Death Row Records Book: Exclusive Excerpt

In the early '90s, no one could step to Death Row. Home to such artists as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac, the label spawned the G-funk era, effectively shifting hip-hop's epicenter to the West Coast.

But life at the Row wasn't all barbecues and bouncing '64 Chevys. In her forthcoming memoir, 'Time Served on Death Row,' label photographer Simone Green dishes on what it was like working for Marion "Suge" Knight, the notoriously cutthroat co-founder whose 1996 incarceration led to the company's downfall.

In the exclusive excerpt given to The BoomBox below, Green details the fear she felt even after leaving the label.

"... counted myself as one of the lucky ones who made it out of Death Row Records alive. From the opposite side of the country I watched Dre and Snoop jump ship, and Tupac get thrown overboard, but most of all I watched my back. My new life was much quieter, but pad locks on all the doors and a successive string of Rottweiler's still did not make me feel 100 percent safe. Seven years later, being on Death Row Records felt like being on Death Row for real, a place you can never leave ..."

'Time Served on Death Row Records' drops Jan. 13, 2012.