Marion "Suge" Knight might be hobbled, but he isn't cowed.
The oversized hip-hop mogul has been released from a Miami hospital, where he had been laid up after getting shot in the leg during a pre-party for the MTV Video Music Awards hosted by Kanye West.
Knight, 40, was released late last week, a rep for the Mt. Sinai Medical Center said Tuesday. The hospital declined to divulge any other information, citing patient privacy rules. There was no immediate comment from a spokesperson at Knight's L.A.-based label, Tha Row Records.
Miami police said that Knight was sitting at a VIP table at the ritzy Shore Club when he was approached by an unknown assailant. The shooter fired twice, with one bullet striking Knight in the upper right leg and shattering a bone. Doctors at Mt. Sinai conducted emergency surgery to repair the fracture and remove the bullet.
Although the party was jam-packed with the likes of Jessica Alba, Paris Hilton, Eddie Murphy, Joss Stone, the Game and the Black Eyed Peas, police say they have been stymied in their investigation by a lack of cooperating witnesses. The only information police have on the suspect is that he was a black male wearing a pink shirt.
About an hour before, the rap kingpin had been talking about the good vibes around the VMAs.
"I think it's real good people are getting along down here," Knight told the Miami Herald. "It's good to see everyone getting along."
With his gang ties, lengthy arrest record and take-no-prisoners attitude, Knight has been a polarizing figure in hip-hop. In the '90s, his label, originally called Death Row Records, engaged in a cross-country rivarly with Sean "Diddy" Combs' New York-headquartered Bad Boy Records.
Knight was behind the wheel of the car when Death Row's biggest star, Tupac Shakur, was shot dead in Las Vegas in 1996. Six months later, Bad Boy's top rapper, Biggie Smalls, aka the Notorious B.I.G., was shot and killed outside a music industry party in Los Angeles. Both crimes remain unsolved. While Biggie's family has accused Knight of being behind the rapper's killing, police have never declared Knight a suspect.
In the intervening years, Knight has fallen out with former Death Row partner Dr. Dre and another A-list rapper, Snoop Dogg. After spending nearly five years in prison for a parole violation, Knight has been unable to return Tha Row to its glory days.
Shortly before he was wounded, Knight waxed philosophic to XXL magazine.
"If you raised up or born in the ghetto, [watching your back] is what you do naturally. You don't choose the day you're gonna go," he said. "I don't walk in fear."