car and told the officer what had transpired.
In the wake of Wright's spreading the word about his filing a lawsuit against Knight and his label regarding Young's release from Ruthless, Death Row was essentially black-balled throughout the music industry. As a result and combined with a protest campaign targeting gangsta rap, they were unable to secure funding to widely distribute Young's debut solo album, The Chronic. Eventually, Knight managed to strike an unorthodox deal with Jimmy Iovine, head of Interscope Records, that allowed him to retain the master recordings of Death Row's music. Iovine, in turn, negotiated a settlement with Wright that allowed Young to move on from Ruthless without further legal dispute.
Following Doggystyle's phenomenal success, Knight routinely traveled with a breifcase containing $100,000 in cash, according to Death Row singer Danny "Danny Boy" Steward.
Knight hired his childhood friend, Reggie Wright Jr., a Compton police officer, to serve as head of security for Death Row. The two had previously played high school football together.
In 1994, Interscope Records, which had advanced actor/rapper Tupac Shakur $4 million over the course of three years so that he could pay his legal bills, was considering dropping the star. Knight met with Shakur, at Broadus' urging, in the hopes of signing him to Death Row. Shakur, however, declined. Following the actor's November 30 shooting, Knight sent him a bulletproof vest emblazoned with the Death Row logo.
At the 1995 Source Awards, held on August 3, Knight graced the stage and announced to the crowd: "Any artist that don't want the executive producer all in the videos...all in the records...come to Death Row!"
On September 16, Knight and Kenner traveled back to Clinton Correctional Facility and offered Shakur a deal wherein Death Row would pay his $1.4 million bail in exchange for the rapper recording three albums for the label.
On September 23, a friend of Knight, Jai Hassan-Jamal "Big Jake" Robles, was shot to death at producer Jermaine Dupri's birthday party at an Atlanta nightclub by one of Combs' bodyguards and friend, Anthony "Wolf" Jones. Following Robles' involvement in a verbal altercation inside the nightclub where the party was held, the parties involved were kicked out. The fatal shooting took place in the club's parking lot.
Knight threw a "Welcome Home" dinner for Shakur, attended by Death Row staff and recording artists, at Monty's Steakhouse in Woodland Hills, CA.
That December, at a party held in the Hollywood Hills, one of Combs' associates, Mark Anthony Bell, was allegedly beaten and pressured to reveal Combs' Los Angeles address by a group that included Knight and Shakur.
In March of 1996, Knight, Shakur and Wright attended the Soul Train Music Awards, where Shakur and Wallace came face-to-face for the first time since the night of Shakur's shooting in the VIP area. According to Wright, Wallace and Combs were accompanied by members of the South Side Compton Crips, including Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who flashed a handgun during the confrontation.
Later that night, Shakur was shot four times while seated in the passenger seat of Knight's (who was driving) BMW 750 sedan. After the shooting started, Shakur stood up in an attempt to get to the backseat of the car, which led to his being struck in the hip. That bullet traveled to his lung after bouncing off of his hip bone. Knight was struck in his head when he pulled Shakur down and attempted to cover him. Shakur was pronounced dead on September 13.
Following Shakur's death, Knight had his name tattooed on his arm.
In 1997, Knight was arrested for his role in a group assault on Davis' nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson. According to Davis, Knight subsequently paid Anderson $60,000 to testify that the CEO was actually attempting to break up the fight on the video of the scuffle at the MGM.
Knight began dating Toussant, whose son with Young was five-years-old at the time, in late 1996. He proposed to Toussant while incarcerated and while still married to Sharitha.
On August 6, 2001, Knight was released from FCI Sheridan (Federal Correctional Institute, Sheridan), a medium-security prison in Sheridan, Oregon. He was driven away in a limousine.
The LAPD raided Death Row Records headquarters at 8200 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills on November 14, 2002 in search of evidence of gang activity. Police seized computers and arrested five Death Row associates for conspiracy to commit murder.
Knight and Death Row and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2006.
Knight was arrested after leaving an LA nightclub and charged with aggravated assault and drug possession in 2008.
On January 25, 2009, Death Row's song catalog was sold for $18 million at auction.
In 2014, Knight was shot 6 times at an MTV Video Music Awards pre-party held in Los Angeles by R&B singer Chris Brown.
Knight was captured on video camera driving a truck over two men, Cle "Bone" Sloane and Terry Carter, on the set of a teaser trailer for the film Straight Outta Compton in Compton on January 29, 2015. After turning himself in the following day, Knight was granted $2 million bail, which he was unable to raise. Sloane was injured while Carter was killed.
Knight was subsequently charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run. His bail was consequently raised to $25 million. If convicted, Knight faced a potential life sentence. On September 20, 2018, Knight entered a no contest plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter. The plea agreement calls for prosecutors to drop the murder and attempted murder charges and stipulates that he serve a 22-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and an additional five years due to the conviction being for a violent felony and another year due to the use of a deadly weapon (the truck). Although the maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter is 11 years under California state law, Knight's sentence would be doubled under the three-strikes law due to his prior convictions. He's scheduled to be formallly sentenced on October 4.
