Dr. Dre

Rapper and music producer

• Born: February 18, 1965
• Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

One of the seminal figures in the development of the gangsta rap musical genre, Dr. Dre produced many successful albums and helped launch the careers of many other important rap musicians.

Early Life

Rapper and music producer. The man who would become known in the music industry as Dr. Dre was born in Los Angeles in 1965 with the name Andre Romelle Young, the son of Theodore and Verna Young of nearby Compton, where he would grow up. He was nicknamed “Dre,” short for Andre. His mother was only sixteen when she gave birth to him, and his parents divorced before he reached his third birthday. Verna soon remarried and had three more children with her new husband, Curtis Crayon. Only one of Dre’s half-siblings, Shameka, reached adulthood. Meanwhile, Verna remarried again, to Warren Griffin.

Dre’s early life was tough. He was born during the year of the Watts Riot, just north of Compton, and grew up witnessing gang violence on Compton’s streets. He often turned to music and sports to get away from the violence, but the everyday disturbances never left his consciousness. As he grew older and his passion for music expanded, the sights and sounds of Compton’s mean streets—gunfire, gang violence, drug deals, and death—evolved into a new musical genre that became known as “gangsta rap.”

By the time Dre was a teenager, his love for sports and music were merging. He began working as a disc jockey, or deejay, at local parties, using mixed tapes he put together in his basement and a local club’s studio. He performed under the name Dr. J—a tribute to his favorite basketball player, Julius Erving, who was well known as Dr. J. Compton’s “Dr. J” eventually morphed into “Dr. Dre.” Through 1981, Dre spent most of his free time fine-tuning his craft as a deejay. By 1982, he was earning enough money to consider making music his career.

Life’s Work

Dre began working at a club, Eve After Dark, where he met many rappers. After graduating from high school in 1983, he began working regularly with a group of up-and-coming young rappers who called themselves the World Class Wreckin’ Cru. The group included DJ Yella, Shakespeare, and Cli-N-Tel. Dr. Dre’s work as the group’s deejay was influential in its early success. The group sold more than fifty thousand copies of its self-produced single “Surgery” and appeared to be on its way to stardom. Dre left the World Class Wreckin’ Cru soon after, apparently because the rest of the group refused to perform songs he had written. His decision to strike out on his own changed the music industry forever.

Dre next formed the group N.W.A (Niggaz wit Attitudes) with collaborators Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. N.W.A’s first single, “Boyz-N-the-Hood,” was an instant success, followed by “Straight Outta Compton” and controversial hit songs related to police violence that eventually prompted protest by antiviolence groups, law-enforcement organizations, and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The controversy drew mainstream attention to anger within African American communities plagued by police brutality. Some police organizations openly fired back by promising to harass drivers violating city noise ordinances while playing N.W.A music loudly. However, the publicity only increased N.W.A’s record sales and popularity among both Black and White youths.

In the early 1990s, members of N.W.A began to part ways. Ice Cube left after a financial dispute, and Dr. Dre and Eazy-E soon began feuding over Dre’s contract. Eazy-E claimed he was forced by threats of violence to release Dre from his contract; however, a court dismissed his claims. Nevertheless, the feud between Eazy and Dre continued until the former’s death in 1995. Dre’s departure from N.W.A allowed for the beginning of his new career path. Dre and Marion “Suge” Knight founded the gangsta rap music label Death Row Records in 1991. Dre’s first single, “Nuthin’ but a G Thang,” became an instant classic, selling more than one million copies and making fellow West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg (then performing under the name Snoop Doggy Dogg) a star. His debut solo album, The Chronic (1992), was similarly successful. In 1993, Dre won a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance.

Dre next produced Snoop Dogg’s debut album, Doggystyle (1993), and worked with a number of other Death Row artists. The label was at the forefront of gangsta rap in the early 1990s, but it also developed a reputation for legal entanglements. Dre’s relationship with Knight soured and in 1995, he left to form his own record label, Aftermath Entertainment.

The next three years were uneventful for Dr. Dre; he released a compilation album to mixed reviews and looked to leave behind the gangsta rap genre. In 1999, on the advice of music executive Jimmy Iovine, Dre signed Eminem, a White rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Eminem’s first single, “Slim Shady,” produced by Dr. Dre, was an instant success and renewed Dre’s reputation as a star-making producer. Dre and Eminem quickly released a second single, “Forget about Dre,” which asserted Dre’s continued relevance to the world of hip-hop. Meanwhile, Dr. Dre produced songs for such artists as Mary J. Blige, Eve, Gwen Stefani, and other new rappers. Soon, he had returned to mainstream popularity. In 1999, he produced his second official solo album, 2001, which generated several hits and featured Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and other popular artists.

Dre returned to producing and shepherding new artists, producing hits for rappers such as 50 Cent and the Game. He also began a minor acting career, appearing in films such as Set It Off (1996) and Training Day (2001). His many awards include Grammy Awards for best producer, best solo rap artist, and best songwriter. However, perhaps his greatest success of the new century was his and Iovine's creation in 2008 of Beats Electronics, which featured headphones that quickly earned the reputation as a premier brand on the market. In 2014, Dre and Iovine sold the company to Apple for more than $3 billion. In 2015, Dre and Ice Cube produced the biopic Straight Outta Compton about N.W.A. The same year Dre released his third studio album, Compton, which he claimed would be his last. Though he remained hugely successful—he was often ranked as one of the wealthiest figures in the rap world—he claimed to struggle with social anxiety and stayed relatively reclusive; allegations of past domestic abuse also clouded his image.

As part of N.W.A Dre was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. He reportedly was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm in January 2021. However, he recovered, and Dre, along with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent, performed at the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Significance

As a rapper and producer, Dr. Dre contributed significantly to the popular music of the late 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s. In addition to his own work with N.W.A and as a solo artist, he introduced rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem to mainstream audiences. His signature bass-heavy style became synonymous with West Coast rap, although his work extended beyond the West Coast and the rap genre to pop and rhythm and blues. Dre’s remarkable ability to stay relevant over the decades is a testament to his talent and work ethic. He is often considered among the most influential figures in music history, for example, being included on Rolling Stone's list of the one hundred greatest musical artists of all time.

Bibliography

Aswad, Jem, and Andrew Wallenstein. “Dr. Dre Selling Catalog Assets to Universal Music and Shamrock Holdings in $200 Million-Plus Deal.” Variety, 11 Jan. 2023, variety.com/2023/music/news/dr-dre-selling-catalog-universal-shamrock-1235486661/. Accessed 17 Apr. 2023.

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dr. Dre." AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/dr-dre-mn0000805274/biography. Accessed 23 July 2021.

Borgmeyer, John, and Holly Lang. Dr. Dre: A Biography. Westport: Greenwood, 2006.

Griffin, Verna. Long Road Outta Compton: Dr. Dre’s Mom on Family, Fame, and Terrible Tragedy. New York: Da Capo, 2008.

Marcovitz, Hal. Dr. Dre. Philadelphia: Mason Crest, 2007.

Ro, Ronin. Dr. Dre: The Biography. New York: Thunder’s Mouth, 2007.

Westhoff, Ben. Original Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap. New York: Hachette, 2016.

Williams, Bruce, and Donnell Alexander. Rollin’ with Dre—The Unauthorized Account: An Insider’s Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop. New York: One World/Ballantine, 2008.