Background and career
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Hawthorne, California, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has released eight albums. He also formed the hip-hop group The Hrsmn in 1996, with whom he has released two albums. His debut solo album, Kuruption! (1998) was released by A&M Records and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200.
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown was born in Philadelphia. He moved to Greater Los Angeles at age 16, first to Hawthorne, then to Los Angeles at age 18. He was engaged to rapper Foxy Brown from 1997 to 1999. In the early 2000s, he was engaged to Natina Reed; the couple separated in 2002, following the birth of their son Tren Brown. In 2007, Brown married Jovan Brown, who filed for divorce in 2017. That same year, he began dating Toni Calvert. The couple appeared on Marriage Boot Camp's 17th season in 2020.
Kurupt debuted as a recording artist via three songs on the S.O.S. Band's 1991 album One of Many Nights.
Kurupt first met rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg in 1991 at age 19 at a rap showcase at The Roxy Theatre. After the show, a woman challenged Snoop’s group and brought out Kurupt to battle them. Kurupt outrapped everyone, prompting Snoop to step in. The two battled intensely for 15–20 minutes before realizing neither was gaining ground. They ended the battle by showing mutual respect, complimenting each other’s skills, and Snoop told Kurupt that if he ever made it, he’d help him get on—marking the beginning of their relationship. After Snoop made his debut appearance on the 1992 song "Deep Cover" with record producer Dr. Dre and rose to prominence, he introduced Kurupt to Dre at Dre's birthday party at his house. After performing at the party, he subsequently joined Dre and his manager Suge Knight's new fledgling label, Death Row Records, in 1992. At Death Row, Kurupt joined a roster of artists—including Daz Dillinger, Lady of Rage, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and RBX—who entered the mainstream by their features on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic. Kurupt and Daz soon teamed as a rap duo, Tha Dogg Pound, featured on Snoop Dogg's debut solo album, Doggystyle, in the song "For All My Niggaz & Bitchez". By 1996, the rap genre's East Coast–West Coast rivalry was escalating, spurred on by Death Row's CEO Suge and by rapper 2Pac, new to the label, who believed that a Bad Boy Records circle, in their hometown New York City, had fostered his November 1994 shooting there. Tha Dogg Pound released the single "New York, New York," featuring Snoop Dogg, slighting the city. The duo's debut album, Dogg Food, produced by Daz and mixed by Dre, drew favorable reviews and good sales.
2Pac's 1996 murder triggered an exodus of artists from Death Row Records. Preceded only by Dr. Dre, Kurupt was second to leave. He then signed with A&M Records, where he co-founded the imprint Antra Records with Philadelphia-based attorney Joseph M. Marrone, releasing his debut solo album Kuruption! in 1998. Kurupt released his second album, Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha, featuring the diss track "Calling Out Names", in which Kurupt insults New York rap figures Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Irv Gotti, and DMX, accusing the latter of having an affair with Kurupt's then-fiancée Foxy Brown. During this time, he linked up with Ras Kass, Wu-Tang Clan-affiliate Killah Priest, and Canibus to form a new group, The HRSMN, although, despite promises of forthcoming material, has released only an unfinished white label. While Death Row owned rights to Tha Dogg Pound name, Kurupt and Daz operated as the DPG (Dogg Pound Gangstaz), and also with a larger group, including Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Soopafly, and others intermittently, altogether the DPGC (Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique). Daz and Kurupt, as the DPG, released Dillinger & Young Gotti, which received lukewarm reviews. Kurupt's following solo album, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey, with production by Daz and by up-and-coming producer Fredwreck, and released by Artemis Records, fared better. Kurupt's then-fiancée, the late Natina Reed, performed the hook of its single "It's Over".
In early 2002, an unofficial remix/compilation album titled 2002, by Tha Dogg Pound, provoked questions about the duo's relationship with Death Row. Soon becoming its vice president, Kurupt signed again to Death Row. Given Daz's especial enmity for Death Row's mogul Knight, Kurupt and Daz began feuding, repeatedly bashing each other on records and in interviews. In 2003, Kurupt released DJ Tomekk the single Ganxtaville Pt. III and placed fifth on the German charts, as well as in the charts of Austria and Switzerland. While mentoring Death Row's new artists, including Spider Loc, Crooked I, and Eastwood, Kurupt began his next album, Against tha Grain. Further, he formed a new group, The Riflemen, consisting of Kurupt, Mobb Deep, Jayo Felony, 40 Glocc, and The Alchemist, although the likelihood of a record from this ensemble increasingly slimmed. In 2004, after repeated delays of Kurupt's forthcoming solo album Originals, a bootleg version was released, alike those of Crooked I and other Death Row artists. It was later revealed that Kurupt was more stung by his feud with Daz than he had acknowledged. In April 2005, at a West Coast unity event hosted by Snoop Dogg, with Snoop as liaison, Kurupt and Daz reconciled and restored their rap duo under its original moniker, Tha Dogg Pound. In August 2005, Kurupt's long delayed album Against tha Grain was released, once Kurupt had already left Death Row a second time; he would publicly denounce the disses that he had included on the album, but an EP called Against tha Grain E.P. surfaced in 2007, containing said disses.
