Death Row founder Suge Knight, Bad Boy creator Diddy famously feuded in 1990s
Marion “Suge” Knight, the Death Row Records founder and a central figure in hip-hop’s infamous East Coast-West Coast feud in the 1990s, issued an ominous warning to his former rival Sean “Diddy” Combs in a phone call from prison last week.
“I tell you what, Puffy, your life is in danger because you know the secrets, who’s involved in that little secret room you guys [are] participating in,” Knight, 58, said in a call to his team, Breakbeat Media, the production company behind his “Collect Call” podcast, which he records over the phone from inside California’s Ronald Donovan Correctional Facility.
“You know they’re going to get you if they can,” he added.
Before adopting the moniker “Diddy,” Combs also used the names “Puff,” “Puff Daddy” and “Puffy,” and is often referred to as “Puff” by people who knew him during his rise to fame.
Police and federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raided two properties owned by the 54-year-old Combs in March in what law enforcement sources have described as part of a human trafficking investigation.
While he took a couple of digs at Combs, questioning his masculinity and encouraging him to drop his “Love” moniker if he ever ends up behind bars, Knight called the entire situation nothing to “cheer about” and said he was praying for his rival’s many children.
“It’s a bad day for hip-hop, for the culture, for Black people, because when one looks bad, we all look bad,” he said. “That’s definitely not nothing to cheer about.”
Knight kicked off his podcast in October after teaming up with Breakbeat, the first-ever hip-hop podcast network created by The Source magazine founder David Mays.
Knight famously took a dig at Combs on stage at The Source Awards in 1995, shortly before the feud between Death Row and Bad Boy escalated.
Industry legends Tupac Shakur, signed to Death Row, and Notorious B.I.G., a Bad Boy artist, both died in drive-by shootings before the end of the decade.
Knight was in the car with Shakur when they were attacked in Las Vegas. Biggie, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, died in the arms of one of Combs’ bodyguards.
The cases prompted speculation and conspiracy theories for more than a decade. Police in Las Vegas finally announced an indictment in Shakur’s murder last year.
Knight has mentioned Combs in his podcast before. But the rivalry surfaced again last year in a lawsuit Casandra “Cassie” Ventura,” Combs’ former girlfriend, filed in November, when she alleged he armed himself and went chasing after Knight one night.
She accused Combs of rape and physical abuse and alleged in her civil complaint that while they were dating, he once heard Knight was nearby, grabbed multiple guns and “ran out of his home to where he believed Mr. Knight was dining.”
However, legal experts say any evidence she cited in the complaint can be subpoenaed as part of the federal criminal probe under way at HSI.
Combs, a billionaire who founded Bad Boy Records and the Sean John clothing line, did not appear fazed by the warning Thursday when he struck out from his luxe Miami mansion and took a bicycle ride toward South Beach.
The entertainment mogul has not been charged with a crime and has denied all the accusations of wrongdoing.
He and his lawyers have characterized some of the claims against him as an attempt at an undeserved payday.
While Combs found incredible success following his rise to fame in the 1990s, Knight went in the opposite direction.
Death Row went bankrupt and he lost the company.
Now, Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence for the death of Terry Carter after taking a plea deal on manslaughter charges in 2018 to avoid a murder trial.
In January 2015, Knight got into an argument with another rival, Cle “Bone” Sloan, in Compton, California. He hit and injured Sloan with his truck and fatally struck Carter while driving away.
He will be eligible for parole in October 2034.
