SNOOP DOGG JOE COOL T-SHIRT Large L Tha Dogg Collection Death Row cartoon dog

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195606740704 SNOOP DOGG JOE COOL T-SHIRT Large L Tha Dogg Collection Death Row cartoon dog. Singles: "Woman To Woman", "Natural Born Killaz", "U Better Recognize", "Murder Was the Case", "What Would You Do?". Released: February 13, 1996. "Still D.R.E.". Singles: "Still Ballin'", "Thugz Mansion", "Who Do U Believe In?". Check out my other new & used items>>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A piece from Darryl Daniel's Tha Dogg Collection 2022 JOE COOL "DOGGYSTYLE SNOOP" T-SHIRT DETAILS: Pair with your khakis and gold leaf ! Darryl "Joe Cool" Daniel brings cartoon Snoop all the way back with his Tha Dogg Collection line of products that celebrate the early years of the one and only, Dogg Father. Darryl Daniel is the artist who created the iconic imagery for Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle , and ultimately helped to bring West Coast rap music to the masses. The t-shirt graphic depicts "Snoop Dog" chillin' outside near his doghouse, throwing up signs while sporting a gray and blue (of course) flannel, dark pants, and 3-stripes "Addidas" with blue laces (of course). Boxing in the image on the left side and bottom are graffiti style, big block letters that spell out "SNOOP DOGGY DOGG". Could it really be a true Snoop Dogg product if there isn't a marijuana reference? Well, that's why "Snoop Dog" is rocking a weed leaf hat and gold chain - fresh, dressed like a million bucks ! Size: Men's Slim Fit Large (L). See photo #2 for measurements. A must-have for Snoop-D-O-Double-G fanatics, especially those whose favorite album is Doggystyle . CONDITION: Lke-new without tag. The t-shirt appears to be in new condition but it has no tag and there's a small hole just below the back neck stitches (see photo #6). Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion),[note 1] is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he was featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and then on Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic. Broadus has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide.[2][3] His accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 nominations at the Grammy Awards. Broadus' debut solo album, Doggystyle, produced by Dr. Dre, was released by Death Row Records in November 1993, and debuted at number one on the popular albums chart, the Billboard 200, and on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Selling 800,000 copies in its first week, Doggystyle was certified quadruple-platinum in 1994 and featured the singles "What's My Name?" and "Gin and Juice". In 1994, Death Row Records released a soundtrack, by Broadus, for the short film Murder Was the Case, starring Snoop. In 1996, his second album, Tha Doggfather, also debuted at number one on both charts, with "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" as the lead single. The next year, the album was certified double-platinum. After leaving Death Row Records in January 1998, Broadus signed with No Limit Records, releasing three Snoop albums: Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998), No Limit Top Dogg (1999), and Tha Last Meal (2000). In 2002, he signed with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records, releasing Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss. In 2004, he signed to Geffen Records, releasing his next three albums: R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, then Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, and Ego Trippin'. Priority Records released his album Malice 'n Wonderland during 2009, followed by Doggumentary during 2011. Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows, including Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, and Dogg After Dark. He also coaches a youth football league and high-school football team. In September 2009, EMI hired him as the chairman of a reactivated Priority Records.[4] In 2012, after a trip to Jamaica, Broadus announced a conversion to Rastafari and a new alias, Snoop Lion. As Snoop Lion he released a reggae album, Reincarnated, and a documentary film of the same name, about his Jamaican experience, in early 2013. His 13th studio album, Bush, was released in May 2015 and marked a return of the Snoop Dogg name. His 14th solo studio album, Coolaid, was released in July 2016. In March 2016, the night before WrestleMania 32 in Arlington, Texas, he was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame, having made several appearances for the company, including as master of ceremonies during a match at WrestleMania XXIV.[5] In 2018, Snoop announced that he was "a born-again Christian" and released his first gospel album Bible of Love.[6] On November 19, 2018, Snoop Dogg was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[7] He released his seventeenth solo album, I Wanna Thank Me, in 2019.[8] In 2022, Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row Records from MNRK Music Group (formerly known as eOne Music), and released his 19th studio album, BODR.[9] Early life Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. was born on October 20, 1971, in Long Beach, California, to Vernell Varnado and Beverly Tate.[10][11] Vernell, who was a Vietnam War veteran, singer, and mail carrier, left the family only three months after his birth, and thus he was named after his stepfather, Calvin Cordozar Broadus Sr. (1948–1984).[12] His father remained largely absent from his life. As a boy, his parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" due to his love and likeness of the cartoon character from Peanuts.[13] He was the second of his mother's three sons. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975.[10] When Broadus was very young, he began singing and playing piano at the Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church. In sixth grade, he began rapping.[14][15] As a child, Broadus sold candy, delivered newspapers, and bagged groceries to help his family make ends meet. He was described as having been a dedicated student and enthusiastic churchgoer, active in choir and football. Broadus said in 1993 that he began engaging in unlawful activities and joining gangs in his teenage years, despite his mother's preventative efforts.[16] Broadus would frequently rap in school. As he recalled: "When I rapped in the hallways at school I would draw such a big crowd that the principal would think there was a fight going on. It made me begin to realize that I had a gift. I could tell that my raps interested people and that made me interested in myself."[16] As a teenager, Broadus frequently ran into trouble with the law. He was a member of the Rollin' 20s Crips gang in the Eastside neighborhood of Long Beach;[17] although in 1993 he denied the frequent police and media reports by saying that he never joined a gang.[14] Shortly after graduating from high school at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1989, he was arrested for possession of cocaine, and for the next three years, was frequently incarcerated, including at Wayside Jail.[12] With his two cousins, Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead, and friend Warren G, Snoop recorded homemade tapes; the four called their group 213 after the area code of their native Long Beach at that time. One of Snoop's early solo freestyles over "Hold On" by En Vogue was on a mixtape that fortuitously wound up with Dr. Dre; the influential producer was so impressed by the sample that he called Snoop to audition. Former N.W.A affiliate The D.O.C. taught him to structure his lyrics and separate the themes into verses, hooks, and choruses.[18] Music career 1992–1998: Death Row, Doggystyle, and Tha Doggfather When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with him, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic along with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. This intense exposure played a considerable part in making Snoop Dogg's debut album, Doggystyle, the critical and commercial success that it was.[12] Snoop Dogg in 1998 Fueling the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months.[12] Gangsta rap became the center of arguments about censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians.[19] Unlike much of the harder-edged gangsta rap artists, Snoop Dogg seemed to show his softer side, according to music journalist Chuck Philips. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."[14] Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and others. In 1993, Broadus was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Philip Woldermariam, a member of a rival gang who was actually killed by Snoop’s bodyguard, McKinley Lee, aka Malik.[20] Broadus was acquitted on February 20, 1996. According to Broadus, after he was acquitted he did not want to continue living the "gangsta" lifestyle, because he felt that continuing his behavior would result in his assassination or a prison term.[21] A short film about Snoop Dogg's murder trial, Murder Was the Case, was released in 1994, along with an accompanying soundtrack. On July 6, 1995, Doggy Style Records, Inc., a record label founded by Snoop Dogg, was registered with the California Secretary of State as business entity number C1923139.[22] After his acquittal, he, the mother of his son, and their kennel of 20 pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed the Gap Band Charlie Wilson as one of its first artists.[23] He collaborated with fellow rap artist Tupac Shakur on the 1996 single "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted". This was one of Shakur's last songs while alive; he was shot on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas, dying six days later. Snoop Dogg (left) with Maynard James Keenan in 2001 By the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of appearing to live the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate Tupac Shakur and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight.[12] Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier in 1996 because of a contract dispute, so Snoop Dogg co-produced Tha Doggfather with Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh. This album featured a distinct change of style from Doggystyle, and the leadoff single, "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", featured a collaboration with Charlie Wilson The album sold reasonably well but was not as successful as its predecessor. Tha Doggfather had a somewhat softer approach to the G-funk style. After Dr. Dre withdrew from Death Row Records, Snoop realized that he was subject to an ironclad time-based contract (i.e., that Death Row practically owned anything he produced for a number of years), and refused to produce anymore tracks for Suge Knight other than the insulting "f Death Row" until his contract expired.[17] In an interview with Neil Strauss in 1998, Snoop Dogg said that though he had been given lavish gifts by his former label, they had withheld his royalty payments.[24] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that after Tha Doggfather, Snoop Dogg began "moving away from his gangsta roots toward a calmer lyrical aesthetic":[12] for instance, Snoop participated in the 1997 Lollapalooza concert tour, which featured mainly alternative rock music. Troy J. Augusto of Variety noticed that Snoop's set at Lollapalooza attracted "much dancing, and, strangely, even a small mosh pit" in the audience.[25] 1998–2006: Signing with No Limit and continued success Snoop Dogg performs in Hawaii for U.S. military members in 2005. Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in March 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told later that year. He said at the time that "Snoop Dogg is universal so he can fit into any camp-especially a camp that knows how to handmake stuff[;] [a]nd, No Limit hand makes material. They make material fittin' to the artist and they know what type of ish Snoop Dogg is supposed to be on. That's why it's so tight." [sic][26] His other albums on No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,510,000 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 2,100,000).[12] In 1999, his autobiography, Tha Doggfather, was published. In 2002, he released the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, on Priority/Capitol/EMI, selling over 1,310,000 copies. The album featured the hit singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", featuring guest vocals by Pharrell. In the same year, he featured in the remix of Welcome to Atlanta by Jermaine Dupri. By this stage in his career, Snoop Dogg had left behind his "gangster" image and embraced a "pimp" image. In June 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment, both distributed by Interscope Records; Star Trak is headed by producer duo the Neptunes,[27] which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one. His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at No. 2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,730,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at No.4 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included the single "Groupie Luv". Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor" along with fellow rappers Lil Jon, Xzibit, and David Banner. Snoop Dogg appeared on two tracks from Ice Cube's 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, including "Go to Church", and on several tracks on Tha Dogg Pound's Cali Iz Active the same year. His song "Real Talk" was leaked on the Internet in the summer of 2006 and a video was later released on the Internet. "Real Talk" was dedicated to former Crips leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California. Two other singles on which Snoop made a guest performance were "Keep Bouncing" by Too $hort (also with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas) and "Gangsta Walk" by Coolio. Snoop's 2006 album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment debuted on the Billboard 200 at No.5 and sold over 850,000 copies. The album and the second single "That's That ish" featuring R. Kelly were well received by critics. In the album, he collaborated in a video with E-40 and other West Coast rappers on the single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)". 2007–2012: Ego Trippin', Malice n Wonderland and Doggumentary In July 2007, Snoop Dogg made history by becoming the first artist to release a track as a ringtone before its release as a single, "It's the D.O.G." On July 7, 2007, Snoop Dogg performed at the Live Earth concert, Hamburg.[28] Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie, Singh Is Kinng; the song title is also "Singh is Kinng". He appears in the movie as himself.[29] The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008, on Junglee Music Records.[30] He released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy). Snoop was appointed an executive position at Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland, was released on December 8, 2009. The first single from the album, "Gangsta Luv", featuring The-Dream, peaked at No.35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at No.23 on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies its first week, making it his lowest charting album. His third single, "I Wanna Rock", peaked at No.41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The fourth single from Malice n Wonderland, titled "Pronto", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, was released on iTunes on December 1, 2009. Snoop re-released the album under the name More Malice. Snoop collaborated with Katy Perry on "California Gurls", the first single from her album Teenage Dream, which was released on May 7, 2010.[31] Snoop can also be heard on the track "Flashing" by Dr. Dre and on Curren$y's song "Seat Change". He was also featured on a new single from Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, titled "Get 'em Girls" (released September 2010). Snoop's latest effort was backing American recording artist, Emii, on her second single entitled "Mr. Romeo" (released October 26, 2010, as a follow-up to "Magic"). Snoop also collaborated with American comedy troupe the Lonely Island in their song "Turtleneck & Chain", in their 2011 album Turtleneck & Chain. Snoop Dogg's eleventh studio album is Doggumentary. The album went through several tentative titles including Doggystyle 2: Tha Doggumentary and Doggumentary Music: 0020 before being released under the final title Doggumentary during March 2011.