Nobody in the world has such recognizable and specific sound as Dr. Dre! And no artist from hip hop world who accomplished more than him. So many new artist that he discovered, so many real stars who sang or rapped on his beats.. Dr. Dre has an original ideas, no doubt. Hip hop scene would look much different without him, but he also influenced other genres. He gave specific sounds to the West Coast hip hop and not just that! He became a synonym for West Coast beats and I bet that this guy works really a lot! When you realize all what he has done, you ask yourself when this guy sleeps.

HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s

DR. DRE

I don't remember when I heard about Dre for the first time. I think that I was 10 or 11. Of all rappers that I was listening during my teenage years, I think that Dre came first. And what is the most interesting in this, those tracks never became boring to me! I can listen the same songs that I was listening 20 years ago with the same joy.

Some songs will forever be evergreens and Dre only works on those that will stay for a very long time. This is the fourth episode of my series HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s and until now I wrote only about MCs and rapping, today you will read more about production, because that's what is Dr. Dre about.

He was born in Compton, California in 1965. During his teenage years all he wanted was to be a hip hop Dj. He was attending the clubs and watched live performances of DJ. The most influential DJ for Dr. Dre was Grandmaster Flash . The first group that Dr. Dre joined as DJ was World Class Wreckin' Cru and they dominated West Coast hip hop in 1984 and 1985. In 1986 he convinced local rapper Easy-E to invest and start record label, which was called Ruthless Records. They formed a group with Dr.Dre, Easy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren and called themselves NWA.

That was one of the first and most influential gangsta rap groups ever in the world.

The first album was a compilation of songs that re produced up to then, all under name "N.W.A. and the Posse". The second album "Straight Outta Compton" made big success, especially the hit single "Fuck tha Police" which brought them troubles with law and police. After that, Ice Cube leaves NWA so Dr. Dre, Easy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella made two more albums without him: "100 Miles and Runnin'" and "Niggaz4Life". Then, he and Easy-E got into fight and that was the end of NWA.

A bodyguard and real human asshole called Suge Knight convinced Dre to make records for his new founded record label Death Row. Dre met Snoop Dogg for the first time and in the same time he produced two albums: his own "The Chronic" and Snoop's "Doggystyle".

There he met a lot of MCs and singers and he became a hell of a producer. He produced for Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, and probably, one of his most famous works was on Tupac's "California Love". Dr. Dre began to rap when NWA was at it's end but he was mainly producer and DJ.

He had argue with Suge Knight and left Death Row in 1996 and that made Tupac mad. But Dre decided that is better for him to have his own path in the world of hip hop and music production. So he didn't get too much involved in West Coast - East Coast feud. Shortly after he met Eminem and started to produce his tracks.

In 1999 Dre releases an album "2001" and it had huge success! All song were in collaborations with other MCs, mostly Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Eminem and Xzibit. All songs on album were perfect and I think that all of you know "Still D.R.E." and "Next Episode".

Dre had to focus on other rappers so he didn't manage to finish his album 'Detox". But meanwhile he worked with 50 Cent, The Game, Missy Eliot, Truth Hurts, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake...

The movie about NWA "Straight Outta Compton" was filmed in 2015 as Dre's final album "Compton".

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Check the covers of his solo albums:

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Check also:

HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s #1 - Onyx
HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s #2 - Notorious BIG
HIP HOP LEGENDS OF 90s #3- Cypress Hill

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