Suge Knight says Drake Death Row pendant not Tupac's original

Suge Knight, the cofounder and former CEO of Death Row Records, said this week that the Death Row pendant recently shown by Drake is not the original piece worn by Tupac Shakur, calling it a fake and urging the rapper to confront whoever sold it to him. Knight made the claims during a recorded interview for The Art of Dialogue from the California prison where he is serving a 28 year sentence.

Drake sparked the dispute over the weekend by posting to Instagram a photograph of the All Eyez on Me album cover followed by a close-up of a jeweled Death Row Records pendant, which some observers assumed was the same chain Tupac wore in the 1996 photoshoot. The rapper captioned the post with a reference to his Copenhagen concert and continues to tour as he readies his next album, Iceman. The pendant shown is inscribed on the back with the phrase All Eyez on YOU 1996.

Knight said he originated the idea of a Death Row chain and that he alone authorized and distributed authentic pieces. He told the podcast that he first gave a chain to Snoop Dogg, who later switched to a custom dog paw pendant to avoid controversy, and that other artists and executives did not receive genuine Death Row...