[32] Snoop was featured on Gorillaz' album Plastic Beach on a track called: "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, he also completed another track with them entitled "Sumthing Like This Night" which does not appear on Plastic Beach, yet does appear on Doggumentary. He also appears on the latest Tech N9ne album All 6's and 7's (released June 7, 2011) on a track called "Pornographic" which also features E-40 and Krizz Kaliko. 2012–2013: Reincarnated and 7 Days of Funk Snoop Dogg as Snoop Lion, 2013 On February 4, 2012, Snoop Dogg announced a documentary, Reincarnated, alongside his new upcoming studio album entitled Reincarnated. The film was released March 21, 2013, with the album slated for release April 23, 2013. On July 20, 2012, Snoop Dogg released a new reggae single, "La La La" under the pseudonym Snoop Lion.[33] Three other songs were also announced to be on the album: "No Guns Allowed", "Ashtrays and Heartbreaks", and "Harder Times".[34] On July 31, 2012, Snoop introduced a new stage name, Snoop Lion. He told reporters that he was rechristened Snoop Lion by a Rastafari priest in Jamaica.[35] In response to Frank Ocean coming out, Snoop said hip hop was ready to accept a gay rapper.[36] Snoop recorded an original song for the 2012 fighting game Tekken Tag Tournament 2, titled "Knocc 'Em Down"; and makes a special appearance as a non-playable character in "The Snoop Dogg Stage" arena.[37][38] In September of the same year, Snoop released a compilation of electronic music entitled Loose Joints under the moniker DJ Snoopadelic, stating the influence of George Clinton's Funkadelic.[39] In an interview with The Fader magazine, Snoop stated "Snoop Lion, Snoop Dogg, DJ Snoopadelic—they only know one thing: make music that's timeless and bangs."[39] In December 2012, Snoop released his second single from Reincarnated, "Here Comes the King". It was also announced that Snoop worked a deal with RCA Records to release Reincarnated in early 2013.[40] Also in December 2012, Snoop Dogg released a That's My Work a collaboration rap mixtape with Tha Dogg Pound.[41] In an interview with Hip Hop Weekly on June 17, producer Symbolyc One (S1) announced that Snoop was working on his final album under his rap moniker Snoop Dogg; "I've been working with Snoop, he's actually working on his last solo album as Snoop Dogg."[42] In September 2013, Snoop released a collaboration album with his sons as Tha Broadus Boyz titled Royal Fam.[43] On October 28, 2013, Snoop Dogg released another mixtape entitled That's My Work 2 hosted by DJ Drama.[44] Snoop formed a funk duo with musician Dâm-Funk called 7 Days of Funk and released their eponymous debut album on December 10, 2013. 2014–2017: Bush, Coolaid, and Neva Left In August 2014, a clip surfaced online featuring a sneak preview of a song Snoop had recorded for Pharrell.[45] Snoop's Pharrell Williams-produced album Bush was released on May 12, 2015,[46] with the first single "Peaches N Cream" having been released on March 10, 2015. On June 13, 2016, Snoop Dogg announced the release date for his album Coolaid, which was released on July 1, 2016.[47] He headlined a "unity party" for donors at Philly's Electric Factory on July 28, 2016, the last day of the Democratic National Convention.[48] Released March 1, 2017, through his own Doggy Style Records, "Promise You This" precedes the release of his upcoming Coolaid film based on the album of the same name. Snoop Dogg released his fifteenth studio album Neva Left in May 2017.[49] 2018–2021: Bible of Love, I Wanna Thank Me, and From tha Streets 2 tha Suites He released a gospel album titled Bible of Love on March 16, 2018.[50][51] Snoop was featured on Gorillaz' latest album The Now Now on a track called: "Hollywood" with Jamie Principle.[52] In November 2018, Snoop Dogg announced plans for his Puff Puff Pass tour, which features Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Too $hort, Warren G, Kurupt, and others. The tour ran from November 24 to January 5.[7] Snoop Dogg was featured on Lil Dicky's April 2019 single "Earth", where he played the role of a marijuana plant in both the song's lyrics and animated video.[53] Snoop Dogg was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[54] On July 3, 2019, Snoop Dogg released the title track from his upcoming 17th studio album, I Wanna Thank Me.[55][56] The album was released on August 16, 2019.[57] Snoop Dogg collaborated with Vietnamese singer Son Tung M-TP in "Hãy trao cho anh" ("Give it to Me"), which was officially released on July 1, 2019.[58] As of October 3, 2019, the music video has amassed over 158 million views on YouTube. Early in 2020, it was announced that Snoop had rescheduled his tour in support of his I Wanna Thank You album and documentary of the same name. The tour has been rescheduled to commence in February 2021.[59] In May 2020, Snoop released the song "Que Maldicion", a collaboration with Banda Sinaloense de Sergio Lizarraga, peaking at number one on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.[60] On April 20, 2021, Snoop Dogg released his eighteenth studio album From tha Streets 2 tha Suites. It was announced on April 7, 2021, via Instagram.[61] The album received generally positive reviews from critics. During an interview on the September 27 airing of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg announced Algorithm. The album was released on November 19, 2021.[62] 2022: Super Bowl LVI halftime show performance, BODR and Missionary Snoop Dogg performed at the halftime show of Super Bowl LVI alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.[63] In January 2022, Snoop Dogg announced that he would release his 19th studio album, BODR, on the same day as his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.[64] However, the album's release was pushed forward two days and was released on February 11, 2022.[65] On February 10, 2022, Snoop Dogg announced that he is officially in charge at Death Row Records.[66] On June 24, 2022, Snoop Dogg collaborated with Eminem on the track "From the D 2 the LBC", with a live-action/animated music video released the same day.[67] Later that year, Snoop Dogg has revealed he has a new album coming out called Missionary and it’s entirely produced by Dr. Dre. The album will be released via Death Row/Aftermath.[68][69] Other ventures Broadus has appeared in numerous films and television episodes throughout his career. His starring roles in film includes The Wash (with Dr. Dre) and the horror film Bones. He also co-starred with rapper Wiz Khalifa in the 2012 movie Mac and Devin Go to High School which a sequel has been announced.[70] He has had various supporting and cameo roles in film, including Half Baked, Training Day, Starsky & Hutch, and Brüno. Snoop Dogg at WrestleMania XXIV at Orlando's Citrus Bowl with Ashley Massaro and tag team partner Maria, March 30, 2008 He has starred in three television programs: sketch-comedy show Doggy Fizzle Televizzle,[71] variety show Dogg After Dark,[72] and reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood (also starring Snoop's wife and children).[73] He has starred in episodes of King of the Hill, Las Vegas, and Monk, one episode of Robot Chicken,[74] as well as three episodes of One Life to Live.[75] He has participated in three Comedy Central Roasts, for Flavor Flav, Donald Trump, and Justin Bieber. Cameo television appearances include episodes of The L Word, Weeds, Entourage, I Get That a Lot, Monk, and The Price Is Right. He has also appeared in an episode of the YouTube video series, Epic Rap Battles of History as Moses.[76] In 2000, Broadus (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN Awards.[77] Snoop then directed Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").[78] Broadus founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. Their debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G, starring Lil Jon and Trina.[79] On March 30, 2008, he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.[80] At WrestleMania 32, he accompanied his cousin Sasha Banks to the ring for her match, rapping over her theme music. He was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.[81] In December 2013, Broadus performed at the annual Kennedy Center Honors concert, honoring jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. After his performance, Snoop credited Hancock with "inventing hip-hop".[82] On several occasions, Broadus has appeared at the Players Ball in support of Bishop Don Magic Juan.[83][84] Juan appeared on Snoop's videos for "Boss Playa", "A.D.I.D.A.C.", "P.I.M.P. (Remix)", "Nuthin' Without Me" and "A Pimp's Christmas Song". Snoop Dogg speaks onstage during day one of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015. In January 2016, a Change.org petition was created in the hopes of having Broadus narrate the entire Planet Earth series. The petition comes after Snoop narrated a number of nature clips on Jimmy Kimmel Live![85] In April 2016, Broadus performed "Straight outta Compton" and "F tha Police" at Coachella, during a reunion of N.W.A. members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and MC Ren.[86] He hosted a Basketball fundraiser "Hoops 4 Water" for Flint, Michigan.[87] The event occurred on May 21, 2016, and was run by former Toronto Raptors star and Flint native Morris Peterson.[87] In the fall of 2016, VH1 premiered a new show featuring Broadus and his friend Martha Stewart at called Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, featuring games, recipes, and musical guests.[88] Broadus and Stewart also later starred together in a Super Bowl commercial for T-Mobile during Super Bowl LI in February 2017.[89] With Stewart, Broadus also created a fried chicken recipe, with barbecue flavor potato chips as an added ingredient in the batter.[90] In 2017 Broadus hosted a revival of The Joker's Wild, which spent its first two seasons on TBS before moving to TNT in January 2019.[91] He is in the film, Sponge on the Run. In October 2018, Broadus released a cookbook, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen, containing "50 recipes inspired by Snoop’s family staples and favorite comfort foods, with instructions to make everything from fried bologna sandwiches and baked mac and cheese, to soft tacos and orange chicken."[92] The book is coauthored with Ryan Ford and has a foreword by Martha Stewart.[93] The cookbook had a wave of over 200,000 sales in 2020 and entered the Amazon bestseller list in 2022 after Snoop Dogg's Super Bowl and Puppy Bowl appearances.[94][92] In early 2020, Broadus launched his debut wine release, under the name "Snoop Cali Red", in a partnership with the Australian wine brand, 19 Crimes. The red wine blend features Snoop's face on the label.[95] Broadus provided commentary for Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., who some pundits described as having "won" the night through his colorful commentary and reactions.[96] At one point, Snoop described Tyson and Jones as "like two of my uncles fighting at the barbecue"; he also began singing a hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", during the undercard fight between Jake Paul and Nate Robinson, after Robinson was knocked down.[96] Broadus made a special guest appearance in All Elite Wrestling on the January 6, 2021, episode of AEW Dynamite, titled New Year's Smash.[97][98] During this appearance, Snoop appeared in the corner of Cody Rhodes during Rhodes's match with Matt Sydal. He later gave Serpentico a Frog Splash, with Rhodes then delivering a three-count.[99][100] In June 2021, Broadus officially joined Def Jam Recordings as its new Executive Creative and Strategic Consultant, a role allowing him to strategically work across the label’s executive team and artist roster. His immediate focus was A&R and creative development, reporting to Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Sir Lucian Grainge as well as Def Jam interim Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Harleston.[101] On November 12, 2021, Snoop Dogg announced the signing of Benny the Butcher on Joe Rogan's podcast.[102] In February 2022, it was announced that Broadus had fully acquired Death Row Records from its previous owners, The MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music). The label was also revived when Snoop Dogg released his 20th album BODR.[103][104][105] On 14 April 2022, Broadus was added to Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone as an operator as part of the Tracer Pack: Snoop Dogg Operator Bundle available from the in game store.[106] Broadus has been an active entrepreneur and investor. In 2009, he was appointed creative chairman of Priority Records.[108] In May 2013, Broadus and his brand manager Nick Adler released an app, Snoopify, that lets users plaster stickers of Snoop's face, joints or a walrus hat on photos. Adler built the app in May after discovering stickers in Japan. As of 2015, the app was generating $30,000 in weekly sales.[109] In October 2014, Reddit raised $50 million in a funding round led by Sam Altman and including investors Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Ron Conway, Snoop Dogg, and Jared Leto.[110][111] In April 2015, Broadus became a minority investor in his first investment venture Eaze, a California-based weed delivery startup that promises to deliver medical marijuana to persons' doorsteps in less than 10 minutes.[112][113][114] In October 2015, Broadus launched his new digital media business, Merry Jane, that focuses on news about marijuana. "Merry Jane is cannabis 2.0", he said in a promotional video for the media source. "A crossroads of pot culture, business, politics, health."[115] In November 2015, Broadus announced his new brand of cannabis products, Leafs By Snoop. The line of branded products includes marijuana flowers, concentrates and edibles. "Leafs By Snoop is truly the first mainstream cannabis brand in the world and proud to be a pioneer", he said. In such a way, Broadus became the first major celebrity to brand and market a line of legal marijuana products.[116] On March 30, 2016, Broadus was reported to be considering purchasing the famed soul food restaurant chain Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles out of bankruptcy.[117] In 2019, Broadus ventured into the video game business, creating his own esports league known as the "Gangsta Gaming League".[118][119] On March 7, 2022, it was announced that Broadus had joined FaZe Clan and would be a member of their Board of Directors.[120] On December 19, 2022, Snoop Dogg ran a poll asking if he should "run twitter". Out of 2.3 million users, 81% said yes.... Artistry Snoop Dogg had been mainly described as a hip hop,[126][127] West Coast hip hop,[126][128] g-funk,[12][129] and gangsta rap artist.[12] Kool Moe Dee ranks Broadus at No. 33 in his book There's a God on the Mic, and says he has "an ultra-smooth, laidback delivery"[130] and "flavor-filled melodic rhyming".[131] Peter Shapiro describes Broadus's delivery as a "molasses drawl"[132] and AllMusic notes his "drawled, laconic rhyming" style.[12] Kool Moe Dee refers to Snoop's use of vocabulary, saying he "keeps it real simple...he simplifies it and he's effective in his simplicity".[133] Broadus is known to freestyle some of his lyrics on the spot – in the book How to Rap, Lady of Rage says, "When I worked with him earlier in his career, that's how created his stuff... he would freestyle, he wasn't a writer then, he was a freestyler",[134] and The D.O.C. states, "Snoop's [rap] was a one take willy, but his ish was all freestyle. He hadn't written nothing down. He just came in and started busting. The song was "Tha Shiznit"—that was all freestyle. He started busting and when we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus and told Snoop to come back in. He did that throughout the record. That's when Snoop was in the zone then."[135] Peter Shapiro says that Broadus debuted on "Deep Cover" with a "shockingly original flow – which sounded like a Slick Rick born in South Carolina instead of South London"[136] and adds that he "showed where his style came from by covering Slick Rick's 'La Di Da Di'".[132] Referring to Snoop's flow, Kool Moe Dee calls him "one of the smoothest, funkiest flow-ers in the game".[131] How to Rap also notes that Snoop is known to use syncopation in his flow to give it a laidback quality,[137] as well as 'linking with rhythm' in his compound rhymes,[138] using alliteration,[139] and employing a "sparse" flow with good use of pauses.