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Dr Dre
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. 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 Doggy 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 1999 -
Dr Dre - Dr Dre 2001 1996 -
Dr Dre Presents... The Aftermath
1996
- NWA Greatest Hits 1991
- NWA - Efil4zaggin 1990
- NWA - 100 Miles and Runnin' EP 1987
- NWA -N.W.A. and the Posse
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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 Doggy
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.
