Dr.dre Albums

[Brook Mithani]

AndreRomell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founded and was the president of Death Row Records. Dre began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984, and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy production.

Released as Death Row's first major project, Dr. Dre's solo debut studio album, The Chronic (1992) made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance with the single "Let Me Ride", as well as several accolades for the single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" (featuring Snoop Dogg). That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut Regulate... G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), as he would mentor other producers including Mel-Man and Scott Storch.[1] In 1996, Dre left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment; his compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath (1996) and second studio album, 2001 (1999) followed thereafter.

During the 2000s, Dr. Dre shifted focus onto production for other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, while extensively contributing to releases by both artists. Aftermath has since signed other artists including the Game, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic, Busta Rhymes, Eve, and Rakim, among others. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Outside of music, Dre has acted in films such as Set It Off, The Wash, and Training Day.

Accusations of Dr. Dre's violence against women have been widely publicized. Following his assault of television host Dee Barnes, he was fined US$2,500, given two years' probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service, part of which he fulfilled by making an anti-violence public service announcement. A civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of his children, accused him of domestic violence during their time together as a couple. The abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Dre's children, stated that he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him. Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch". Two weeks following the release of his third album, Compton in August 2015, he issued an apology to the women "I've hurt".[2]

Andre Romell Young[3][4][5] was born in Compton, California, on February 18, 1965,[6] the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateur R&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.[7]

In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.[8] The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton, Carson, Long Beach, and the Watts and South Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles.[9] Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton.[10] His mother later married Warren Griffin,[11] which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the name Warren G.[12] Dre is also the cousin of producer Sir Jinx.Dre attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but was ineligible due to poor grades. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.[13]

Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.[14]

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", Dr. Dre often attended a club called Eve's After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.[15] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".[16]

Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio where Dre and Yella recorded several demos. In their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled "Surgery" in 1984.[17][18][19] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".[20]

Dre later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru, which released its debut album under the Kru-Cut label in 1985.[21] The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early-mid 1980s West Coast hip hop. "Surgery", which was officially released after being recorded prior to the group's official formation, would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntable. The record would become the group's first hit, selling 50,000 copies within the Compton area.[22] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.[23]

After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992, Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.[24] Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic, released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, RBX, the Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg and Jewell.[27]

On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s.[24] In 1993, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album triple platinum,[28] and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride".[29] For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth-best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth-best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th-best-selling single.[30]

Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to enter the Billboard 200 album charts at number one.[31] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995.[24] For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.[32]

In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper 2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single "California Love", which became both artists' first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.[24][33] However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records.[24] Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.[34]

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