[140] Broadus listed his favorite rap albums for Hip Hop Connection: 10. Mixmaster Spade, The Genius Is Back 9. Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 8. Ice Cube, Death Certificate 7. 2Pac, Me Against the World 6. The Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die 5. N.W.A, Straight Outta Compton 4. Eric B. & Rakim, Paid in Full 3. Slick Rick, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick 2. Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle 1. Dr. Dre, The Chronic ("It's da illest ish")[141] Personal life Snoop Dogg in August 2009 Snoop married his high school girlfriend, Shante Taylor, on June 14, 1997.[142] On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Taylor, citing irreconcilable differences.[143] The couple however renewed vows on January 12, 2008.[144] They have three children together: sons Cordé (born August 21, 1994) and Cordell (born February 21, 1997), who quit football to pursue a career as a film maker, and daughter Cori (born June 22, 1999).[145] Snoop also has a son from a relationship with Laurie Holmond, Julian Corrie Broadus (born 1998). He is a first cousin of R&B singers Brandy and Ray J,[146] and NJPW professional wrestler Sasha Banks.[147] In 2015, Snoop became a grandfather, as his eldest son, Cordé Broadus, had a son with his girlfriend, Jessica Kyzer.[148] Cordé had another son, who died on September 25, 2019, ten days after birth.[149] Since the start of his career, Snoop has been an avowed cannabis smoker, making it one of the trademarks of his image. In 2002, he announced he was giving up cannabis for good;[150] that did not last long (a situation famously referenced in the 2004 Adam Sandler film 50 First Dates) and in 2013, he claimed to be smoking approximately 80 cannabis blunts a day.[151] He has been certified for medical cannabis in California to treat migraines since at least 2007.[152][153][154] Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who had superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying, "That ish was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin' layups for me. I was makin' 'em every time." On October 24, 2021, Snoop's mother, Beverly Tate, died.[155] Sports Snoop is an avid sports fan, including hometown teams Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, and USC Trojans, as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers.[156] He has stated that he began following the Steelers in the 1970s while watching the team with his grandfather.[157] He is also a fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and Dallas Cowboys, often wearing a No. 5 jersey, and has been seen at Raiders training camps.[158] He has shown affection for the New England Patriots, having been seen performing at Gillette Stadium.[159][160] He is an avid ice hockey fan,[161] sporting jerseys from the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Boston Bruins as well at the AHL's Springfield Indians in his 1994 music video "Gin and Juice". Snoop has been seen attending Los Angeles Kings games. On his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, Snoop and his family received hockey lessons from the Anaheim Ducks, then returned to the Honda Center to cheer on the Ducks against the Vancouver Canucks in the episode "Snow in da Hood".[162] Snoop appeared in the video game NHL 20 as both a guest commentator and a playable character in the "World of Chel" game mode.[163] Snoop is a certified football coach and has been head coach of his son Cordell's youth football teams.[164][165] Cordell played wide receiver and defensive back at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cordell played on the 2014 state championship team, and received football scholarship offers from Southern California, UCLA, Washington, Cal, Oregon State, Duke, and Notre Dame.[166][167][168][169][170] Cordell committed and signed a letter of intent to play for UCLA on February 4, 2015.[171] On August 14, 2015, UCLA announced that Cordell had left the UCLA football team "to pursue other passions in his life".[172] In 2022, Snoop signed with esports organization FaZe Clan as board of directors and content creator.[173] Since 2005, Snoop Dogg has been operating a youth football league in the Los Angeles area. He is a coach in the league, and one of the seasons he coached was documented in the Netflix documentary Coach Snoop. Snoop is a fan of Celtic F.C., a football club based in Glasgow, Scotland.[174] Religion In 2009, it was reported that Snoop was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day holiday, where he praised minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop said he was a member of the Nation, but declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.[175][176][177] Claiming to be "born again" in 2012, Snoop converted to the Rastafari movement,[178][179][180][181] switched the focus of his music to reggae[182] and changed his name to Snoop Lion after a trip to Jamaica. He released a reggae album, Reincarnated, saying, "I have always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated".[183] In January 2013, he was criticized by members of the Rastafari community in Jamaica, including reggae artist Bunny Wailer, for alleged failure to meet his commitments to the culture.[184] Snoop later dismissed the claims, stating his beliefs were personal and not up for outside judgment.[185] After releasing Bible of Love in early 2018 and performing in the 33rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Snoop Dogg told a TV One interviewer while speaking of his Gospel influences that he "always referred to [his] savior Jesus Christ" on most of his records, and that he had become "a born-again Christian".... Discography Logo used from 2004 until 2009 Logo used since 2009 Main article: Snoop Dogg discography See also: Tha Dogg Pound discography and Tha Eastsidaz discography Studio albums     Doggystyle (1993)     Tha Doggfather (1996)     Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)     No Limit Top Dogg (1999)     Tha Last Meal (2000)     Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)     R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004)     Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)     Ego Trippin' (2008)     Malice n Wonderland (2009)     Doggumentary (2011)     Reincarnated (2013)     Bush (2015)     Coolaid (2016)     Neva Left (2017)     Bible of Love (2018)     I Wanna Thank Me (2019)     From tha Streets 2 tha Suites (2021)     BODR (2022)     Missionary (TBD)[68] Collaboration albums     Tha Eastsidaz with Tha Eastsidaz (2000)     Duces 'n Trayz: The Old Fashioned Way with Tha Eastsidaz (2001)     The Hard Way with 213 (2004)     Mac & Devin Go to High School with Wiz Khalifa (2011)     7 Days of Funk with 7 Days of Funk (2013)     Royal Fam with Tha Broadus Boyz (2013)[43]     Cuzznz with Daz Dillinger (2016)     Snoop Cube 40 $hort with E-40, Ice Cube, and Too Short (2022)[259] Filmography Main article: Snoop Dogg filmography Awards and legacy Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Snoop Dogg The Washington Post, Billboard, and NME have called him a "West Coast icon";[260][261][262] and Press-Telegram, "an icon of gangsta rap".[263] In 2006, Vibe magazine called him "The King of the West Coast".[264] ABC News journalist Paul Donoughue, cited him among the 1990s acts that took hip-hop into the pop music charts.[265] Broadus received the BMI Icon Award in 2011.[266] In 2023, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[267] Broadus popularized the use of -izzle speak particularly in the pop and hip-hop music industry.[268] A type of infix, it first found popularity when used by Frankie Smith in his 1981 hit song "Double Dutch Bus". [269] The Guardian's Rob Fitzpatrick has credited his album Doggystyle for proving that rappers "could reinvent themselves", expanding rap's vocabulary, changing hip-hop fashions, and helping introduce a hip-hop genre called G-funk to a new generation.[270] The album has been cited as an influence by rapper Kendrick Lamar,[271] while fellow rappers ScHoolboy Q and Maxo Kream have also cited him as an influence." (wikipedia.org) "A T-shirt (also spelled tee-shirt or tee shirt), or tee for short, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a crew neck, which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generally made of a stretchy, light, and inexpensive fabric and are easy to clean. The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century and, in the mid-20th century, transitioned from undergarment to general-use casual clothing. They are typically made of cotton textile in a stockinette or jersey knit, which has a distinctively pliable texture compared to shirts made of woven cloth. Some modern versions have a body made from a continuously knitted tube, produced on a circular knitting machine, such that the torso has no side seams. The manufacture of T-shirts has become highly automated and may include cutting fabric with a laser or a water jet. T-shirts are inexpensive to produce and are often part of fast fashion, leading to outsized sales of T-shirts compared to other attire.[1] For example, two billion T-shirts are sold per year in the United States,[2] or the average person from Sweden buys nine T-shirts a year.[3] Production processes vary but can be environmentally intensive, and include the environmental impact caused by their materials, such as cotton which is both pesticide and water intensive.[4][5][6] History Simple, T-shaped top garments have been a part of human clothing since ancient times; garments similar to the T-shirt worn earlier in history are generally called tunics. The modern T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century. First, the one-piece union suit underwear was cut into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. With and without buttons, they were adopted by miners and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments. As slip-on garments without buttons, the earliest T-shirt dates back to sometime between the 1898 Spanish–American War and 1904, when the Cooper Underwear Company ran a magazine ad announcing a new product for bachelors. In the "before" photo, a man averts his eyes from the camera as if embarrassed; he has lost all the buttons on his undershirt and has safety-pinned its flaps together. In the "after" photo, a virile gentleman wears a "bachelor undershirt" stretchy enough to be pulled over the head. "No safety pins — no buttons — no needle — no thread", ran the slogan aimed at men with no wives who lacked sewing skills.[7] US Merchant Marine sailor in 1944 In 1913, the U.S. Navy first issued them as undergarments.[8] These were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a uniform. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their uniform jacket, thus wearing (and soiling) only the undershirt.[9] They soon became popular as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries, including agriculture. The T-shirt was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive; for those reasons, it became the shirt of choice for young boys. Boys' shirts were made in various colors and patterns. The word T-shirt became part of American English by the 1920s, and appeared in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.[8] Marlon Brando in the trailer for A Streetcar named Desire. By the Great Depression, the T-shirt was often the default garment to be worn when doing farm or ranch chores, as well as other times when modesty called for a torso covering but conditions called for lightweight fabrics.[9] Following World War II, it was worn by Navy men as undergarments and slowly became common to see veterans wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing. The shirts became even more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire, finally achieving status as fashionable, stand-alone, outerwear garments.[10] Often boys wore them while doing chores and playing outside, eventually opening up the idea of wearing them as general-purpose casual clothing. Printed T-shirts were in limited use by 1942 when an Air Corps Gunnery School T-shirt appeared on the cover of Life magazine.[11] In the 1960s, printed T-shirts gained popularity for self-expression as well as for advertisements, protests, and souvenirs. Current versions are available in many different designs and fabrics, and styles include crew-neck and V-neck shirts. T-shirts are among the most worn garments of clothing used today. T-shirts are especially popular with branding for companies or merchandise, as they are inexpensive to make and purchase. Trends A blue crew neck T-shirt T-shirts were originally worn as undershirts, but are now worn frequently as the only piece of clothing on the top half of the body, other than possibly a brassiere or, rarely, a waistcoat (vest). T-shirts have also become a medium for self-expression and advertising, with any imaginable combination of words, art and photographs on display.[12] A T-shirt typically extends to the waist. Variants of the T-shirt, such as the V-neck, have been developed. Hip hop fashion calls for tall-T shirts which may extend down to the knees. A similar item is the T-shirt dress or T-dress, a dress-length T-shirt that can be worn without pants.[13] Long T-shirts are also sometimes worn by women as nightgowns. A 1990s trend in women's clothing involved tight-fitting cropped T-shirt or crop tops short enough to reveal the midriff. Another less popular trend is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt of a contrasting color over a long-sleeved T-shirt, which is known as layering. T-shirts that are tight to the body are called fitted, tailored or baby doll T-shirts. With the rise of social media and video sharing sites also came numerous tutorials on DIY T-shirt projects.[14] These videos typically provided instructions on how to modify an old shirt into a new, more fashionable form. Expressive messages Since the 1960s, T-shirts have flourished as a form of personal expression.[12] Screen printed T-shirts have been a standard form of marketing for major American consumer products, such as Coca-Cola and Mickey Mouse, since the 1970s. It has also been commonly used to commemorate an event or to make a political or personal statement. Since the 1990s, it has become common practice for companies of all sizes to produce T-shirts with their corporate logos or messages as part of their overall advertising campaigns. Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts with prominent designer-name logos have become popular, especially with teenagers and young adults. These garments allow consumers to flaunt their taste for designer brands in an inexpensive way, in addition to being decorative. Examples of designer T-shirt branding include Calvin Klein, FUBU, Ralph Lauren, American Apparel, and The Gap. These examples also include representations of rock bands, among other obscure pop-culture references. Licensed T-shirts are also extremely popular. Movie and TV T-shirts can have images of the actors, logos, and funny quotations from the movie or TV show. Often, the most popular T-shirts are those that characters wore in the film itself (e.g., Bubba Gump from Forrest Gump and Vote For Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite). Designer Katharine Hamnett, in the early 1980s, pioneered outsize T-shirts with large-print slogans. The early first decade of the 21st century saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and designs with a strong inclination to the humorous and/or ironic. The trend has only increased later in this decade, embraced by celebrities, such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, and reflected back on them, too ('Team Aniston'). The political and social statements that T-shirts often display have become, since the first decade of the 21st century, one of the reasons that they have so deeply permeated different levels of culture and society. The statements also may be found to be offensive, shocking, or pornographic to some. Examples of T-shirt store known for using offensive and shocking messages T-Shirt Hell. Many different organizations have caught on to the statement-making trend, including chain and independent stores, websites, and schools. A popular phrase on the front of demonstrating the popularity of T-shirts among tourists is the humorous phrase "I went to _____ and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Examples include "My parents went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." T-shirt exchange is an activity where people trade the T-shirts that they are wearing. Artists like Bill Beckley, Glen Baldridge and Peter Klashorst use T-shirts in their work. Models such as Victoria Beckham and Gisele Bundchen wore T-shirts through the 2000s. Paris Fashion Week 2014 featured a grunge style T-shirt.