6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading if you're a rap fan., November 18, 1999
This book leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings. There is a lot of interesting insight into Death Row that you probably don't know. It connects the different 'eras' if you will of Death Row, from the Chronic to All Eyez on Me and does a fine job of putting Death Row in its place in the rap game. It flows easily and is a very interesting read. However, it is not without flaws. First, Ronin Ro tends to repeat things. He'll tell the same anecdotes multiple times in the book, which really comes across as amateurish. Moreover, I think a lot of people are buying this to read more about 'Pac. I know that was a large part of my motivation. However, that is not a good reason to get this unless you're interested in the bigger picture. Ro paints a very unflattering picture of 2Pac (and just about everyone on Death Row in one form or another except Dre). And, if you want to hear the cricisms of the man, "Rebel For the Hell of it" is more direct on 'Pac. The strongest part of the book, however, is the looks into how Suge built his business which is really interesting. No one else would say all this about Suge, and I'm betting Ro will be moving to another country by the time Suge is set free. If you're a rap fan, get this book. If you're not, or you're more into just 2Pac, you might want to think a bit about it, although I think most anyone would enjoy this.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Violently Entertaining and Informative, July 26, 2006
This review is from: Have Gun Will Travel (Paperback)
Before I start this review, I'd like to defend Ronin Ro for his writing. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way this book was written: the author carefully weaved in each character who was essential in the Death Row scandal. I saw no editorial mistakes and it was organized sufficiently. If a reader does not like the experiences in the book, that's one thing; but to insult the writer is ridiculous, especially since this was such an interesting and well-researched book.
On to the book:
I'm not quite sure how the topic of Suge Knight came up between a friend and I, but we were both shaking our heads about the man being shot in the leg. With all the rumored hits out on him, we were thinking "How could the shooter have such bad aim?" She told me about this book and I am so glad she did. I knew Suge Knight was an alleged dangerous man, and from an interview I saw of him challenging a journalist on a Tupac documentary, it was pretty obvious that he liked to intimidate people. But I was not expecting it to be this dramatic.
Death Row had everything from gun fights, gangs, rape, holding people out of balconies, locked doors to hear desperate screams, drugs, disgruntled rappers, terrified employees, scared delivery people, Crips, Bloods, women being beaten, boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, boyfriend/boyfriend relationships, East Coast artists being forced into West Coast artists, "thugs" turning into grown men, grown men trying to figure out how to connect to the streets but be peaceful, business conflict, etc. Anything that could possibly go wrong in a business happened at Death Row. I didn't grow up in the safest neighborhood, so about half of this didn't even make me flinch, but when the story got into beating up women; jailhouse rapes; balcony scenes, etc., I was like "Okay, enough is enough."
Although it is commendable that Suge Knight gave back to his community with food and money to the homeless/lower income, it does not justify all of the things he DID do. Honestly, I'm extremely surprised he's alive today, and definitely understand why he rolled with such a thick crew. Had he not, he'd have been dead long ago.
While I was reading this book, I couldn't stop giggling thinking about the "Gangstalicious" episode of the "Boondocks." So much of what I thought was a mocking of 50 Cent seemed more like it related to Tupac, and the guy chasing Gangstalicous reminded me of Suge. Although there were definitely humorous scenes throughout the story (from my own morbid mind) and it was definitely an entertaining read, it was extremely disturbing to see so many grown men acting like teenagers. When is it time to decide to stand on your own two, fight your own battles ALONE, stop killing your own race, and bullying people every time you don't get your way? It's one thing to want to be a grown man; it's another to be a grown bully. I ponder over whether many of these people actually enjoy the lifestyle; or is it just a matter of survival in the ghettoes? I know so many young men who were BEATEN into gangs, and then forced to participate to show their loyalty. But how can you show loyalty to a group that you NEVER wanted to be a part of? Why would someone be so happy to get out of jail, if they were just going to return to the jail lifestyle regardless of the bars?
If anything, this book definitely relates to the streets and brings up excellent questions. It also brings more information to cases that were only browsed over (i.e. how Tupac became a part of Death Row, the REAL relationship between Tupac and Dr. Dre, the murder trial for Snoop Doggy Dogg, Puffy's relationship with Suge Knight, Biggie's murder, Biggie's relationship with Tupac, the incidents of Tupac's being shot, robbed, and killed, etc.) Ro touches on SO many topics that the news glossed over or magazines didn't pay enough attention to.
I was very impressed with this book and think he did a great job for research--and is one brave guy for putting all this information out there. Be safe, Ro!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hit Men Meets The Godfather. The Result is Terrifying, November 30, 1998
By A Customer
Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records-Ronin Ro. Ronin Ro is a bold, bold man. I say this because he had the courage to write a book, a rather unflattering one at that, about Marion "Suge" Knight, the former Los Angeles Ram and towering CEO of Death Row Records.
Have Gun, Will Travel chronicles the entry into the music business of a man with no real musical talent. No songwriting or singing skills to speak of. His greatest assets were sheer will and brute force, which he used in abundance, especially when it came to "claiming" artists from the rosters of other labels. Suge envisioned Death Row as a Motown of the '90s, and he apparently carried that wish out to the letter, down to ripping artists out of their royalties. But Death Row was never really about music. It was about power, and a way to legitimize his street thug life. Every story you've ever heard about him, from threatening to throw Vanilla Ice off a balcony to the growing feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers, is contained here, along with a few I never heard before. The book portrays Tupac Shakur as a melodramatic jerk, Sean "Puffy" Combs as a poseur who came from money but was otherwise harmless, and Biggie Smalls as, well, exactly what he seems, a crack dealer who also sold lots of rap records. The theories contained surrounding the hits on both Shakur and Smalls would send even Oliver Stone's head spinning.
The book is not very well written: It reads as if it was written in installments for a magazine and then compiled, rather haphazardly, for a book. But the story is equal parts fascinating and terrifying. Assuming half of it is true, that is: There seems to be a rebuttal to nearly every story printed. Whether that was done in the interest of unbiased reporting or Mr. Ro covering his butt, is unclear. But I would certainly understand him doing it for the latter reason. Knight is currently serving an eight year sentence for violation of his parole, and I wouldn't be surprised if the people brave enough to be honest about Knight in this book started disappearing upon his imminent release. Like the book Hit Men with much more Godfather mixed in, Have Gun Will Travel is a cautionary tale of what a little power will do to an already powerful person. It also made me grateful of two things: One, that I'm not a rapper; Two, that I will likely never meet Suge Knight. This man scares me. ***
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