A Closer Look Into Kohn-Megibow Company’s Iconic Death Row Records Auction

It’s been roughly eight years since Kohn-Megibow Company hosted the auction that featured memorabilia and other iconic items from Death Row Records. However, it is still an event that gets talked about all the time around our auction house. It was such a unique experience for everyone involved and it illustrates the breadth of auction services KMC provides beyond our niche market of used restaurant equipment.

It was back in January of 2009 when Kohn-Megibow held this auction for one of the hip hop music world’s most recognized labels. Death Row Records was co-founded by Marion “Suge” Knight and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, and the label helped launch the careers of seminal artists like Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.

Some of the items up for bid were pallets of CDs, vinyl albums, artwork, photographs, collectibles, industry awards, apparel and even a copy of the Bible that once belonged to Suge Knight. The most valuable piece sold was the iconic Death Row Records electric chair, which was the signature prop for the company. It ended up selling for $2,500.

President of Kohn-Megibow Company, Steve Grove, along with lead auctioneer, John Connaway, presided over the auction. Though not hip hop experts of any kind, they did their best to showcase the items and kept the crowd engaged with playful banter.

This particular auction was a unique experience for the Kohn-Megibow Company team. Not only was it a very different crowd from our normal auctions, but it was truly exciting to be selling off items from such a recognizable brand in the music industry. In a way, it’s a little bittersweet to liquidate what’s left of a groundbreaking company like this. However, the buyers in attendance sure were pumped to have a chance at purchasing this incredible memorabilia from Death Row Records. And ultimately, that’s what we love most about auctioneering.

Shortly after this auction took place, the OC Register wrote an article about it. You can read the full original article here. For more information about liquidating your company’s assets with Kohn-Megibow Company, give us a call. To see our schedule of upcoming bi-weekly auctions focused on used restaurant equipment and other specialty sales, click here.