[15] Decoration Ringer T-shirt In the early 1950s, several companies based in Miami, Florida, started to decorate T-shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first company was Tropix Togs, under founder Sam Kantor, in Miami. They were the original licensee for Walt Disney characters in 1976 including Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. Later, other companies expanded into the T-shirt printing business, including Sherry Manufacturing Company, also based in Miami. Sherry was founded in 1948 by its owner and founder Quentin H. Sandler as a screen printer of Souvenir Scarf's to the souvenir resort market. Shortly, the company evolved into one of the largest screen printed resort and licensed apparel companies in the United States. The company now (2018) runs automatic Screen Print presses and produces up to 10,000 to 20,000 T-shirts each day. In the 1960s, the ringer T-shirt appeared and became a staple fashion for youth and rock-n-rollers. The decade also saw the emergence of tie-dyeing and screen-printing on the basic T-shirt and the T-shirt became a medium for wearable art, commercial advertising, souvenir messages, and protest art messages. Psychedelic art poster designer Warren Dayton pioneered several political, protest, and pop-culture art printed large and in color on T-shirts featuring images of Cesar Chavez, political cartoons, and other cultural icons in an article in the Los Angeles Times magazine in late 1969 (ironically, the clothing company quickly cancelled the experimental line, fearing there would not be a market). In the late 1960s, Richard Ellman, Robert Tree, Bill Kelly, and Stanley Mouse set up the Monster Company in Mill Valley, California, to produce fine art designs expressly for T-shirts. Monster T-shirts often feature emblems and motifs associated with the Grateful Dead and marijuana culture.[16] Additionally, one of the most popular symbols to emerge from the political turmoil of the 1960s were T-shirts bearing the face of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.[17] Today, many notable and memorable T-shirts produced in the 1970s have become ensconced in pop culture. Examples include the bright yellow happy face T-shirts, The Rolling Stones tops with their "tongue and lips"[18] logo, and Milton Glaser's iconic "I ♥ N Y” design. In the mid-1980s, the white T-shirt became fashionable after the actor Don Johnson wore it with an Armani suit in Miami Vice.[9] V-Neck A V-neck T-shirt has a V-shaped neckline, as opposed to the round neckline of the more common crew neck shirt (also called a U-neck). V-necks were introduced so that the neckline of the shirt does not show when worn beneath an outer shirt, as would that of a crew neck shirt.[19][20][21] Screen printing A woman wearing a T-shirt with an architectural motif The most common form of commercial T-shirt decoration is screen printing. In screen printing, a design is separated into individual colors. Plastisol or water based inks are applied to the shirt through mesh screens which limits the areas where ink is deposited. In most commercial T-shirt printing, the specific colors in the design are used. To achieve a wider color spectrum with a limited number of colors, process printing (using only cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink) or simulated process (using only white, black, red, green, blue, and gold ink) is effective. Process printing is best suited for light colored shirts.[22] The simulated process is best suited for dark colored shirts. In 1959, the invention of plastisol provided an ink more durable and stretchable than water-based ink, allowing much more variety in T-shirt designs. Very few companies continue to use water-based inks on their shirts. The majority of companies that create shirts prefer plastisol due to the ability to print on varying colors without the need for color adjustment at the art level. Specialty inks trend in and out of fashion and include shimmer, puff, discharge, and chino based[23] inks. A metallic foil can be heat pressed and stamped onto any plastisol ink. When combined with shimmer ink, metallics give a mirror like effect wherever the previously screened plastisol ink was applied. Specialty inks are more expensive to purchase as well as screen and tend to appear on garments in boutiques. Other methods of decoration used on T-shirts include airbrush, applique, embroidery, impressing or embossing, and the ironing on of either flock lettering, heat transfers, or dye-sublimation transfers. Laser printers are capable of printing on plain paper using a special toner containing sublimation dyes which can then be permanently heat-transferred to T-shirts. In the 1980s, thermochromatic dyes were used to produce T-shirts that changed color when subjected to heat. The Global Hypercolour brand of these was a common sight on the streets of the UK for a few years but has since mostly disappeared. These were also very popular in the United States among teenagers in the late 1980s. A downside of color-change garments is that the dyes can easily be damaged, especially by washing in warm water or dye other clothes during washing. An example of a tie-dyed T-shirt Tie dye Tie dye originated in India, Japan, Jamaica, and Africa as early as the sixth century.[24] Some forms of tie dye are Bandhani (the oldest known technique) used in Indian cultures, and Shibori primarily used in Japanese cultures. It was not until the 1960s that tie dye was introduced to America during the hippie movement.[24] Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) Another form of T-shirt decoration is heat transfer vinyl, also called HTV. HTV is a polyurethane material that allows apparel designers to create unique layered designs using a specialized software program. Once the design is created, it is then cut through the material using a vinyl cutter (or Cut n Press) machine. There are dozens of different colors available, as well as glitter, reflective, and now even unique patterns (such as mermaid skin) which come in rolls and sheets. After the design is cut, there is a process called “weeding” whereby the areas of the design that do not represent the design are picked away from the transfer sheet and removed so that the intended design remains. HTV is typically smooth to the touch and does not feel rubbery or stiff. The edges are typically clean cut and produce high contrast. Designers can also create multiple color designs, or multi-layered designs using HTV. This process would be done in the design software before the design is sent to the cutter for the different materials. A heat press is then used to apply pressure and heat to the vinyl so that the material permanently adheres to the garment. The temperature and pressure vary according to the manufacturers specifications. T-shirt day in Leipzig, Germany Dye-sublimation printing Dye-sublimation printing is a direct-to-garment digital printing technology using full color artwork to transfer images to polyester and polymer-coated substrate based T-shirts. Dye-sublimation (also commonly referred to as all-over printing) came into widespread use in the 21st century, enabling some designs previously impossible. Printing with unlimited colors using large CMYK printers with special paper and ink is possible, unlike screen printing which requires screens for each color of the design. All-over print T-shirts have solved the problem with color fading and the vibrancy is higher than most standard printing methods but requires synthetic fabrics for the ink to take hold. The key feature of dye-sublimated clothing is that the design is not printed on top of the garment, but permanently dyed into the threads of the shirt, ensuring that it will never fade. Dye-sublimation is economically viable for small-quantity printing; the unit cost is similar for short or long production runs. Screen printing has higher setup costs, requiring large numbers to be produced to be cost-effective, and the unit cost is higher. Solid ink is changed into a gas without passing through a liquid phase (sublimation), using heat and pressure. The design is first produced in a computer image file format such as jpg, gif, png, or any other. It is printed on a purpose-made computer printer (as of 2016 most commonly Epson or Ricoh brands)[citation needed] using large heat presses to vaporize the ink directly into the fabric. By mid-2012, this method had become widely used for T-shirts. Other methods Other methods of decorating shirts include using paints, markers, fabric transfer crayons, dyes and spray paint. Some techniques that can be used include sponging, stenciling, daubing, stamping, screen printing, bleaching, and many more.[25] Some new T-shirt creators have used designs with multiple advanced techniques, which includes using glow-in-the-dark inks, heat-sensitive fabrics, foil printing and all-over printing. Other designers like Robert Geller, a German-born American fashion designer, has created a T-shirt collection which feature oversized graphic T-shirts made from super soft jersey materials. Alexander Wang came out[clarification needed] with variations of T-shirts from oversized scoop necks, tanks to striped, slouchy rayon jerseys.[26] Terence Koh T-shirts feature an upside down portrait with a real bullet hole hand." (wikipedia.org) " Darryl Daniel, aka "Joe Cool" is an artist  from Long Beach, CA.  His artwork has graced the covers of millions of records sold worldwide, starting with the cover of his cousin Snoop Dogg’s smash success, ‘DoggyStyle’. In the pantheon of hip-hop’s visual history, Joe Cool’s artwork is iconic, and his unique illustrations hark back to a time before commonplace computer graphics. He has  partnered with many global brands and retailers to create memorable original designs including ADIDAS, 7-11 and Supreme Clothing to name a few. Joe Cool also travels the world touring with Snoop Dogg. He has performed onstage in over 30 countries and 48 states as "The Nasty Dogg" as well dozens of broadcast television shows and events. When not drawing or touring with Snoop, Joe stays busy in comedic acting as well as touring giving motivational speeches. He works with several recovery and art therapy non-profits. He is currently based in the Los Angeles area and is available for commissions and collaborations       “The noteworthy cartoonlike artwork of this LP, realized by Joe Cool (Darryl Daniel ),would considerably influence the design of rap albums.” — Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 2" (ogjoecool.com) "Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey.[5] The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre (The Chronic), Snoop Dogg (Doggystyle, Tha Doggfather), Tha Dogg Pound (Dogg Food), and 2Pac (All Eyez on Me, The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory) during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US$100 million a year.[6] By the late 1990s, the label began to decline after the death of its star artist, 2Pac, imprisonment of Suge Knight, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Although Death Row was enjoying financial success, it was embroiled in controversies, lawsuits, and violence by its artists and associates. Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18 million on January 15, 2009.[7] The owner of WIDEawake bankrupted in 2012 and the label was then sold to Entertainment One, then became a division of Hasbro until April 2021 when eOne Music was sold to The Blackstone Group.[8] Snoop Dogg bought Death Row from MNRK Music Group in February 2022, intending to revive the label.[9][10] History Dr. Dre years: first generation Main article: Ruthless Records In 1987, N.W.A's Dr. Dre signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. As head of production at the label, Dr. Dre produced a large number of Ruthless projects, many of them successful; feeling the pressures of having to produce so many acts and feeling he was underpaid, Dr. Dre became frustrated with Ruthless.[11] After the departure of Ice Cube in 1989 over financial disagreements with Jerry Heller,[12] Suge Knight and the D.O.C. went over the books with a lawyer. Convinced that Jerry Heller and Eazy-E were dishonest, they approached Dr. Dre about forming a label with them, away from Heller and Eazy-E.[13] Allegedly using strong-arm tactics, Suge Knight was able to procure contracts from Eazy-E for the D.O.C., Dr. Dre and Michel'le.[14] Dr. Dre and Suge Knight along with partners the D.O.C. and Dick Griffey began the process of starting a record label and music partnership in anticipation of Dr. Dre's departure from Ruthless. Although the name of their new music venture was originally called Future Shock, the D.O.C. claimed to have suggested changing the name of the new label to 'Def Row' [15] (a play on the Def Jam),[16] but rights to the name were already owned by the Unknown DJ, who also happened to be one of Dre's former music associates in the 1980s. Unknown stated in an interview that he created the name "Def Row" for a potential deal to start another record label under Morgan Creek.[17] However he later sold the naming rights to Dr. Dre and his partners in July 1991 and by 1992 the name changed to its eventual title of Death Row Records.[18] Knight approached Michael "Harry-O" Harris, a businessman imprisoned on drug and attempted murder charges. Through David Kenner, an attorney handling Harris's appeal, Harry-O set up Godfather Entertainment, a parent company for the newly christened Death Row.[19] Knight approached Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle), using management connections with Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, claiming Johnson had produced and co-written the song "Ice Ice Baby", and had not received royalties for it.[20] After consulting with Alex Roberts, Knight and two bodyguards arrived at The Palm in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, where Van Winkle was eating. After shoving Van Winkle's bodyguards aside, Knight sat down in front of Van Winkle, staring at him before asking "How you doin'?"[20] Similar incidents were repeated on several occasions, including alleged attempts to lure Vanilla Ice into a van filled with Bloods and Crips, before Knight showed up at Vanilla Ice's hotel suite on the 15th floor of the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a member of the Los Angeles Raiders. According to Vanilla Ice, Knight took him out on the balcony by himself, and implied he would throw Vanilla Ice off unless he signed the rights to the song over to Knight; Van Winkle's money helped fund Death Row.[20] Death Row was initially located at the intersection of Westwood Blvd and Wilshire Blvd, later to be relocated to the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd.[21] The Chronic Main article: The Chronic With the help of Kenner, Knight began signing young, inner-city California-based artists and arranged for Death Row Records to handle the soundtrack for the 1992 film, Deep Cover. The single, "Deep Cover", established Dr. Dre as a solo artist and a young Snoop Doggy Dogg as his protégé. Work soon began on The Chronic, Dr. Dre's debut solo album, which heavily featured Snoop and the rest of the label's core roster. The album, which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top 200, went on to sell 5.7 million records worldwide,[22] establishing the West Coast in the hip-hop industry and popularizing the distinctive style of G-Funk.[23] The Death Row roster consisted of Dre, Snoop, Daz, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Lady of Rage, the D.O.C., RBX, and many more. Later on, Death Row artist Lil 1/2 Dead's contract was later sold to Priority Records where he released his debut album The Dead Has Arisen. Doggystyle Main article: Doggystyle After finding solo success, Dre began producing Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle; the process took two years. Snoop's debut was released in 1993 due to public demand and high pressure from retailers. Though unfinished,[24] it outperformed The Chronic at Quadruple Platinum,[25] and garnered similarly glowing reviews.