This article is about the Los Angeles rapper and producer Dr. Dre. For the New York radio and television presenter, see Doctor Dre
Dr. Dre (born Andre Romel Young on February 18, 1965, in Compton, Los Angeles, California) is an African-American record producer, rapper, and record executive, and is one of the wealthiest, most influential, most successful and well-known producers in the field of hip hop music.
Dre became famous as a member of iconic gangsta rap group N.W.A, continuing his success as a best-selling solo rapper, and most famously, the founder of record labels Death Row Records and Aftermath Entertainment. He is notable for having launched the careers of rap superstars Snoop Dogg and Eminem, and is widely regarded as one of hip hop's greatest producers. The artists on his sizeable Aftermath roster today include multi-platinum artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent, and more recently Busta Rhymes, Eve, The Game and of course Dr. Dre himself.
Dr. Dre has made only two albums in solo, The Chronic and 2001.
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 which created the prototype for much of what was termed "gangsta rap" in the 1990s. On the other hand, Dre's rapping style and image was still very much evolving at the time. Take, for example, his verse on the song "Express Yourself" off the album Straight Outta Compton: Some drop science; while I'm droppin' english Even if Yella, makes it a-capella I still express, yo, I don't smoke weed or cess Cause it's known to give a brother brain damage And brain damage on the mic don't manage - NUTHIN but makin' a sucka and you equal Don't be another sequel..