It was in 1995, that the relationship between Chuck Philips and his obsession with Suge and Death Row Records started.

Suge Knight was cold and calculating, and any journalist allowed around him at that time would have been part of a quid pro quo or they would have been intimidated by Suge with threats of violence.

Suge trusted Chuck, but more importantly, Suge understood the power of the LA Times, and what it could do for him, Death Row Records, and his stable of artists.

It might be hard to pinpoint when Chuck decided to start manipulating the truth and go down a deep and dark rabbit hole inside the East Coast vs. West Coast strife. But in a puff piece on Dr Dre, a series of paragraphs starts to indicate to the reader what would become Chuck’s obsession.

That was the battle between Hip-Hop and the Cops in the LAPD, NYPD, FBI, and even DEA. 

In Chuck's writing, I think this is where — and I am not being hyperbolic — his career in journalism shifted. ~ Don Sikorski

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