[26] Soon after the release of the album, Snoop Dogg was charged with murder,[citation needed] fueling the debate that politicians C. Delores Tucker and vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle sparked[citation needed] by criticizing gangsta rap for being against American values, degrading to black women, and encouraging violence towards police officers. Death Row Thanksgiving On November 22, 1994, at the offices of The Brotherhood Crusade in Los Angeles, Suge Knight and several artists from Death Row such as Tha Dogg Pound as well as DJ Quik distributed nearly 2,000 turkeys to the public.[27] Death Row also donated turkeys the following year as well.[28] Signing 2Pac, Bad Boy Records feud and Dr. Dre's departure After an August visit to see 2Pac at Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York state, Suge traveled southward to New York City to join Death Row's entourage to the 2nd Annual Source Awards ceremony.[29] Already reputed for strongarm tactics on the Los Angeles rap scene, Suge used his brief stage time mainly to disparage Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, boss of Bad Boy Entertainment, the label then leading New York rap scene. Knight criticized Combs for his habit of ad-libbing on his artists' music as well as making numerous cameo appearances in his artists' music videos.[30][31] Before closing with a brief comment of support for Shakur,[32] Suge invited artists seeking the spotlight for themselves to join Death Row.[30][31] Eventually, Puff recalled that to preempt severe retaliation from his Bad Boy crew, he had promptly confronted Suge, whose reply—that he had meant Jermaine Dupri, of So So Def Recordings, in Atlanta—was politic enough to deescalate the conflict.[33] Still, among the fans, the previously diffuse rivalry between America's two mainstream rap scenes had instantly flared already.[30][32][31] And while in New York, Suge visited Uptown Records, where Puff, under its founder Andre Harrell, had started in the music business through an internship.[34] Apparently without paying Uptown, Suge obtained the releases of Puff's prime Uptown recruits Jodeci, its producer DeVante Swing, and Mary J. Blige, all then signing with Suge's management company.[34] On September 24, 1995, at a party for Jermaine Dupri Birthday in Atlanta at the Platinum House nightclub, Bad Boy Records Entourage entered a heated dispute with Suge and Suge's friend Jai Hassan-Jamal "Big Jake" Robles, a Bloods gang member and Death Row bodyguard.[30][35] According to eyewitnesses, including a Fulton County sheriff, working there as a nightclub bouncer, Puff had heatedly disputed with Suge inside the club,[30] whereas several minutes later, outside the club, it was Puff's childhood friend and own bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, who aimed a gun at Big Jake who was fatally shot while entering a Limousine.[30][36][37] The attorneys of Puff and his bodyguard both denied any involvement by their clients, while Puff's lawyer added that Puff had not even been with his bodyguard that night.[38] Over 20 years later, the case remains officially unresolved. Yet immediately and persistently, Suge blamed Puff, cementing the enmity between the two bosses, whose two record labels dominated the rap genre's two mainstream centers.[30][39] In October 1995, Knight visited 2Pac in prison again and posted $1.4 million bond. 2Pac began work on his Death Row album, kicking off his tenure by insulting the Notorious B.I.G., Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Puff Daddy (the founder of Bad Boy Records), whom he accused of setting him up to be robbed and shot at Quad Studios on November 30, 1994, as well as Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jimmy Henchman, the Fugees and Nas. Tha Dogg Pound's debut album, Dogg Food, continued the label's streak of commercial successes; its members – rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger – then joined Snoop in ridiculing New York rappers with their single "New York, New York", featuring Snoop Dogg. The video, set in New York City, New York, was also heightened when the set was fired upon in a drive-by. After the shooting, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound filmed scenes kicking down a building in New York. The single provoked a response called '"L.A., L.A." by East Coast rappers Capone-N-Noreaga, Tragedy Khadafi, and Mobb Deep. Another report was that Sam Sneed was beaten in one of the label's meetings by a group of Death Row affiliates, led by Suge Knight and 2Pac. According to Daz Dillinger, the reason this happened was that Sam Sneed had too many East Coast rappers in his "Lady Heroin" music video.[40] Disillusioned with the direction of Death Row, artists RBX and the D.O.C. chose to leave, after which Suge Knight exercised tighter control over the rest of the roster.[19] Dogg Food was not produced by Dr. Dre but was mixed by Dr. Dre, a further testament to Dre's dwindling involvement with Death Row. Dr. Dre also grew tired of Knight's violence within the label, although he contributed toward two tracks on 2Pac's All Eyez on Me. The rest of the tracks on the album, however, were mostly produced by Daz Dillinger and Johnny J, despite Dr. Dre being nominally titled as Executive Producer. 2Pac's behavior reportedly became erratic as he continued his verbal wars with the Notorious B.I.G., Bad Boy Records, Puff Daddy, Mobb Deep, and Prodigy, including many violent confrontations with many of those rappers at some points. On March 22, 1996, due to the infighting, Dr. Dre officially left Death Row Records to found Aftermath, which provoked 2Pac to turn against Dr. Dre. MC Hammer's involvement and departure Suge Knight's relationship with MC Hammer dates back to 1988. With the success of Hammer's 1994 album, The Funky Headhunter, Hammer signed with Death Row in 1995, along with his close friend, Tupac.[41] The label did not release the album of M.C. Hammer's music (titled Too Tight), although he did release versions of some tracks on his next album.[42][43] However, Hammer did record tracks with Shakur and others, most notably the song "Too Late Playa" (along with Big Daddy Kane and Danny Boy).[44] After the death of Tupac in 1996, MC Hammer left the label.[45][46] Tupac Shakur's murder and Suge Knight's incarceration Main article: Murder of Tupac Shakur Formerly a united front of artists, Death Row's roster fractured into separate camps. Daz, now head producer, worked on Snoop Dogg's second album Tha Doggfather, which featured Bad Azz and Techniec of his LBC Crew, Warren G and Nate Dogg of his group 213 and Tha Dogg Pound. 2Pac shut himself into the studio with Hurt-M-Badd and Big "D", crafting The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - unlike All Eyez on Me, it was devoid of high-profile Death Row guest appearances, instead showcasing The Outlawz and Bad Azz, and had a much darker tone. Suge Knight was now barely reachable by his staff, and employees were assaulted as punishment for not following orders.[24] During a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a Mike Tyson boxing match, 2Pac was interviewed on the possibility of Death Row East, an East Coast branch of Death Row. It was also during this time that Alex Roberts and David Kenner had been seen at Suge Knight's Vegas Club 662, in discussion about the possibility of having Roberts' New York underworld connections help pave the way for Death Row East. Though names from Big Daddy Kane and The Wu-Tang Clan to Eric B. and Craig Mack were mentioned, the label never formed; On September 7, 1996, Suge Knight and 2Pac were caught on surveillance camera at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas attacking gang member Orlando Anderson, who was a member of the Southside Compton Crips street gang. Later that night, 2Pac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in the front seat of Suge Knight's BMW 750iL waiting at a red traffic light at crossroads; en route to Knight's Las Vegas Club 662;[47][48] despite living six days in critical condition, 2Pac died on September 13, 1996. He was 25 years old. 2Pac's "The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory" was released in November 1996, just one week before Snoop Dogg's "Tha Doggfather". Both albums achieved Multi-Platinum sales. On February 28, 1997, Suge Knight was convicted of parole violation and sentenced to nine years in prison,[49] causing Interscope to drop their distribution deal with the label.[50] Suge Knight's control over the label diminished, as Nate Dogg was able to leave, followed by Snoop Dogg and Kurupt. After the release of her solo album Necessary Roughness, The Lady of Rage left. Daz Dillinger departed in 1999 after the release of his debut album Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back, but produced for Big C-Style, and he later formed Dogg Pound Records. Kurupt returned to the label in early 2002 upon Suge Knight's release from prison on August 6, 2001.[51][52] Death Row Records UK In 2001, Knight decided to enter the UK market with Death Row Records operating as an independent record label in conjunction with the Ritz Music Group,[53] a company known for its success with Irish country music artists such as Daniel O'Donnell[54] The joint-venture signed British R&B singer Mark Morrison[55] to a five-year deal with Death Row Records UK, with a single called "Thank God It's Friday" and an album called Innocent Man scheduled for a 2002 release. However, the single did not chart in the UK and the album ended up being released by footballer Kevin Campbell's record label 2 Wikid, before being re-issued in 2006 by Mona Records. Second generation exodus (Tha Row Records) Maintaining artistic control from behind bars, Suge Knight launched smear campaigns against his former artists, most notably Snoop Dogg, death threats were exchanged, and Snoop Dogg responded by publicly dissing Suge Knight, leaving the label, and later releasing a diss track named "Pimp Slapp'd", critically acclaimed by music magazine Complex.[56][57][58][59] The label supported itself with releases pulled from vaults—most successfully various posthumous 2Pac albums, along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg re-releases and then-unreleased compilation records such as Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000. He signed new talent, including Crooked I who had been lighting up the Californian underground with his rhyming ability, particularly the Wake Up Show with Sway & King Tech. Despite bad blood, Kurupt would again sign with Suge Knight in exchange for the position of Vice President, which sparked a feud between himself and Daz Dillinger and Snoop Dogg. He began work on Against tha Grain; his verbal feud with his former partners continued from 2002 to 2005.[60] Left Eye, member of the R&B girl group TLC signed with Death Row after finishing her solo deal with Arista who released her first album Supernova in 2001. At this time, Death Row changed into Tha Row Records. Lopes joined to record a second solo album under the pseudonym N.I.N.A. (New Identity Not Applicable), while also working on TLC's new album 3D. N.I.N.A. was canceled after her death in April 2002. The album was leaked online in 2011. After promoting his new talent from prison, directing a campaign against his former artists and exacerbating the conflict between Daz Dillinger, Snoop Dogg and Kurupt,[61] Suge had still yet to release any albums by his new artists. After Kurupt's second departure, Against tha Grain was released; soon after, citing dissatisfaction with serving five years on the label and seeing no release,[62] Rapper Crooked I left Death Row, eventually filing a gag order on Knight to prevent him from interfering with him finding a new deal.[63] Petey Pablo, who had signed in 2005 and started the never-released album Same Eyez on Me,[64] left along with rapper Tha Realest[65] in 2006. Bankruptcy On April 4, 2006, both Death Row Records and Suge Knight simultaneously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following the appointment of a Receiver to acquire and auction off assets of both Death Row Records and Suge Knight in the civil case filed by Lydia Harris against Suge Knight. Among those listed as unsecured creditors to Death Row include the Harrises ($107 million), the Internal Revenue Service ($6.9 million), Koch Records ($3.4 million), Interscope Records ($2.5 million) and a number of artists previously signed to the label. Suge Knight eventually lost control of Death Row Records and his personal assets when Chapter 11 Trustees took over both cases. Ownership changes WIDEawake Entertainment Group was created in 2006 by Lara Lavi. On January 15, 2009, Death Row Records was successfully auctioned to entertainment development company WIDEawake for US$18 million. WIDEawake Entertainment made a leveraged purchase of Death Row Records in part thanks to financing provided by New Solutions Financial Corporation.[66] On January 25, 2009, an auction was held for everything found in Death Row's office after it filed for bankruptcy. Both WIDEawake and New Solutions Financial were based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. New Solutions by the end of 2009 began to squeeze Lara Lavi out of WIDEawake Entertainment by restricting her ability to access funds they had lent her for Deathrow. By November 2009 Lara Lavi was removed from WIDEawake entertainment and Robert Thomson of New Solution Financial had taken over day-to-day operations. Lavi then sued her former company, Ontario-based WIDEawake Entertainment Group, New Solutions Financial Corporation and New Solutions Managing Director Robert Thompson in New York County Court on November 19, 2009.[67] New Solutions Financial Corporation was eventually exposed as a Ponzi scheme. Of note was the Death Row electric chair which went for US$2,500.[68] Since the acquisition, the company has continued to release material from its vast archives of materials acquired in the sale. Noteworthy releases include previously unreleased material from such artists as Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Danny Boy, Crooked I, Sam Sneed, LBC Crew and O.F.T.B. Since the acquisition of the material, Death Row, under the management of WIDEawake, has made many positive steps towards improving the image of Death Row by making good on its promise to make royalty payments to many of the artists, producers, and songwriters with commercially released material under the label. On Record Store Day, April 18, 2012, the label issued a free Death Row "Record Store Day" CD sampler which included music from Petey Pablo and Danny Boy. The Chronic Re-Lit was released on September 1, 2009. The album contained The Chronic re-mastered with seven bonus songs from the vault by Snoop Doggy Dogg, CPO, Kurupt, Jewell, plus a DVD containing music videos, a Dr. Dre interview, a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg mini movie, and 1992 television commercials for the original The Chronic release.[69] Snoop Doggy Dogg – Death Row The Lost Sessions Vol 1[70] was released October 13, 2009 and contains 15 previously unreleased tracks with four being produced by Dr. Dre. Death Row The Ultimate Collection[71] was released on November 24 and was a special box set containing three audio CDs (one greatest hits disc and two discs of unreleased content), one DVD of music videos which includes the unreleased Dr. Dre music video "Puffin' On Blunts" and a limited edition Death Row T-shirt. The set boasts over 20 unreleased tracks by Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, the Lady of Rage, Lord Autopz and Petey Pablo. During this period, there was a distribution venture between Entertainment One, WIDEawake, and Death Row. On December 10, 2012, New Solutions Financial Corp., the Canadian company that owned WIDEawake Death Row, had gone bankrupt and sold both the label and catalog to a publicly held company.[72] In 2013, Entertainment One purchased the rights to the Death Row catalog. The Group invested £175 million in content rights and television programmes in the year (2012: £135.8 million) and £4.2 million ($6 million) to purchase the music library assets of Death Row.[73] Death Row had a Pop-Up event in Los Angeles on April 10, 2019.[citation needed] On August 23, 2019, American toy company Hasbro announced a $4 billion purchase of eOne, making them the owners of Death Row Records.