Dr. Dre Says Death Row Not Paying "Chronic" Royalties, Files $75K Lawsuit

Former Death Row Records artist Dr. Dre has filed a lawsuit against his ex-label for reportedly not receiving royalty payments from his 1992 album, The Chronic.




According to reports, the Doc stopped receiving payments over a decade ago.



Dr. Dre claims it's been 14 years since he's seen a penny from his game changing record, "The Chronic" -- and he's belatedly waging a war against the new Death Row Records. Why you ask would the good Dr. wait so long? We're guessing there's a fear factor that has evaporated since Suge Knight is out of the picture. Dre filed the federal lawsuit against WIDEawake Death Row -- which was created after Death Row filed for bankruptcy last year. In the lawsuit, Dre claims he stopped getting checks from the label after he cut and ran in '96. Dre says the new Death Row has been making lots of money by selling digital copies of "Chronic," "Chronic Re-Lit" and his greatest hits album without permission. Dre is suing for $75,000 minimum. (TMZ)

Dre's album set standards in hip-hop around the early 1990's.



Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of his elastic G-funk sound, it also was the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dre discovered Snoop through his stepbrother Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper -- Snoop was on Dre's 1992 debut, The Chronic, as much as Dre himself. Thanks to the singles "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day," and "Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum, Top Ten smash, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with it. (All Music)

Speaking via a self-made recording, former Death Row artist Daz Dillinger said he respected the company's current CEO, Lara Lavi, last year.



"We looked around all the bullsh*t and come to find out it was John Payne," Daz explained. "And we wanna tell John Payne -- so y'all e-mail WIDEAwake and get rid of that motherf*cker man. That's who we'll go f*ck with, Lara Lavi. We won't be f*cking with them other suckers over there you know what I mean 'cause they got the game screwed. They just over there getting the motherf*cking check. You know what I mean? They ain't produce one thing, they trying to tell you something and them motherf*ckers over there in the high rise somewhere paying a h*ll of a rent to get kicked out." (Daz Dilly TV)

Lavi is reportedly aiming to release the upcoming film Sons 2 the Grave under Death Row Films.



"This film embodies what we're trying to do with Death Row, to tell human stories that don't always have happy endings, and that allow us to learn from violence and disenfranchised lives, but not glorify it," she said in an interview. "We're looking at film properties that relate to Boyz n the Hood-type stories, and to power the films with Death Row music." (The Hollywood Reporter)