born on 20 September 1960, in west 46th street in south-central Los Angels
In the 1980s, Michael “Harry-O” Harris was known as the Godfather on the streets of South Central Los Angeles.
Working with gangs like the Bloods and Crips, plus the Colombian cartel, Harris was in charge of a nationwide drug trafficking operation that brought in nearly $2 million daily.
Harris says he tried to do right by his community by using the money to invest in local businesses. Despite his good intentions, his past caught up to him, and he was arrested not only for drug trafficking, but for attempted murder — a crime he says he didn't commit.
In 1991, Marion “Suge” Knight stepped into the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Not as an inmate, but as a visitor. He was there to see Michael Harris, better known on the streets as “Harry O.” Harris was a Bounty Hunter Blood who had amassed a fortune in the 1980s’ most lucrative and dangerous industry: cocaine. But by the time of Knight’s visit, Harris was in the early stages of a lengthy sentence for attempted murder and drug trafficking. Harris had heard about Knight, a former college football player (and briefly an NFL scab) and bodyguard who had moved into the music industry. Following Dr. Dre’s split with N.W.A., influenced by an alleged physical altercation between Knight and Eazy-E, Knight and Dr. Dre were working on a project that would define their new label. They needed money, yet Knight wasn’t interested in going to the expected corporate outlets for the resources.
Harris was no stranger to the entertainment industry. In 1988, he helped finance a show in which Denzel Washington made his Broadway debut. Through a mutual acquaintance, attorney David Kenner, Harris came to learn of the enterprising young Knight and an agreement was made. Harris had money to invest and he believed in Knight’s vision and Dr. Dre’s promise to deliver as a solo artist. Godfather Entertainment became known as Death Row Records. In 2021, in a surprise pardon by then-President Donald Trump, Harris was granted his freedom after spending 33 years behind bars. While many thought Death Row Records had shut down permanently, Harris went right back to work once freed, partnering with Snoop Dogg as the COO of the all-new Death Row Records.
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