[74] In April 2021, Hasbro and Entertainment One announced it would sell-off eOne Music to The Blackstone Group.[75] The acquisition was completed in June 2021.[76] Revival through Snoop Dogg and third generation On February 9, 2022, ahead of the release of his next album and his appearance in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show, Snoop Dogg announced that he would acquire the rights to the Death Row Records trademarks from MNRK Music Group (the renamed eOne Music). The sale did not immediately include rights to the label's catalog, but it was reported that he was nearing a deal to acquire the catalogs of himself and other Death Row artists from MNRK. On February 11, 2022, Snoop Dogg released his third studio album on Death Row Records, marking a 26-year lapse from the label.[77][78][79] Snoop Dogg's purchase of Death Row Records did not include the rights to Tupac or Dr. Dre's albums originally. On March 4, 2022, in an interview with Tidal, Snoop Dogg stated he acquired the rights to all the albums previously released on Death Row Records, including his debut studio album Doggystyle and Dr. Dre's The Chronic. Despite the interview, Dr. Dre's lawyer, Howard King, later refuted the "false reports" two days later, stating the rapper still retains total control of The Chronic, which came back to streaming services on February 1, 2023.[80][81][82] On April 18, 2022, it was announced that Death Row Records would have its own streaming service, which pays higher royalties to its artists than main music streaming services.[83] Notable artists Current artists Act     Years signed     Releases under the label Snoop Dogg     Owner 1992–1998 2022–present     3 Mount Westmore     2022–present     1 Merkules     2022–present     1 Former artists Act     Years signed     Releases under the label The D.O.C.     1991-1994     – Dr. Dre     1991–1996     1 Michel'le     1991–1999 2002-2003     1 CPO Boss Hogg     1992–1996     – Daz Dillinger     1992-1999     1 Tha Dogg Pound     1992-1996     1 Jewell     1992–1999     1 Kurupt     1992-1996 2002-2005     1 The Lady of Rage     1992–1999     1 Nate Dogg     1992-1998     – RBX     1992-1994     – Sam Sneed     1993–1996     1 Danny Boy     1994–1999     – J-Flexx     1994–1999     – O.F.T.B.     1994–1997     – Young Soldierz     1994–1998     – 2Pac     1995–1996     7 (6 posthumous albums) Johnny J     1995–1996     – K-Solo     1995–1996     – MC Hammer     1995–1996     – Prince Ital Joe     1995–1998     – Young Noble     1996–1997     – Bad Azz     1996–1998     – Butch Cassidy     1996–1998     – Tha Realest     1996–2001     – CJ Mac     1997–2000     – YGD Tha Top Dogg[84]     1997–1999     – Crooked I     1999–2003     – Mac Shawn     1999–2000     – Miilkbone     1999     – Spider Loc     2000–2004     – Lisa Lopes     2001–2002     – Mark Morrison     2001–2002     – Petey Pablo     2004     – Discography Main article: Death Row Records discography Year     Album information 1992     Dr. Dre – The Chronic     Released: December 15, 1992     Chart positions: No.3 Billboard     RIAA certification: 3× Platinum[85]     Singles: "F Wit Dre Day", "Let Me Ride", "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" 1993     Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle     Released: November 23, 1993     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 4× Platinum     Singles: "Who Am I (What's My Name)", "Gin and Juice", "Doggy Dogg World" 1994     Above the Rim     Released: March 22, 1994     Chart positions: No.2 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× Platinum     Singles: "Regulate", "Anything", "Afro Puffs", "Part-Time Lover" Murder Was the Case     Released: October 15, 1994     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× Platinum     Singles: "Woman To Woman", "Natural Born Killaz", "U Better Recognize", "Murder Was the Case", "What Would You Do?" 1995     Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food     Released: October 31, 1995     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× Platinum     Singles: "Respect", "Let's Play House", "New York, New York" 1996     2Pac – All Eyez On Me     Released: February 13, 1996     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: Diamond (10× Platinum)     Singles: "California Love", "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", "How Do You Want It", "I Ain't Mad at Cha" Makaveli (2Pac) - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory     Released: November 5, 1996     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 4× Platinum     Singles: "Toss It Up", "To Live & Die in LA", "Hail Mary" Snoop Doggy Dogg – Tha Doggfather     Released: November 12, 1996     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× Platinum     Singles: "Doggfather", "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", "Vapors" Death Row Greatest Hits     Released: November 26, 1996     Chart positions: No.36 Billboard     RIAA certification: Platinum Christmas on Death Row     Released: December 3, 1996     Chart positions: No.155 Billboard     Singles: "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto" 1997     Nate Dogg – G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1     Released: January 14, 1997     Singles: "Never Leave Me Alone" Gridlock'd     Released: January 28, 1997     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: Platinum     Singles: "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Lady Heroin", "It's Over Now" Lady of Rage – Necessary Roughness     Released: June 4, 1997     Chart positions: No.32 Billboard     Singles: "Sho Shot", "Get Wit' Da Wickedness" Gang Related     Released: October 7, 1997     Chart positions: No.2 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× platinum     Singles: "Made Niggaz" 1998     Daz Dillinger – Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back     Released: March 31, 1998     Chart positions: No.8 Billboard     Singles: "In California", "It Might Sound Crazy" Michel'le – Hung Jury     Released: August 24, 1998     Chart positions: No.56 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop     Singles: "Hang Tyme", "Can I Get A Witness?" 2Pac – Greatest Hits     Released: November 24, 1998     Chart positions: No.3 Billboard     RIAA certification: Diamond (10× Platinum)     Singles: "Changes", "Unconditional Love" 1999     Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000     Released: May 4, 1999     Chart positions: No.11 Billboard     Singles: "Who Do U Believe In?", "Like It or Not" 2Pac and Outlawz – Still I Rise     Released: December 21, 1999     Chart positions: No.6 Billboard     RIAA certifications: Platinum     Singles: "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)" 2000     Too Gangsta for Radio     Released: September 26, 2000     Chart positions: No.171 Billboard     Singles: "Thug Nature" Snoop Doggy Dogg – Dead Man Walkin'     Released: October 31, 2000     Chart positions: No.24 Billboard     Singles: "Head Doctor" 2001     2Pac – Until the End of Time     Released: March 27, 2001     Chart positions: No.1 Billboard     RIAA certification: 3× Platinum     Singles: "Until the End of Time", "Letter 2 My Unborn" Tha Dogg Pound – 2002     Released: July 31, 2001     Chart positions: No.36 Billboard     Singles: "Just Doggin'" Snoop Doggy Dogg – Death Row's Snoop Doggy Dogg Greatest Hits     Released: October 23, 2001     Chart positions: No.28 Billboard 2002     2Pac – Better Dayz     Released: November 26, 2002     Chart positions: No.5 Billboard     RIAA certification: 2× Platinum     Singles: "Still Ballin'", "Thugz Mansion", "Who Do U Believe In?" 2003     Dysfunktional Family     Released: March 11, 2003     Chart positions: No.95 Billboard     Singles: "Dysfunktional Family" 2Pac – Nu-Mixx Klazzics     Released: October 7, 2003     Chart positions: No.15 Billboard 2005     The Very Best of Death Row     Released: February 22, 2005     Chart positions: No.94 Billboard Kurupt – Against the Grain     Released: August 23, 2005     Chart positions: No.60 Billboard 2006     15 Years on Death Row     Released: December 26, 2006 2007     2Pac – Nu-Mixx Klazzics Vol. 2     Released: August 14, 2007     Chart positions: No.45 Billboard 2Pac – Best of 2Pac, Part 1: Thug     Released: December 4, 2007     Chart positions: No.65 Billboard 2Pac – Best of 2Pac, Part 2: Life     Released: December 4, 2007     Chart positions: No.77 Billboard 2022     Snoop Dogg – BODR     Released: February 11, 2022     Chart positions: No. 104 Billboard Mount Westmore – Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort[86]     Released: December 9, 2022     Chart positions: No.188 Billboard" (wikipedia.org) "Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and was the president of Death Row Records. Dr. Dre began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1985 and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy beats. Dre's solo debut studio album The Chronic (1992), released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single "Let Me Ride", as well as several accolades for the single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut Regulate...G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), as well as mentor to upcoming producers Sam Sneed and Mel-Man. In 1996, Dr. Dre left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, in 1996, and released a solo album, 2001, in 1999. During the 2000s, Dre focused on producing other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, and co-produced their albums. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many other rappers, including the D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, the Game, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, The Wash, and Training Day. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was the second-richest figure in hip hop as of 2018 with an estimated net worth of $800 million. Accusations of Dre's violence against women have been widely publicized. Following his assault of television host Dee Barnes, he was fined $2,500, given two years' probation, ordered to perform 240 hours of community service, and given a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement. A civil suit was settled out of court. In 2015, Michel'le, the mother of one of his children, accused him of domestic violence during their time together as a couple. Their abusive relationship is portrayed in her 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le. Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Dr. Dre's children, stated that he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. She was granted a restraining order against him. Former labelmate Tairrie B claimed that Dre assaulted her at a party in 1990, in response to her track "Ruthless Bitch". Two weeks following the release of his third album, Compton in August 2015, he issued an apology to the women "I've hurt".[1] Early life Dre was born Andre Romelle Young[2] in Compton, California, on February 18, 1965,[3] the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateur R&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.[4] In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.[5] The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton, Carson, Long Beach, and the Watts and South Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles.[6] Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton.[7] His mother later married Warren Griffin,[8] which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the name Warren G.[9] Dre is also the cousin of producer Sir Jinx. Dre attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.[10] Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.[11] Musical career 1985–1986: World Class Wreckin' Cru Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", Dr. Dre often attended a club called Eve's After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.[12] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".[13] Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos. In their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled "Surgery".[14][15] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of allmusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".[16] Dre later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru, which released its debut album under the Kru-Cut label in 1985.[17] The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early-mid 1980s West Coast hip hop. "Surgery", which was officially released after being recorded prior to the group's official formation, would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntable. The record would become the group's first hit, selling 50,000 copies within the Compton area.[18] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.[19] 1986–1991: N.W.A and Ruthless Records "F Tha Police" 0:30 from Straight Outta Compton Problems playing this file? See media help. Poster for one of N.W.A's first concerts at a Compton skating rink, 1988 In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper O'Shea Jackson—known as Ice Cube—who collaborated with him to record songs for Ruthless Records, a hip hop record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "F tha Police", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.[20] After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin. He also produced tracks for a number of other acts on Ruthless Records, including Eazy-E's 1988 solo debut Eazy-Duz-It, Above the Law's 1990 debut Livin' Like Hustlers, Michel'le's 1989 self-titled debut, the D.O.C.'s 1989 debut No One Can Do It Better, J.J. Fad's 1988 debut Supersonic and funk rock musician Jimmy Z's 1991 album Muzical Madness.[21][22] 1991–1996: The Chronic and Death Row Records "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" 0:30 from The Chronic Problems playing this file? See media help. After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992, Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.[20] Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic, released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, RBX, the Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg and Jewell.[23] Logo used by Chronic-era Dr. Dre On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "F wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s.[20] In 1993, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album triple platinum,[24] and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride".[25] For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.[26] "California Love" earned Dr. Dre his first number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and two Grammy nominations. Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to enter the Billboard 200 album charts at number one.[27] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995.[20] For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.[28] In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper 2Pac, and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single "California Love", which became both artists' first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.[20][29] However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records.[20] Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.[30] Dr. Dre also appeared on the single "No Diggity" by R&B group Blackstreet in 1996: it too was a sales success, topping the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, and later won the award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group at the 1997 Grammy Awards.[31] After hearing it for the first time, several of Dr. Dre's former Death Row colleagues, including 2Pac, recorded and attempted to release a song titled "Toss It Up", containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre and using a deliberately similar instrumental to "No Diggity", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet issued the label with a cease and desist order stopping them from distributing the song.[32] 1996–2000: Move to Aftermath Entertainment and 2001 Logo used by 2001-era Dr. Dre The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap.[33] Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA,[24] the album was not very popular among music fans.[20] In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" on Saturday Night Live.[34] In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on the Firm's The Album; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties.