A friend of SNOOP DOGG is suing the rapper for using a sample of a telephone message where he insults rap mogul SUGE KNIGHT.
The unidentified man said he now fears for his life as Tha Row records bossKnight “is a burly convicted felon and is rumoured to be involved with gangs”.
Snoop sampled the message, where his friend offers him support in his long running battle against Knight, on his track ‘Pimp Slapp’d’ from the 2002 album ‘Paid the Cost to Be Tha Boss’ .
Knight has been acknowledged as the man who helped to make Snoop Dogg a leading rap artist when he released his debut ‘Doggystyle’ on Death Row records (as it was then called) in 1993. However, since 1996, when Snoop Dogg left the record label, the two have been involved in a bitter war of words.
Knight served four years of a nine-year jail sentence for breaking probation for his part in an assault that took place just hours before the fatal shooting of his friend Tupac Shakur in 1996. Knight was back behind bars for two months this year for parole violations.
The man, who is only identified as ‘John Doe’ in the court papers is suing Snoop Dogg for common law appropriation of voice and internal infliction of emotional distress.
He wants the message removed from all albums and all future releases of the track.