Who is Lydia Harris? Death Row Records' earliest member reportedly sues Snoop Dogg and Suge Knight

Lydia Harris has Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Death Row Records, Interscope Records, and Jimmy Levine for punitive damages and recovery of assets. Lydia Harris is the ex-wife of Suge Knight’s former business partner, Michael “Harry-O” Harris.

Harris, claimant in the civil lawsuit instituted in a Texas court on March 17, 2025, has alleged in court documents that she was the original vice president and a co-founder of Death Row Records. According to Hot New Hip Hop, Harris claims to have invested $1.5 million alongside her husband into Death Row Records in 1989 but didn’t receive the agreed 50% monetary compensation when the music label grew into a lucrative business in the 1990s.

The Houston-based claimant accuses the defendants of being involved in a scheme of fraud that left her with no return on investment. She also alleges that the defendants concealed financial reports, filed deceptive motions, and craftily declared bankruptcy to keep from paying her the $107 million in court damages from her 2005 lawsuit against them.

Snoop Dogg is named in the new lawsuit because he acquired Death Row Records in February 2022 from MNTK Music Group.

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More details about Lydia Harris’ lawsuit against Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, and others explored

Lydia Harris sought to recover damages from Suge Knight and Death Row Records in 2002. The former music executive for Death Row Records claimed that she and her ex-husband invested in Death Records during its infancy on the agreement that they would receive 50% of the profits generated by the record label.

She alleged that Suge Knight, who is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for the murder of former label owner Terry Carter, pushed her out of the business once the profits started rolling in. Harris was awarded a $107 million settlement in 2005. According to NBC Los Angeles, the judgment was reaffirmed in 2020.

In a statement published by the Houston Chronicle, Harris expressed that she would keep fighting to get what was hers:

"I just have to keep fighting," Harris said. "The powers-that-be think people will just lie down and take it when they screw them over. Not me. I'm going to keep fighting until I get what's mine."

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Harris added that Snoop Dogg’s purchase of the legendary label in 2022 renewed her interest in the case:

"When Snoop Dogg bought the label it really opened my eyes. You still got a debt that hasn't been paid. How is somebody going to come and buy Death Row Records and not take care of me?"