10 Times Suge Knight Lived Up To His Reputation

10. Starting The East Coast-West Coast Rivalry

While this incident itself may be considered a bit more tame compared to others that Suge has been allegedly involved in, its effects were long-lasting and sent shockwaves across the nation, igniting one of the most well-known and hate-filled beefs that the rap game has ever seen.

At the second annual Source Awards in 1995, Suge Knight got on stage and made a short speech that beckoned a chorus of boos from the New York City crowd.

“Any artist out there that wanna be an artist, stay a star, and won’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row!”

This was a very thinly veiled shot at East Coast native and fellow music mogul Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy. The parallels between Puff and Suge are uncanny, each being the mascot for music in their states, and each having their own superstar that dominated the charts, in The Notorious B.I.G, and Tupac, respectively.

The New York crowd were vocal about their discontent with Knight's comments and were quick to show their support for one of their own, and thus, the battle lines were drawn. Fans could no longer enjoy artists from both coasts and rappers were engaged in throwing constant shade and diss tracks at one another for years to come. All thanks to Suge Knight and his absolutely ruthless attitude.