Rapper: Suge Knight Screwed Me

JANUARY 17--Claiming that his repeated demands for royalties have been met with threats of violence and lies, a rapper who once recorded for Suge Knight's Death Row Records is suing the bankrupt music mogul for more than $10 million. Nathaniel Hale, aka Nate Dogg, recently lodged an adversary proceeding attached to Knight's bankruptcy case, which was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Hale, whose cousin Snoop Dogg (real name: Calvin Broadus) also once recorded for Death Row, alleges that Knight has 'shamelessly' exploited him and refused to pay royalties. When he would ask about the payment of monies owed, the 37-year-old Hale charged he was either 'threatened with violence,' told he was not owed anything, or promised an accounting at some point. In his complaint, an excerpt of which you'll find below, Hale describes himself as 'one of the most recognizable names in urban music,' but claims that he is 'unsophisticated in record company business dealings.' Hale added that he was unsure whether he had signed any contracts granting Knight or Death Row rights to his musical compositions or masters. Hale, whom Knight, 41, did not list as a creditor in his Chapter 11 petition, is seeking a legal judgment declaring that Knight's debt to him cannot be discharged, or wiped away. Hale, who has recorded with Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac Shakur, and Ludacris, has been linked (along with Broadus) to an L.A. branch of the Crips street gang. His rap sheet includes arrests for arson, kidnapping, drug possession, and assault. He is pictured here in an April 2002 mug shot snapped by Arizona cops following his bust on gun possession and marijuana charges. (7 pages)