* En anglais uniquement
Kurupt began his winding career with Death Row Records and rose to momentary fame alongside
Dr. Dre and
Snoop Dogg, but struggled to establish himself as a successful solo artist. Born Ricardo Brown in Philadelphia on November 23, 1972, he moved to Hawthorne, CA, where he befriended
Snoop and joined the roster of Death Row. He debuted on
Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and continued to contribute guest appearances to successive Death Row releases, most notably
Snoop's Doggystyle (1993). He ultimately debuted as one-half of
Tha Dogg Pound, a partnership with rapper/producer
Daz Dillinger spun off from
Snoop's enormous success at that time. Together with
Daz and
Snoop,
Kurupt enjoyed sizable success with Dogg Food (1995) and its hit singles: "Let's Play House" and "New York, New York." Three years later the then-A&M-affiliated Antra Records released
Kuruption! (1998), the rapper's ambitious double-disc solo debut. The album met modest success but didn't make much of a commercial impact, nor did its tighter, more traditional follow-up,
Tha Streetz Is a Mutha (1999).
Kurupt's next release, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey (2001), aimed for crossover success, incorporating pop-rap elements as well as unlikely big-name guests like
Fred Durst and
Everlast, but again made little impact beyond the rapper's following. Meanwhile,
Kurupt teamed with
Daz for another
Dogg Pound album,
Dillinger & Young Gotti (2001), which presented a much more underground sound, released independently by D.P.G. Recordz. Meanwhile, Death Row released
2002 (2001), a collection of leftovers from
Tha Dogg Pound's mid-'90s era. In the wake of these many releases and little accompanying commercial success,
Kurupt returned to the long-quiet Death Row label in 2002 and helped
Suge Knight revive the infamous label. Against tha Grain, released in 2004, was the first fruits of the relationship. ~ Jason Birchmeier