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Quick Facts
- NAME: Dr. Dre
- OCCUPATION: Music Producer, Rapper
- BIRTH DATE: February 18, 1965 (Age: 48)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Compton, California
- Full Name: Andre Romelle Young
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius
Best Known For
Rapper-producer Dr. Dre first made it big with hip hop group N.W.A. in 1980s. He has also enjoyed success as a solo act and worked with Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.
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Play NowAndre Romelle Young. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:03, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628.
Andre Romelle Young. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"Andre Romelle Young." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 10:03 http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628.
"Andre Romelle Young," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"Andre Romelle Young," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628 (accessed May 22, 2013).
Andre Romelle Young [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628.
Andre Romelle Young, http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628 (last visited May 22, 2013).
Andre Romelle Young. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dr-dre-507628. Accessed May 22, 2013.
Synopsis
Gangsta rap pioneer Dr. Dre was born on February 18, 1965. A music fan from the start, Dr. Dre started working as a DJ in his teens. His first major success came with the rap group N.W.A. Dr. Dre co-founded Death Row Records in 1991. In 1992, his first solo album The Chronic became a huge hit. Dr. Dre started up Aftermath Entertainment in 1996 and signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his label.
Early Years
Born Andre Romelle Young, Dr. Dre came from a musical background. Both of his parents were singers. His mother, Verna, quit her group, the Four Aces, shortly before Dre was born. His middle name comes from one of his father Theodore's bands, the Romells.
After his parents split up, Dre lived with his mother who remarried several times. They moved around frequently, and at one point lived at the Wilmington Arms housing project in the Compton area. At Centennial High School, Dre showed a talent for drafting, but he paid little attention to his other course work. He transferred to Fremont High School and then went to the Chester Adult School. But his interests didn't lie in schoolwork—he wanted to make music. Dre received a music mixer for Christmas in 1984 and soon turned his family's home into his studio. For hours on end, he would work his magic, taking pieces of different songs and sounds to make his own sound.
Dr. Dre started hanging out L.A. nightclub Eve After Dark, where eventually got his chance to work the turntables. He joined the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which performed in nightclubs, and developed the rap persona of Dr. Dre, the Master of Mixology. His new moniker was inspired in part by basketball star Julius "Dr. J." Erving.
A Leading Rap Pioneer
Dr. Dre teamed up with fellow rappers Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Yella, MC Ren, the Arabian Prince and the D.O.C. to form N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) in 1985. With his new group, he was able to produce a more hard-hitting sound. N.W.A.'s lyrics were equally harsh and explicit, reflecting life on the streets.
The group's second album Straight Outta Compton (1988) sold more than 2 million copies and marked the arrival of a new genre—gangsta rap. One track, "F*** tha Police," ignited a firestorm of controversy. The song, which explored tensions between black youth and the police, was thought to incite violence. The FBI even sent a warning letter to Ruthless Records and its parent company about the song.
Breaking out on his own and on a new record label, Dr. Dre hit the top of the hip-hop charts with The Chronic on Death Row Records in 1992. The biggest single from the album was "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang," which featured Snoop Dogg, then a little-known rapper. With this latest release, Dr. Dre helped introduce a new style called G-funk, which incorporated musical samples and melodies from funk with gangster rap. Dr. Dre had always admired the work of such acts as Parliament and Funkadelic.
Dr. Dre released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999. Selling millions of copies, the recording proved to be a hit on both the hip-hop and pop charts.
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