A number of different factors could
have possibly played a role in the fall
of the Suge Knight-founded Death
Row Records, but for Compton
rapper DJ Quik , the label’s downfall
can be attributed to one man in
particular. Speaking exclusively with
AllHipHop.com at Gentleman Jack's
Art Beats & Lyrics tour stop in Atlanta,
DJ Quik blamed the fall of the label on
Travon Lane, a Death Row affiliate and
alleged gang member.
According to DJ Quik, on top of
ultimately bringing down the label,
Lane was responsible for a fight which
took place between Tupac Shakur, his
entourage and Orlando Anderson the
night the rapper was gunned down in
Las Vegas.
“It wasn’t Suge that brought down
Death Row either. It was Travon Lane,
bitch ass,” said DJ Quik. “Scary ass
nigga got that chain took and then got
Tupac in there fighting. And then
that’s how Tupac got shot. Because
Travon Lane—he was like the little
bully. He was like an instigator. It’s
always the one that don’t mean
nothing that bring the whole house of
cards down. Travon Lane, you ought
to be real proud of yourself. You’s a
bitch ass nigga. Nigga, you bleeped it
up for everybody.”
Anderson was reportedly a person of
interest in the murder of Tupac. He
was killed in a shootout, which took
place well over a year after Tupac was
gunned down in Vegas.
DJ Quik previously spoke on his
relationship with the late Tupac
during a 2009 interview with the Los
Angeles Times. The rapper recalled
the influence Tupac’s tenacious
nature had on his work ethic.
“Before I met Pac, I saw his tenacity,
which was insanely fierce toward the
end of his life,” said Quik. “I always
saw my songs one at a time, until I
recorded with him and I started
making 14 a day just [messing] with
him. I’d been doing my thing for a
long time at that point and I was like,
‘Who is this fire starter to get me to
change the way I did my business?’
He really made me figure out the best
usage of my available time, and got
me on a wholly new personal clock
directed toward constantly making
music.”
DJ Quik served as an in-house
producer at Death Row Records
during the ‘90s and has also
produced records for Tupac, Snoop
Dogg, Xzibit, and more.