[35] Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath.[36] First Round Knock Out, a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre, was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings.[37] Dr. Dre chose to take no part in the ongoing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry of the time, instead producing for, and appearing on, several New York artists' releases, such as Nas' "Nas Is Coming", LL Cool J's "Zoom" and Jay-Z's "Watch Me". The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Dre's close friend, Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records (parent label for Aftermath), suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a white rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999.[38] The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", brought Eminem to public attention for the first time, and the success of The Slim Shady LP – it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and received general acclaim from critics – revived the label's commercial ambitions and viability.[38][39][40] "Still D.R.E." 0:29 from 2001 Problems playing this file? See media help. Ticket for Dr. Dre's Up in Smoke Tour in Albany, New York, July 2000 Dr. Dre's second solo album, 2001, released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots.[41] It was initially titled The Chronic 2000 to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort The Chronic but was re-titled 2001 after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 in May 1999. Other tentative titles included The Chronic 2001 and Dr. Dre.[42] The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Eminem, Knoc-turn'al, King T, Defari, Kokane, Mary J. Blige and new protégé Hittman, as well as co-production between Dre and new Aftermath producer Mel-Man. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website AllMusic described the sound of the album as "adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae" to Dr. Dre's style.[41] The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the Billboard 200 charts[43] and has since been certified six times platinum,[24] validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 23, 1999.[44] Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000,[20] and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.[45] During the course of 2001's popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked "Deep Note".[46] The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the 2001 album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003.[47] French jazz musician Jacques Loussier sued Aftermath for $10 million in March 2002, claiming that the Dr. Dre-produced Eminem track "Kill You" plagiarized his composition "Pulsion".[48][49] The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and metal band Metallica in mid-2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.[50] 2000–2010: Focus on production and Detox Dr. Dre in 2008 Following the success of 2001, Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem's landmark Marshall Mathers LP, including the Grammy-winning lead single, "The Real Slim Shady". The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone.[51] He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B singer Mary J. Blige for her album No More Drama in 2001.[52] He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani[53] and signed R&B singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001.[54] Dr. Dre produced and rapped on singer and Interscope labelmate Bilal's 2001 single "Fast Lane", which barely missed the Top 40 of the R&B charts.[55] He later assisted in the production of Bilal's second album, Love for Sale,[56] which Interscope controversially shelved because of its creative direction.[57] Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2002 release, The Eminem Show. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for "Without Me". He also produced the D.O.C.'s 2003 album Deuce, where he made a guest appearance on the tracks "Psychic Pymp Hotline", "Gorilla Pympin'" and "Judgment Day". Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album Truthfully Speaking if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.[58] In 2002, Dr. Dre signed rapper 50 Cent to Aftermath in a joint venture between Interscope and Eminem's Shady Records. Dr. Dre served as executive producer for 50 Cent's commercially successful February 2003 debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club".[59] Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, Encore, again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles. In November 2004, at the Vibe magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man.[60] Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award.[61] Knight immediately went on CBS's The Late Late Show to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged.[62] In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.[63] Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapper the Game from his album The Documentary,[64] as well as tracks on 50 Cent's successful second album The Massacre. For an issue of Rolling Stone magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for Rolling Stone magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".[65] In November 2006, Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.[66] He also produced tracks for the rap albums Buck the World by Young Buck,[67] Curtis by 50 Cent,[68] Tha Blue Carpet Treatment by Snoop Dogg,[69] and Kingdom Come by Jay-Z.[70] Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track "Bounce", from his 2007 solo album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value alongside, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake.[71] During this period, the D.O.C. stated that Dre had been working with him on his fourth album Voices through Hot Vessels, which he planned to release after Detox arrived.[72][73] Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled Breakup to Makeup, an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled Heltah Skeltah,[21] an N.W.A reunion album,[21] and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled Chairmen of the Board.[74] In 2007, Dr. Dre's third studio album, formerly known as Detox, was slated to be his final studio album.[75] Work for the upcoming album dates back to 2001,[76] where its first version was called "the most advanced rap album ever", by producer Scott Storch.[77] Later that same year, he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release.[78] Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr.,[79] Hi-Tek,[80] J.R. Rotem,[81] RZA,[82] and Jay-Z.[83] Snoop Dogg claimed that Detox was finished, according to a June 2008 report by Rolling Stone magazine.[84] After another delay based on producing other artists' work, Detox was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct and Eminem's Relapse, an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties.[85][86] In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of Detox.[87][88] 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in a 2009 interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for Detox.[89] On December 15, 2008, Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show.[90] At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week[91] and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009.[92] Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album Relapse. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m." (The only track Dre did not produce was the Eminem-produced single "Beautiful".). On April 20, 2010, "Under Pressure", featuring Jay-Z and co-produced with Scott Storch, was confirmed by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre during an interview at Fenway Park as the album's first single.[93][94] The song leaked prior to its intended release in an unmixed, unmastered form without a chorus on June 16, 2010;[95] however, critical reaction to the song was lukewarm, and Dr. Dre later announced in an interview that the song, along with any other previously leaked tracks from Detox's recording process, would not appear on the final version of the album.[96] Two genuine singles – "Kush", a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and fellow rapper Akon, and "I Need a Doctor" with Eminem and singer Skylar Grey – were released in the United States during November 2010 and February 2011 respectively:[97][98] the latter achieved international chart success, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and later being certified double platinum by the RIAA and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[24][99] On June 25, 2010, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.[100][101] 2010–2020: The Planets, hiatus, Coachella, and Compton Dr. Dre performs at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album, The Planets, was in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System.[102] On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.", "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", and "Crack a Bottle", alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX", to which he replied, "I'm coming!"[103] On November 14, 2011, Dre announced that he would be taking a break from music after he finished producing for artists Slim the Mobster and Kendrick Lamar. In this break, he stated that he would "work on bringing his Beats By Dre to a standard as high as Apple" and would also spend time with his family.[104] On January 9, 2012, Dre headlined the final nights of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2012.[105] In June 2014, Marsha Ambrosius stated that she had been working on Detox, but added that the album would be known under another title .[106] In September 2014, Aftermath in-house producer Dawaun Parker confirmed the title change and stated that over 300 beats had been created for the album over the years, but few of them have had vocals recorded over them.[107] The length of time that Detox had been recorded for, as well as the limited amount of material that had been officially released or leaked from the recording sessions, had given it considerable notoriety within the music industry.[108] Numerous release dates (including the ones mentioned above) had been given for the album over the years since it was first announced, although none of them transpired to be genuine.[109][110] Several musicians closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, including Snoop Dogg, fellow rappers 50 Cent, the Game and producer DJ Quik, had speculated in interviews that the album will never be released, due to Dr. Dre's business and entrepreneurial ventures having interfered with recording work, as well as causing him to lose motivation to record new material.[109][110][111][112] On August 1, 2015, Dre announced that he would release what would be his final album, titled Compton. It is inspired by the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton, and is a compilation-style album, featuring a number of frequent collaborators, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit and the Game, among others. It was initially released on Apple Music on August 7, with a retail version releasing on August 21.[113][114] In an interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that he had about 20 to 40 tracks for Detox but he did not release it because it did not meet his standards. Dre also revealed that he suffers from social anxiety and due to this, remains secluded and out of attention.[115] On February 12, 2016, it was revealed that Apple would create its first original scripted television series for its then-upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service.[116] Titled Vital Signs, it was set to reflect Dre's life.[116] He was also an executive producer on the show[117] before the show's cancellation sometime in September 2018, due to an overly graphic concept of drugs, gun violence and sex.[118] In October 2016, Sean Combs brought out Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others on his Bad Boy reunion tour.[119] In 2018, he produced four songs on Oxnard by Anderson .Paak. He was the executive producer on the album, as so its follow-up, 2019's Ventura. 2020–present: Return to production and Super Bowl halftime show Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem's 2020 release, Music To Be Murdered By. He produced four songs on the album. He also produced two songs on the deluxe edition of the album, Side B, and appeared on the song, "Gunz Blazing". On September 30, 2021, it was revealed that Dre would perform at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. In December 2021, an update for the video game, Grand Theft Auto Online, predominantly featured Dre and added some of his previously unreleased tracks which was released as an EP, The Contract, on February 3, 2022.[120][121] Around this time, Dre announced he was collaborating with Marsha Ambrosius on Casablanco, and with Mary J. Blige on an upcoming album.[122][123] Later that year, Snoop Dogg announced that him and Dr. Dre are in the process of recording their new album, Missionary. Snoop said the album will be released via Death Row and Aftermath.[124][125] On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige,[126] with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson. Paak.[127] The performance was met with critical acclaim and is the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).[128] The show also won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction.[129][130] The same year, he produced numerous songs including "The King and I", a collaboration between Eminem and CeeLo Green for the 2022 biopic, Elvis, and a remix of Kanye West's song "Use This Gospel" for DJ Khaled's album God Did.[131][132] In September 2022, it was reported that Dr. Dre will compose the original score for the upcoming animated series, Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City. The show is created by Ice-T and Arabian Prince; based on the graphic novel of the same title, it features the voice talent of Ice-T, his wife Coco Austin, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Treach among others.[133] In February 2023, Dre and Marsha Ambrosius held a listening party for the Casablanco album in Los Angeles.[134] Other ventures Film appearances Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie Set It Off.[135] In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies The Wash and Training Day.[76] A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al and produced by Mahogany), was featured on The Wash soundtrack.[136] Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg. Crucial Films Crucial FilmsDr. Dre logo b.png Industry    Film production company Founded    2007 Founder    Dr. Dre Fate    Inactive Owner    New Line Cinema Website    crucialfilms.com In February 2007, it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing."[137] Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre produced Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about N.W.A.[138] Entrepreneurship Beats Electronics Beats by Dr. Dre logo In 2006, Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with his partner, Jimmy Iovine.[139] Its first brand of headphones were launched in July 2008. The line consisted of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone; Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone; Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone; Beats Spin; Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone; and Diddy Beats.[140] In late 2009, Hewlett-Packard participated in a deal to bundle Beats By Dr. Dre with some HP laptops and headsets.[141] HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event. An exclusive laptop, known as the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, was released for sale October 22. In January 2014, Beats Music was introduced and launched as a streaming service.[142] Then, in May, technology giant Apple purchased the Beats brand for $3.4 billion.[143] The deal made Dr. Dre the "richest man in hip hop".[144] Dr. Dre became an Apple employee in an executive role,[145][146] and worked with Apple for years.[147] As of 2022, it was found that Apple had subtracted $200 million from the deal after entertainer Tyrese Gibson revealed the news of the acquisition on social media a month before it was completed without the company's permission.