Christmas On Death Row Review

In late 1996, the powerful Death Row Records empire was beginning to show some cracks in its foundation. Co-founder and star producer, Dr. Dre left a few months earlier, Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas and the hyped-up release of Snoop Dogg’s second album was met with tepid sales and poor reviews.

Instead of re-focusing on his artists and finding the acts that would carry the label into the 21st century, CEO Suge Knight rushed a pair of vanity projects into stores. The first, a Greatest Hits compilation, was victimized by poor marketing, while the second, Christmas on Death Row, barely registered a blip on the hip hop landscape.

Many surely dismissed this as an oxymoronic Gangsta Christmas album. While there are a few questionable inclusions, such as OFTB’s Christmas in the Ghetto, this is a mostly strong effort that abandons the hardcore Death Row roots for a mellower vibe.

Most of the traditional Christmas classics are covered, but the best performances are by Danny Boy and B.G.O.T.I. Suge Knight once believed Danny Boy would be the next big thing in R&B. He had previously appeared on the soundtrack to Murder Was The Case and a definite buzz was following him after his appearance on numerous Tupac songs, including the hook of I Ain’t Mad At Cha. His renditions of Christmas Song and This Christmas make you wonder how he flamed out so quickly.

The female group, B.G.O.T.I., also have the pipes to carry both Silent Night and O Holy Night. They were yet another in a long line of failed attempts by Death Row to sell any sound that wasn’t rap.

The few rap performances here are decent, if unspectacular. Snoop Dogg (and what seems like 20 other rappers) tell an interesting tale of a ghetto Xmas over an old Issac Hayes beat on Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto, while Tha Dogg Pound remember the past and ponder the future on the surprisingly sincere I Wish.