(ThyBlackMan.com) Recently, a documentary series on a network that I won’t name because of my long standing dislike for the network. The recent documentary series is called “The No Limit Chronicles” which talks about the rise, fall, & rebirth of one of the greatest dynasties in rap music history with Master P & No Limit Records.
I remember during my early teenage years living in my old Jackson St. neighborhood in the late 1990s, I would often hear my brothers play music from Master P & The Old No Limit Records & I also remember an old classmate coming to school one day wearing a “No Limit Records” shirt & saying “I’m A No Limit Soldier”. All those experiences made me a fan of Master P & The Old No Limit.
No Limit Records had dominated the music industry from 1997-1999 releasing 23 records alone during their peak year of 1998 with 16 of the 23 albums going either gold (500,000 copies sold) or platinum (1,000,000 copies sold). Hell, they were even called “The Motown Of The South” at one point. But there were things that I didn’t even know about Master P & The Old No Limit Records during that period that I would later find out from watching the documentary series.
Here are top 5 things that I learned from watching “The No Limit Chronicles”
A Columbian Drug Kingpin Attempts To Own A Part Of No Limit Records – In episode 3 of “The No Limit Chronicles”, it was revealed that a Columbian drug kingpin who was one of the biggest drug dealers in New Orleans at the time stopped by the set of the movie “I’m Bout It” and offered Master P $1 million to own a part of the company, but Master P being the smart businessman he is turned down the offer saying “We ain’t trying to be no street company because we had worked too hard to let someone else have it.”
Master P Saves Snoop Dogg’s Career – Snoop Dogg’s rapping career post-2Pac was in turmoil and that he personally felt disrespected and financially exploited so much by Suge Knight & Death Row Records that he wanted out of his contract with the label. There were a lot of people that were very afraid of Suge Knight at the time, but Master P wasn’t one of them. So one day, he went to visit the prison that Suge Knight was incarcerated in & offered him $2 million to get Snoop Dogg out of his contract with Death Row, so Suge agreed to the $2 million deal. As part of the deal, Death Row Records retained the rights to the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg which later lead to the rapper renaming himself Snoop Dogg while at The Old No Limit Records. Master P also revealed in the episode that the reason why he wanted to bring Snoop to No Limit Records was because he always liked Snoop and was a huge fan of his music. Snoop said in an interview years later that “when I was at Death Row, Suge gave me a little something, but when I was with No Limit, everybody got their fair share”.
Master P Saves Mystikal’s Career – In 1997, Mystikal who was a rapper from New Orleans at the time was very unhappy with Jive Records because he felt that they were disrespecting him & financially exploiting him and not paying him for what he was really worth until one day Master P made a personal visit to see the head of Jive Records in New York and actually cut him a $375,000 check to finally get Mystikal out of his contract with Jive Records with Master P telling Mystikal “You’re Part Of No Limit Records Now!!!” The best years of Mystikal’s rapping career to me personally was with The Old No Limit Records.
The Deal With WCW – In 1999, WCW was in financial turmoil, decreasing ratings, and disgruntled unhappy people jumping ship elsewhere. One of the biggest reasons why WCW went under was because they were paying huge sums of money to so many people on the payroll who made very few to zero appearances on WCW TV. They were paying guys like Scott Norton $750,000 & Vincent like $200,000. In the middle of 1999, WCW made a deal with Master P & The Old No Limit Crew for a short term program with the heel stable led by wrestling legend Curt Hennig called “The West Texas Rednecks”. Master P revealed it was a 2 match deal worth $2 million. Note: Master P & The Old No Limit Records Crew once performed one of their hit singles “Hoody Hoo” on an episode of Nitro.
Being An Opening Act For 2Pac – After his No Limit Records & Tapes Store had closed down in Richmond California, Master P had continued to hustle by not only selling tapes and records from the trunk of his car, but when he started becoming an opening act for legendary rapper Tupac Shakur whenever he performed in the Richmond, California area, he instantly went from having zero buzz to having a ton of buzz around Richmond, California where he was living at the time. Being an opening act for 2Pac when he was in Richmond was definitely one of the biggest turning points in the legendary career of Master P because it really helped him become one of the most famous and successful rappers of all time.
The Conclusion – Master P & The Old No Limit Records had their fair share of ups and downs even when they were at the peak of their careers in the late 1990s, but nobody can ever deny the impact that they had in not only music history, but also black culture as well. They will always go down in history as being one of rap music’s greatest dynasties.
Staff Writer; Kwame Shakir (aka Joe D.)
