The 10 Most Gangsta Hip-Hop Label Executives

Last week, Kareem "Biggs" Burke was one of 43 people arrested in a major bust that broke up a drug ring that allegedly controlled much of the pot market in New York. Prior to his arrest, Biggs was best known for teaming up with Dame Dash and Jay-Z and starting Roc-A-Fella Records. Truth is, we never knew much about Biggs (he's been so mum over the years that we often wondered if he could even speak at all). But his arrest got us thinking about other rap label execs (not as managers—sorry, Jimmy Henchmen) who did dirt before going legit, so we created The 10 Most Gangsta Hip-Hop Label Executives.

Written by Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

Executive of: Murder Inc.
Street Cred: You might be surprised to see Gotti on this list, mostly because 50 brainwashed us all into thinking Gotti was soft, grew up middle class, and was getting extorted by Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.

Regardless, Irv Gotti had his offices raided by the feds after an extensive investigation against him and his company. In our book, if the feds kick down your door then you probably did something gangsta.

Executive of: Def Jam
Street Cred: Fans get convenient amnesia when it comes to Russell. They act like they never heard he used to deal drugs and that he once shot at a stick-up kid (he missed, but he still plugged the trigger).

We get that he put the past behind him (as he should), but we're not really feeling Russell's new "calm" persona as a guy who resolves conflicts and does yoga. Did Kimora get his mojo in the settlement? We want the Russell Combat Jackonce described as "Grimed out, chain smoking, cocaine sniffing, [and] model banging."

Executive of: Ruthless Records
Street Cred: Plenty of rappers have said something along the lines of "I Am Not A Rapper, I'm A Hustler Who Can Rap." Eazy lived that mantra. He was a hustler who had no initial interest in rapping (he originally wore his signature shades out of embarrassment), instead putting in work in on the streets, which originally helped him get N.W.A. off the ground.

The best part was, according to a profile on him in The VIBE History of Hip-Hop, even after he was rich and famous, Eazy was still selling dubsacks of weed and living in a house full of automatic weapons. GANGSTA GANGSTA THAT'S WHAT THEY YELLING!

Executive of: Rap-A-Lot Records
Street Cred: Ever watch Breaking Bad? There's a character named Gus who presents himself as a calm, mild-mannered business man who runs a fried chicken spot—but on the low is one of the biggest drug kingpins around.

We wouldn't be surprised if we found out the same thing about J. Prince. He isn't a notorious thug (though he was once accused of orchestrating a beatdown) but we get the feeling he's a straight G. And if you ever met him, you'd know exactly why we say that.

Executive of: Bad Boy Records
Street Cred: Puffy is not only the most famous person on this list, but he may also be the best marketer of the group. Why do we say that? Because when people think of Diddy, they think of Ciroc, J. Lo, and dancing.

But we can't help but notice that when Pac got shot at Quad Studios, Puff was there. When Shyne shot up the club, Puff was there. And when Biggie was killed, Puff was there. When Steve Stoute got hit with a bottle, Puff was definitely there. When Jake "The Violator" Robles was killed in Atlanta, Robles' friend Suge Knight blamed Puff.

We're not saying he's responsible for any of these things in any way. We're just saying Puff has come out of a lot of gangsta situations completely unscathed. And like they say, Bad Boys dance around move in silence.

Executive of: Cash Money Records
Street Cred: Though the Williams brothers were once arrested for driving around with army guns, that's not why they made this list. We're not gonna speak on how in the world they got enough money to start Cash Money in the first place.

We're not even gonna mention the whispers that Baby had something to do with the murder of Yella Boy (a member of former Cash Money act U.N.L.V.), or the fact that they've allegedly stiffed everyone from Jim Jonsin to Mannie Fresh to Juvenile on monies owed.

We're just gonna talk about the ever-present look on Slim's face (Pause). Doesn't that dude just look like he's gonna kill you if you get out of line? In fact, we apologize in advance for even including you guys in this post. We're just joking. Please don't kill us.

Executive of: Trill Entertainment
Street Cred: Last year, Vernell and Roach were both charged with one count of attempted second degree murder, illegal use of weapons, aggravated battery, armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and three counts of possession of an illegal firearm by a convicted felon.

Their charges sprung from accusations of scaring witnesses who were going to testify about the shooting of Baton Rouge rapper Beelow. So if J Prince is Gus from Breaking Bad, then these guys are Avon and Stringer from The Wire. And just like McNulty and Daniels, we can't even find a picture of them. Gully.

Executive of: Death Row Records
Street Cred: Suge Knight is one of the most infamous and villainous figures in the history of hip-hop. Where do we even start? How about him (allegedly) getting Eazy-E to let Dr. Dre out of his Ruthless Records contract the way Don Corleone got Johnny Fontaine out of his (i.e. with a bunch of goons and a lead pipe).

How about (allegedly) hanging Vanilla Ice out the window to get a share of the publishing off of "Ice Ice Baby"? How about being suspected by a former LAPD detective of arranging to have Biggie killed? The list of gangsta shit this guy did goes on and on.

Laugh at his recent knockouts all you want, but Suge Knight is an OG. You know how we know? Because none of the people who cracked jokes about Greg The Barber online (including us) would dare mention his name to Suge's face.