Death Records Now

http://planetcob.com/

Dominick Wickliffe, better known by his stage name Crooked I is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. The name “Crooked I” comes from the malt liquor beverage St. Ides, whose logo has a crooked letter “I” on the label. The “I” also stands for Intriago, an adopted gangster moniker common amongst Hip-Hop MC’s like Nas (aka Escobar) and The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Frank White). Crooked I is currently CEO of his own record label, Dynasty Entertainment, and Senior Vice President of Treacherous Records. Before he became his own boss, he was also signed to Virgin Records, and most notably, Death Row Records, where he spent four years working under the infamous Suge Knight.

It was the start of a second dynasty at the newly reborn Tha Row Records. Crooked I was joined by an incredible roster of legends such as Kurupt and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes as well as new comers such as Eastwood and Spider Loc. It is a little known fact that Crooked I was signed to the label as not only a recording artist, but a part of the Triple 7 production team as well. The team consisted of Crooked I, his god brother Jim Gittum and Tha Row’s former head of production Darren Vegas. During his time on Tha Row, Crooked I recorded over four albums worth of material including the legendary titles Untouchable and Say Hi To The Bad Guy. A notable song from Say Hi To The Bad Guy was Crooked I’s single titled So Hood which featured an appearance from R&B singer Sisqo of Dru Hill. Unfortunately, after several trips to prison, Suge Knight was never able to properly restore his record label and neither project ever saw the light of day. However, Crooked I’s time on Tha Row was not a complete disaster. In fact, Crooked I released a mixtape titled Westcoasanostra Volume 1 entirely produced by Darren Vegas in 2003. The rapper then appeared on the soundtrack for comedian Eddie Griffin’s film Dysfunktional Family (2003) as well as projects by artists such as Ja Rule, Tha Dogg Pound and The Boo Ya Tribe to name a few. Because the song was banned from major television outlets, fans were unware that a video was filmed to Dysfunktional Family’s lead single Still Tha Row. Crooked I started to realize that it was not that his music fell short in quality, but the fact that his record label was no longer welcome in the music industry. After four years on Tha Row Records and no album on the shelves, Crooked I opted out of his contract with Death Row Records.

With Crooked I’s musical future looking brighter than ever, he released his second EP Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist in November of 2009 through Gracie Productions. The unusual title was attributed to Crooked I’s use of a pig mask during Slaughterhouse’s earlier performances. The project featured a highly publicized collaboration with Snoop Dogg which ended the two rapper’s long-standing friction. Additionally, Crooked I and director Chris Le filmed a music video for the EP’s second single titled Mr. Pig Face. Due to Crooked I’s newly found fame through Slaughterhouse, the project received much attention and proved to be a success. Crooked I has been quoted in stating that he believes the EP is a representation of his best musical work to date. In fact, Crooked I was so proud of the project’s success that he decided to release an extended version titled More Pig Face Weapon Waist in June of 2010.

In March of 2010 Crooked I began to push his movement, the Circle of Bosses (COB) to new heights. Crooked I launched the Planet COB website to promote his brand by providing exclusive music as well as official merchandise. The website produced a vigarous online campaign that was masterminded through outlets such as the Twitter social network. Due to the website’s success, Crooked I released a digital EP titled Planet COB Vol. 1 in August of 2010. The eight track project featured completely original production as well as the emcee’s highly popular single Everythang. Interestingly enough, the EP’s release coincided with the launching of Crooked I’s Hip Hop Weekly: Reloaded, a follow up the original series. Although critics were skeptical of his ability to recreate the magic, Crooked I grabbed the attention of several major news publications in less than one week.

-WK 01: Mass Appeal
-WK 02: Bang Yo City
-WK 03: Light Up
-WK 04: If It Ain’t About Money
-WK 05: Talkin’ To Myself
-WK 06: Medicine
-WK 07: Blood On The Wall
-WK 08: Never Been
-WK 09: Paradise
-Wk 10: Boardwalk Empire Hello
-WK 11: Hard In The Paint
-WK 12: Hot Tottie or Hot Toddy
-WK 13: Black & Yellow
-WK 14: California Love Remix

Planet COB Vol. 1 (2010)
Hood Star (2010)
More Pig Face Weapon Waist (2010)
Block Obama II (2008)

Duration : 0:6:37

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