The co-founder of Death Row Records revealed that the later rapper was a big fan of Aaliyah — so much so that he wanted to sign her to the label.
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During an interview with The Art of Dialogue, Suge Knight explained that the first time the late rapper/actor learned about the young singer was when they went to check out a Gladys Knight show.
“We had a thing,” Suge remembered. “I would always listen to oldies, and Pac would listen to rap. He didn’t like oldies, so I told him, ‘I gotta show you what oldies are about.’ So, I took 2Pac to go see Gladys Knight perform in Vegas.”
“Aaliyah starts singing and 2Pac said, ‘Don’t get up! Don’t get up!’” Knight recalled. “I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because Gladys Knight knows you, you’re gonna speak to Gladys Knight and then you’re gonna talk to that little girl singing. And the next thing you know, you’re gonna be doing an album with [Aaliyah].’ He said, ‘I’m gonna go talk to her… I want to do an album with Aaliyah.”
Knight said Pac “was so excited” after hearing the late singer perform and was only focused on signing her.
“He wasn’t thinking about signing nobody else,” Knight continued. “He thought she was the biggest star, got the best voice ever.
