Thug Life Army

Suge Knight's Death Row Records, the cult rap and hip hop record label, has struck a deal to provide its fans with mobile phone truetones*, wallpapers, ringbacks, video tones and videos of its artists for the first time. The exclusive content, including material from Tupac, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kurupt, will be distributed on a global basis via a digital rights management deal arranged by Daryl " Dogman" Young and Jonas Hudson, co-founders of the entertainment industry specialists The Nickels Group through leading European digital media company Buongiorno.

The pioneer of the hugely popular gangsta rap, Death Row Records, was created by former Bobby Brown bodyguard turned mogul, Suge Knight, in 1992. Since then, the label has sold close to 50 million units worldwide, generated close to $750 million in revenue and launched the careers of such cult status artists as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, all of whom have gone platinum many times over. As a marketing consultant to Death Row from it’s inception, Darryl “Dogman” Young worked closely with Suge for over 10 years and can be said to have been very instrumental in these successes.

Suge Knight, Founder and CEO of Death Row Records stated: “Having worked so closely with the founders of The Nickels Group over the past ten years, I couldn’t think of anyone more capable of putting this content into the right hands. I have always known Dogman and Jonas to be on the cutting edge of marketing and production for film and music properties. We are proud to do business with them and, with the additional assistance of Buongiorno, look forward to becoming leaders in the digital and wireless space.”

This very exciting mobile content, which will include * truetones of original classics such as Tupac’s anthem, “How Do You Want It” and Snoop Dogg’s classic “Who Am I (What’s My Name)”, as well as Death Row artists’ videos and previously unreleased photographs, will be marketed and distributed by Buongiorno. The content will initially be available in the UK, as well as in South Africa through telecommunications company, Teljoy, with a US distribution agreement to follow.

Says Burton Katz, managing director of Buongiono UK: “Gangsta rap has a cult status all over the world - it makes sense to give fans of Death Row Records artists more ways to access both the music and the visuals. Mobile content is the perfect medium - the benefit of ringtones and wallpaper is that they enable music lovers to personalise their mobile phone with content that is a constant reminder of their heroes.”

Jonas and Daryl confirm: “As a result of our relationships with entertainment figures from film, television and music, we have been able to develop strategic partnerships with entities as diverse as Death Row Records to Microsoft. With Death Row Records we have access to its artists’ material on an exclusive basis – a deal which includes providing photographs that have never previously been seen by the public. This should prove to be a real draw for rap and hip hop enthusiasts, which is why we needed Buongiorno’s expertise and experience – its proven track record in this field in Europe will ensure that fans get a consistently first rate service. We also envision being able to strike these same kinds of deals with many more artists and celebrities in the future with equal success. The demand is enormous.”

Truetones are mobile phone ringtones that are the original song, rather than an electronic version of it.