Dr Dre
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Birthday: February 18th, 1965
Label: Aftermath Entertainment
Website: Dr-Dre.com
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Biography:
More than any other rapper,
Dr. Dre was responsible for moving away from the avant-noise
and political stance of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions,
as well as the party vibes of old school rap. Instead, Dre
pioneered gangsta rap and his own variation of the sound,
G-Funk. BDP's early albums were hardcore but cautionary
tales of the criminal mind, but Dre's records with NWA celebrated the hedonistic,
amoralistic side of gang life. Dre was never much of a rapper
-- his rhymes were simple and his delivery was slow and
clumsy -- but as a producer, he was extraordinary. With
NWA he melded the noise
collages of the Bomb Squad with funky rhythms. On his own,
he reworked George Clinton's elastic funk into the self-styled
G-Funk, a slow-rolling variation that relied more on sound
than content. When he left NWA in 1992, he
founded Death Row Records with Suge Knight, and the label
quickly became the dominant force in mid-'90s hip-hop thanks
to his debut, The Chronic. Soon, most rap records
imitated its sound, and his productions for Snoop Dogg, Warren
G and Blackstreet were massive hits. For nearly four years,
G-funk dominated hip-hop, and Dre had enough sense to abandon
it and Death Row just before the whole empire collapsed
in late 1996. Dre retaliated by forming a new company, Aftermath,
and while it was initially slow getting started, his bold
moves forward earned critical respect.
Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved
in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties
and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South
Central Los Angeles, and making a handful of recordings
along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two
rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label
started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one
of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed
to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed NWA
-- an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude -- with Dre and Cube, releasing their
first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered
Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record
that became an underground hit with virtually no support
from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A.
became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those
of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending
a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority,
suggesting that the group should watch their step.
Most of the group's political threat left with Ice Cube when he departed
in late 1989 admist many financial disagreements. While
Eazy-E appeared to be the
undisputed leader following Cube's departure -- and
he was certainly responsible for the group approaching near-parodic
levels with their final pair of records -- the music was
in Dre's hands. On both the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin'
and the 1991 album Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz 4 Life" spelled
backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that
were as responsible for keeping NWA
at the top of the charts as Eazy's comic-book lyrics.
While the group was at the peak of their popularity in 1991,
Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, especially
after he was charged with assaulting the host of a televised
rap show in 1991. The following year, Dre left the group
to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight. According to
legend, Knight held NWA's
manager at gun point and threatening to kill him if he refused
to let Dre out of his contract.
Dr. Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in
the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of
his elastic G-funk sound, it also was the beginning of his
collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg. Dre discovered
Snoop through his stepbrother
Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper
-- Snoop was on Dre's
1992 debut The Chronic as much as Dre himself. Thanks
to the singles "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day" and
"Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum,
Top 10 smash, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with
it. For the next four years, it was virtually impossible
to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some
way by Dr. Dre and his patented G-Funk. Not only did he
produce Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut
Doggystyle, but he orchestrated several soundtracks,
including Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case
(both 1994), which functioned as samplers for his new artists
and production techniques, and he helmed hit records by
Warren G ("Regulate") and Blackstreet, among others, including
a hit reunion with Ice Cube, "Natural Born
Killaz." During this entire time, Dre released no new records,
but he didn't need to -- all of Death Row was under his
control and most of his peers mimicked his techniques.
The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996,
when Dre grew frustrated with Knight's strong-arm techniques.
At the time, Death Row was devoting itself to 2-Pac's label debut
All Eyez on Me (which featured Dre on the breakthrough
hit, "California Love") and Snoop was busy recovering
from his draining murder trial. Dre left the label in the
summer of 1996 to form Aftermath, declaring gangsta rap
was dead. While he was subjected to endless taunts from
his former Death Row colleagues, their sales slipped by
1997 and Knight was imprisoned on racketeering charges by
the end of the year. Dre's first album for Aftermath, the
various artists collection Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath
received considerable media attention, but the record didn't
become a hit, despite the presence of his hit single, "Been
There Done That." Even though the album wasn't a success,
the implosion of Death Row in 1997 proved that Dre's inclinations
were correct at the time. Both Chronic 2001 and its
companion volume 2001 Instrumental followed in 1999.
-- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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