Death Row Records might have to pay up big time after a woman living in Texas claims she played an instrumental role in the record label’s founding. Lydia Harris, who was once married to a Death Row co-founder, is back with a vengeance after she claims she was cheated out of her rightful share.
On Tuesday, March 18, Harris filed a lawsuit in Houston, Texas, alleging Snoop Dogg, co-founder of Death Row Records Marion “Suge” Knight, and music executive Jimmy Iovine conspired to cheat Harris out of a nine-figure judgement she was already granted, according to the Daily Mail. Universal Music Group, Time Warner, and Interscope Records are also named as defendants in the suit.
Lydia, now 61 years old, married Death Row co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris after they met in 1985 at a nightclub in Houston. According to her, she helped run the record label while he served out a decades-long sentence in prison, the Daily Mail reported. Harry-O was sentenced to 28 years for attempted murder. In total, he served 33 years before President Donald Trump commuted his sentence in 2021.
Harry-O reportedly invested $1.5 million in the label’s startup, with the expectations he and his then-wife would keep a 50 percent profit share as a result. Harris claims this deal was never honored. Two decades before Harry-O was even released, she won a 2005 default judgment against Knight and the record label, citing her contributions to Death Row Records. She was awarded $107 million but was never able to collect.
The record label is credited with the success of rapper Tupac Shakur’s career as well as hip-hop mogul Snoop Dogg. The “Gin and Juice” rapper was later added to the recent lawsuit because he is the current owner of Death Row Records, after a 2022 deal with MNRK Music Group, as The Root previously reported.
“While others reap the rewards, myself and my family who should have benefited, have been left with nothing,” Harris, who told Vanity Fair how she “really saw my own life [in “Empire’s” character Cookie Lyon],” said to the Daily Mail in an interview. “I’m ready for a resolution. I’m ready to be paid what I’m owed. It’s time for fairness, for truth, and for justice.”
Now, she’s taking things back to the courts and suing everybody involved. The suit, obtained by the Daily Mail, cited “fraud on the court, civil conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and abuse of legal process.” Harris accused the record labels, executives and rap stars of “refusing to produce financial records,” “submitting fraudulent and misleading legal filings,” and “engaging in bad-faith legal tactics.”
“For over 20 years, I’ve fought for what’s rightfully mine. What started as a vision turned into betrayal, silence, and exclusion,” Harris said. “This isn’t about resentment; it’s about justice. I’ve dedicated years of my life and I refuse to let my contributions be erased. I respect everyone involved, but respect doesn’t mean silence.”
“There wouldn’t have even been a Death Row Records [without me],” Harris declared to Vanity Fair back in December 2015. “That’s what everybody’s missing.”