Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. (born April 19, 1965) American football defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Death Row Records rose to dominate the rap charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Outlawz and Tha Dogg Pound, Death Row Records stagnated after Knight's incarceration on probation violation charges in September 1996 and went bankrupt in 2006.