Dr. Dre (born Andre Romel Young on February 18, 1965 in Los Angeles,
California) is an African-American record producer, rapper, and
record executive, one of the most successful and well-known producers
in the field of hip hop music.
Dre is best-known as for his collaborations with West Coast hip hop
artists such as Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Tupac Shakur, and also as
a former member of pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A. He is also notable
for being the co-founder of Death Row Records (with Suge Knight); and
the founder of Aftermath Entertainment, a successful imprint for Interscope
Records that features multi-platinum artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent,
(and more recently) Busta Rhymes, Eve, Stat Quo, The Game and of course
Dr. Dre himself.
Biography
Dr. Dre started his producing career as a member of the World Class Wreckin'
Cru during the first half of the 1980s. In 1986, he and fellow World Class
Wreckin' Cru member DJ Yella were two of the founding members of N.W.A, a
highly successful and controversial group that created the prototype for
much of what was termed "gangsta rap" in the 1990s. Dr. Dre enjoyed
significant success in NWA. After a dispute with Eazy E, a founding member
of N.W.A. and Ruthless Records, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity
in 1991 to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight.
Dr. Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover,"(AKA 187)
in the spring of 1992. This was the introduction of and ultimately the
beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg (later simply
known as Snoop Dogg), a young man who had recorded some homemade tapes
with Dre's stepbrother Warren G. Warren G played Dre some of Snoop's mixtapes
and a Dre arranged a meeting with the young man, beginning a lifelong association.
Snoop's voice appeared on Dre's 1992 debut album The Chronic as much as
Dre's did. Thanks to the single "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," and
hits like "Let Me Ride" and "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's
Celebratin')", The Chronic became a multi-platinum seller, making
it virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected
in some way by Dr. Dre. Shortly after its release, the Chronic became one
of the biggest-selling hip hop albums in history, and was followed shortly
by a string of multi-platinum albums from Dre’s protégés,
including Snoop Dogg’s debut album Doggystyle and Warren G’s
G-Funk Era.
The following year, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle,
with similar subject matter and musical style. Doggystyle achieved phenomenal
success, being the first debut album for an artist to debut at #1 on the
Billboard charts.
In 1996, the song "California Love," a highly successful collaboration
with Death Row artist Tupac Shakur, helped further establish Death Row
and Dr. Dre as a major force in the music industry. By the end of the year,
however, the success of Death Row had taken a reverse turn, following the
death of Tupac Shakur and racketeering charges against Suge Knight. Foreseeing
the label's collapse, Dr. Dre left Death Row to form his own Aftermath
Entertainment label. The Dr. Dre Presents ... The Aftermath album, released
at the end of the year, featured songs by the newly signed Aftermath artists,
and a solo track "Been There, Done That". The track was intended
as a symbolic good-bye to gangsta rap, in which Dre suggested that he is
moving on to another level of music and lifestyle.
In 1997, Dr. Dre signed aspiring Detroit rapper Eminem to his label, producing
his controversial album The Slim Shady LP in 1999, followed by the even
more successful and controversial The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000. The
latter featured slightly less involvement by Dr. Dre. By the time The Eminem
Show was released in 2002, Eminem was producing the bulk of his output
himself.
Dre released his second solo album, Dr. Dre 2001 (sometimes referred to
by fans as "The Chronic 2001: No Seeds"), or more often simply
'2001' in 1999. Once again, the album featured about as much of Dre's voice
as the voices of numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Hittman,
Snoop Dogg, and Eminem. The album was highly successful, thus reaffirming
a recurring theme featured in its lyrics, stating that Dre is still a force
to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous
few years.
The album followed a new musical direction, characterised by high-pitched
piano and string melodies over a deep and rich bassline. The style was
also prominent in his following production work for other artists, including
hits such as "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by Eve and Gwen Stefani (whom
he would produce again on the Stefani and Eve track "Rich Girl"), "Break
Ya Neck" by Busta Rhymes, and "Family Affair" by Mary J
Blige.
Dr. Dre has also appeared in the movies Set It Off, The Wash and Training
Day, though later stated that he does not intend to pursue a career in
acting. A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al),
was featured on the soundtrack to The Wash.
In 2003, Dr. Dre and Eminem produced the major-label debut Get Rich or
Die Tryin' for Queens rapper 50 Cent, featuring the Dre-produced hit single "In
Da Club."
The release of Detox, which was to be Dre's final solo album, was planned
for 2004. The project was declared to be cancelled for a while, as Dre
decided to put all his effort into producing the artists on his Aftermath
label, including Eminem, 50 Cent, Eve, The Game, Stat Quo, and Busta Rhymes;
former N.W.A member Ice Cube is currently negotiating a contract with the
label. However, in November 2004, Dre and Interscope confirmed that Detox
was still in the works and is currently scheduled to be released in Fall
2005. On the Eminem song "Encore", featuring Dre himself, Eminem
mentions that the Eminem crew will "make" him do the album. Dre
will also be producing Snoop Dogg's next album, The Blue Carpet Treatment
which will be released in 2006.