SUGE KNIGHT GETS A NEW SUIT

Rap group the Outlawz have filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against Death Row Records, its incarcerated chief Marion "Suge" Knight, its distributor Interscope Records, Suge Knight Films and Suge Publishing. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, cites 11 complaints, including breach of contract, unfair business practices, racketeering and other charges that have become synonymous with Knight's "professionalism."

"Death Row refused to release master recordings in retaliation for the Outlawz's refusal to enter into a separate agreement granting Suge Publishing interest in the compositions," reads the complaint by the group, which signed with Death Row in March 1997. In July 1998, the group asserted that their contract would expire May 6, 1999, because the label didn't release the recording or give them notice of extending their contract. However, late last year, Death Row released 2Pac and Outlawz' "Still I Rise," while the Outlawz maintain that they were no longer signed to the label.

"Death Row and Knight have falsely asserted to third parties, including representatives of Interscope," the suit reads, "that the Outlawz remain obligated under the recording agreement and Death Row and Knight have otherwise interfered with the Outlawz' career in the entertainment industry and the value of their trademark, the marketing and exploitation of the "Still I Rise" record and the agreement between the Outlawz and the Estate of Tupac Shakur and Interscope."

The group, which began writing songs with Shakur in 1994 until the rapper's death in 1996, claims that Death Row and Knight instructed Interscope not to include the Outlawz in any promotion for the album, including videos, radio promotion, street marketing, and press; and that they included their performance in the video "Death Row Uncut" for Knight Films without any license, authorization or compensation.