Born Ricardo Brown in Philadelphia, rap took a hold on the future star at an early age. “I was eight years old, and I wanted to be like my big cousin who got me into rap.” recalls Kurupt. “He used to stand on the corner and bring it to the streets. I tried it, and liked it. I got my style in the beginning from the way Rakim raps, and then I invented my own style as Kurupt,” he says, “Rakim was my  idol, He was the influence.”

Rap life began for Kurupt shortly after he was sent to Hawthorne to live with his father in the mid-Eighties. After moving to South Central, Kurupt found himself at ground zero of the burgeoning gangster rap movement that barreled out of the region in the late Eighties. One character making a name on the scene was a young aspiring rapper going by the moniker Snoop Doggy Dogg. “We met at the Roxy when we were battling each other, and then we started rappin’ together,” remembers Kurupt.

Kurupt’s friendship with Snoop Dogg was about to lead to a bigger and longer alliance with another key figure present at the birth of West Coast gangsta rap. Local music entrepreneur Suge Knight was culling the South Central tide pool for talent when he came upon Snoop, who turned Suge Knight onto Kurupt. “We said whoever made it first would make sure they came back for the other one,” smiles Kurupt.

Knight took a liking to Kurupt , and made him part of the Death Row family, which was becoming the fast growing success story of rap music. What followed for Kurupt was musical excursions through the onset of a slice of rap history. Kurupt mad his debut appearance on the Dr. Dre’s 1992 ground breaking The Chronic and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 maiden voyage Doggy Style, considered by many to not only be two of the best rap debuts ever, but two of the all-time classic rap/hip-hop releases.

Kurupt appeared on a slew of genre-defining rap and hip-hop albums, including soundtracks for Poetic Justice, Murder Was The Case, and Above the Rim before forming Tha Dogg Pound with Daz Dillinger in 1994. The duo released their debut album Dogg Food in 1995, and saw the record quickly reach platinum sales figures.
                                  
In 1998, Kurupt released his solo debut, Kuruption. His Sophomore effort Tha Streetz iz a Mutha dropped the next year, with his third solo outing Space Boogie: Smoke Odyssey following in 2001.

Along the way, Kurupt began to diversify. Like a handful of other successful rappers who’ve felt the lure of the big screen, Kurupt got into movies, and got in big time. “It’s amazing, and when they gave me a chance, I landed three out of the five roles I read for,” smiles Kurupt on his natural ease into the movies scene. The rapper mad his foray into motion pictures with the release cop action drama Dark Blue starring Kurt Russell and Ving Rhames. Half Past Dead, starring Steven Segal, Morris Chestnut and Ja Rule. Hollywood Homicide, which stars box office megastar Harrison Ford & Josh Hartnet.  Kurupt by no way is a stranger to the big screen and has starred in a slew of blockbusters since he fist hit the scene including Keepin It Real (2001), The Wash (2001), Vegas Vamps (2003), I Accidently Domed Your Son (2004), Johnson Family Vacation (2004), Brothas In Arms (2005), Cut Off (2005), Loaded (2006).

As an accomplished rapper, Actor and label exec, Kurupt will bring his knowledge and experience to Penagon Entertainment. “I see a future of classic creations  and films generating lots of money,” says Kurupt, who sees gangsta rap returning with Pentagon Ent and DPG Advisory to overtake the overdone rap scene. And no matter what you call him, be it Tha Kingpin, Young Gotti, Ricardo Brown or Kurupt, this is one entrepreneur on a mission.