Dr. Dre
American rap star Andre Young aka Dr. Dre, born in 1965, started his career in the early 80's as a DJ in an L.A. nightclub called Eve After Dark. In 1984 he joined the World Class Wrecking Cru which was a popular L.A. rap band, which he left the following year. In 1986 Dre joined the infamous N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude). Dre made himself a very popular producer and the N.W.A. albums have been very successful. In 1991 the last N.W.A. album called NIGGAZ 4 LIFE has been released and then Dre left the band. The following year saw the release of his solo debut THE CHRONIC, which has become one of the most important rap records. Introducing a new sound - the G-Funk - and a young rapper calling himself Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dre almost re-invented the sound of hip hop. He also produced Snoop's solo debut DOGGYSTYLE which became the fastest selling rap record ever and had two more big hits in the mid-90's called "Keep Their Heads Ringing" and "California Love" with the late Tupac Shakur. After that Dre got arrested for a couple of months and then moved to New York in 1996 starting his own label The Aftermath. He married Michel'le, a singer he also had produced in the 80's, and tried to make a new start without that gangsta image from L.A.. After releasing only two minor successful singles ("Been There, Done That" and "Zoom" with LL Cool J) he finally made a comeback in the late 90's when he discovered a new talented rapper called Eminem. At the end of '99 Dre also released his long-awaited follow-up to THE CHRONIC called THE CHRONIC - 2001 on which he gets accompanied by hip hop's new star Eminem and Snoop Dogg (as he calls himself now), after these 2 friends had some trouble because of Dre leaving the West Coast. That album finally brought Dr. Dre back into the spotlight and into the charts and at the end of 2000 the remaining members of the N.W.A. will be releasing a comeback album with Snoop Dogg replacing the late Eazy E.