[148] Philanthropy During May 2013, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine donated a $70 million endowment to the University of Southern California to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the academy has been stated as "to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models." The first class of the academy began in September 2014.[149] In June 2017, it was announced that Dr. Dre has committed $10 million to the construction of a performing arts center for the new Compton High School. The center will encompass creative resources and a 1,200-seat theater, and is expected to break ground in 2020. The project is a partnership between Dr. Dre and the Compton Unified School District.[150] Commercial endorsements In 2002 and 2003, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials for Coors Light beer.[151] Beginning in 2009, Dr. Dre appeared in TV commercials that also featured his Beats Electronics product line. A 2009 commercial for the Dr Pepper soft drink had Dr. Dre DJing with Beats headphones and playing a brief snippet off the never-released Detox album.[87][88] In 2010, Dr. Dre had a cameo in a commercial for HP laptops that featured a plug for Beats Audio.[151] Then in 2011, the Chrysler 300S "Imported from Detroit" ad campaign had a commercial narrated by Dr. Dre and including a plug for Beats Audio.[152] Dr. Dre started Burning Man rumors An urban legend surfaced in 2011 when a Tumblr blog titled Dr. Dre Started Burning Man[153][154] began promulgating the notion that the producer, rapper and entrepreneur had discovered Burning Man in 1995 during a music video shoot and offered to cover the cost of the event's permit from the Nevada Bureau of Land Management under an agreement with the festival's organizers that he could institute an entrance fee system, which had not existed before his participation.[155][156] This claim was supported by an alleged letter from Dre to Nicole Threatt Young that indicated that Dre had shared his experience witnessing the Burning Man festival with her.[157][158] Business Insider mentions the portion of the letter where Dr. Dre purportedly states "someone should get behind this ... and make some money off these fools" and compares Dr. Dre's potential entrepreneurial engagement with Burning Man as a parallel to Steve Jobs' efforts to centralize and profit from the otherwise unorganized online music industry.[159] According to Salon, Dr. Dre's ethos seems to be aligned with seven of the ten principles of the Burning Man community: "radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy."[155] Musical influences and style     The space, about the size of a college dorm room, is splattered with papers, ideas scribbled down in black ink. Nuthin' but G thangs waiting to happen. Those that don't happen end up in a round, purple L.A. Lakers trash can. A kitchen, red and stainless steel like a '50s diner, adjoins the control room     — Corey Moss of MTV News, in a 2002 profile of Dr. Dre with a visit to his studio[160] Production style Dre in 2011 Dre is noted for his evolving production style, while always keeping in touch with his early musical sound and re-shaping elements from previous work. At the beginning of his career as a producer for the World Class Wreckin Cru with DJ Alonzo Williams in the mid-1980s, his music was in the electro-hop style pioneered by the Unknown DJ, and that of early hip-hop groups like the Beastie Boys and Whodini. From Straight Outta Compton on, Dre uses live musicians to replay old melodies rather than sampling them. With Ruthless Records, collaborators included guitarist Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims, multi-instrumentalist Colin Wolfe, DJ Yella and sound engineer Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Sound. Dre is receptive of new ideas from other producers, one example being his fruitful collaboration with Above the Law's producer Cold 187um while at Ruthless. Cold 187 um was at the time experimenting with 1970s P-Funk samples (Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton etc.), that Dre also used. Dre has since been accused of "stealing" the concept of G-funk from Cold 187 um.[161] Upon leaving Ruthless and forming Death Row Records in 1991, Dre called on veteran West Coast DJ Chris "the Glove" Taylor and sound engineer Greg "Gregski" Royal, along with Colin Wolfe, to help him on future projects. His 1992 album The Chronic is thought to be one of the most well-produced hip-hop albums of all time.[162][163][164] Musical themes included hard-hitting synthesizer solos played by Wolfe, bass-heavy compositions, background female vocals and Dre fully embracing 1970s funk samples. Dre used a minimoog synth to replay the melody from Leon Haywood's 1972 song "I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky to You" for the Chronic's first single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" which became a global hit. For his new protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle, Dre collaborated with then 19-year-old producer Daz Dillinger, who received co-production credits on songs "Serial Killa" and "For all My Niggaz & Bitches", The Dramatics bass player Tony "T. Money" Green, guitarist Ricky Rouse, keyboardists Emanuel "Porkchop" Dean and Sean "Barney Rubble" Thomas and engineer Tommy Daugherty, as well as Warren G and Sam Sneed, who are credited with bringing several samples to the studio.[165] The influence of The Chronic and Doggystyle on the popular music of the 1990s went not only far beyond the West Coast, but beyond hip-hop as a genre. Artists as diverse as Master P ("Bout It, Bout It"), George Michael ("Fastlove"), Mariah Carey ("Fantasy"), Adina Howard ("Freak Like Me"), Luis Miguel ("Dame"), and The Spice Girls ("Say You'll Be There") used G-funk instrumentation in their songs.[166][167] Bad Boy Records producer Chucky Thompson stated in the April 2004 issue of XXL magazine that the sound of Doggystyle and The Chronic was the basis for the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1995 hit single "Big Poppa":     At that time, we were listening to Snoop's album. We knew what was going on in the West through Dr. Dre. Big just knew the culture, he knew what was going on with hip-hop. It was more than just New York, it was all over.[168] In 1994, starting with the Murder was the Case soundtrack, Dre attempted to push the boundaries of G-funk further into a darker sound. In songs such as "Murder was the Case" and "Natural Born Killaz", the synthesizer pitch is higher and the drum tempo is slowed down to 91 BPM[169] (87 BPM in the remix) to create a dark and gritty atmosphere. Percussion instruments, particularly sleigh bells, are also present. Dre's frequent collaborators from this period included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania natives Stuart "Stu-B-Doo" Bullard, a multi-instrumentalist from the Ozanam Strings Orchestra,[170] Sam Sneed, Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson,[171] and percussionist Carl "Butch" Small. This style of production has been influential far beyond the West Coast. The beat for the Houston-based group Geto Boys 1996 song "Still" follows the same drum pattern as "Natural Born Killaz" and Eazy E's "Wut Would U Do" (a diss to Dre) is similar to the original "Murder was the Case" instrumental. This style of production is usually accompanied by horror and occult-themed lyrics and imagery, being crucial to the creation of horrorcore. By 1996, Dre was again looking to innovate his sound. He recruited keyboardist Camara Kambon to play the keys on "Been There, Done That", and through Bud'da and Sam Sneed he was introduced to fellow Pittsburgh native Melvin "Mel-Man" Bradford. At this time, he also switched from using the E-mu SP-1200 to the Akai MPC3000 drum kit and sampler, which he still uses today. Beginning with his 1996 compilation Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, Dre's production has taken a less sample-based approach, with loud, layered snare drums dominating the mix, while synthesizers are still omnipresent. In his critically acclaimed second album, 2001, live instrumentation takes the place of sampling, a famous example being "The Next Episode", in which keyboardist Camara Kambon re-played live the main melody from David McCallum's 1967 jazz-funk work "The Edge". For every song on 2001, Dre had a keyboardist, guitarist and bassist create the basic parts of the beat, while he himself programmed the drums, did the sequencing and overdubbing and added sound effects, and later mixed the songs. During this period, Dre's signature "west coast whistle" riffs are still present albeit in a lower pitch, as in "Light Speed", "Housewife", "Some L.A. Niggaz" and Eminem's "Guilty Conscience" hook. The sound of "2001" had tremendous influence on hip-hop production, redefining the West Coast's sound and expanding the G-funk of the early 1990s. To produce the album, Dre and Mel-Man relied on the talents of Scott Storch and Camara Kambon on the keys, Mike Elizondo and Colin Wolfe on bass guitar, Sean Cruse on lead guitar and sound engineers Richard "Segal" Huredia and Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri.[172] From the mid-2000s, Dr. Dre has taken on a more soulful production style, using more of a classical piano instead of a keyboard, and having claps replace snares, as evidenced in songs such as Snoop Dogg's "Imagine" and "Boss' Life", Busta Rhymes' "Get You Some" and "Been Through the Storm", Stat Quo's "Get Low" and "The Way It Be", Jay-Z's "Lost One", Nas' "Hustlers", and several beats on Eminem's Relapse album. Soul and R&B pianist Mark Batson, having previously worked with The Dave Matthews Band, Seal and Maroon 5 has been credited as the architect of this sound. Besides Batson, Aftermath producer and understudy of Dre's, Dawaun Parker, who has named Q-Tip and J Dilla as his primary influences, is thought to be responsible for giving Dre's newest beats an East Coast feel.[173] Despite an occasional hint of trap about the beats and an intriguingly warped use of autotune in his Compton album song, "Darkside/Gone", his production seems to stand slightly apart from current trends in hip-hop like Eminem's song "Little Engine" with an ominous horrorcore beat — reminiscent of some of his works on Eminem's album Relapse - or the West Coast joint Lock It Up.[174][175] Production equipment Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo.[176] In 2001 he told Time magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better."[177] Other equipment he uses includes the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland.[178] Dr. Dre also stresses the importance of equalizing drums properly, telling Scratch in 2004 that he "used the same drum sounds on a couple of different songs on one album before but you'd never be able to tell the difference because of the EQ".[176] Dr. Dre also uses the digital audio workstation Pro Tools and uses the software to combine hardware drum machines and vintage analog keyboards and synthesizers.[176][179] After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" on The Chronic, for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.[180] In 1999, Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette,[181] In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions.[182][183] Dr. Dre also told Scratch magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.[176] Work ethic Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances.[176] In 2006, Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times.[184] Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic.[176] He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it is not to his liking.[185] However, he gives MCs that he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book How to Rap.[186] A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists who initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie The Wash, featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, 2001 vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.[187] Collaborators and co-producers Dr. Dre performing with Snoop Dogg, 2012 Over the years, word of other collaborators who have contributed to Dr. Dre's work has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album The Chronic and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album Tha Doggfather after Young left Death Row Records).[188] It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album 2001; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told Rolling Stone:     "At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".[189] Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to Songwriter Universe magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it."[183] This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book Angry Blonde, stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.[190] A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of The Source. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" on The Eminem Show, the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.[187] Although Young studies piano and music theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of Time magazine has noted:     Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear."[177] Although Snoop Dogg retains working relationships with Warren G and Daz, who are alleged to be uncredited contributors on the hit albums The Chronic and Doggystyle, he states that Dr. Dre is capable of making beats without the help of collaborators, and that he is responsible for the success of his numerous albums.[191] Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer. Anderson .Paak also praised Dr. Dre in a 2016 interview with Music Times, telling the publication that it was a dream come true to work with Dre.[192] Ghostwriters It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs.[193] As Aftermath producer Mahogany told Scratch: "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say, 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers."[194] As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer). In the book How to Rap, RBX explains that writing The Chronic was a "team effort"[195] and details how he ghostwrote "Let Me Ride" for Dre.[195] In regard to ghostwriting lyrics he says, "Dre doesn't profess to be no super-duper rap dude – Dre is a super-duper producer".[195] As a member of N.W.A, the D.O.C. wrote lyrics for him while he stuck with producing.[21] Jay-Z ghostwrote lyrics for the single "Still D.R.E." from Dr. Dre's album 2001.[42] Personal life On December 15, 1981, when Dre was 16 years old and his then-girlfriend Cassandra Joy Greene was 15 years old, the two had a son named Curtis, who was brought up by Greene and first met Dre 20 years later.[196] Curtis performed as a rapper under the name Hood Surgeon.[197] In 1983, Dre and Lisa Johnson had a daughter named La Tanya Danielle Young.[198][199] Dre and Johnson have three daughters together.[200] In 1988, Dre and Jenita Porter had a son named Andre Young Jr. In 1990, Porter sued Dre, seeking $5,000 of child support per month.[201] On August 23, 2008, Andre died at the age of 20 from an overdose of heroin and morphine[202] at his mother's Woodland Hills home.[201] From 1987 to 1996, Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Ruthless Records and Death Row Records albums.[203] In 1991, they had a son named Marcel.[204][205] In April 1992, after a verbal dispute with his engineer, Dre was consequentially shot four times in his leg.[206] In 1996, Dre married Nicole (née Plotzker) Threatt, who was previously married to basketball player Sedale Threatt.[207][199] They have two children together: a son named Truice (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).[208] In 2001, Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year.[52] Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve.[209] Forbes estimated his net worth at US$270 million in 2012.[210] The same publication later reported that he acquired US$110 million via his various endeavors in 2012, making him the highest–paid artist of the year.[211] Income from the 2014 sale of Beats to Apple, contributing to what Forbes termed "the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history", made Dr. Dre the world's richest musical performer of 2015.[212] In 2014, Dre purchased a $40 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles from its previous owners, NFL player Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.[213] It was reported that Dre suffered a brain aneurysm on January 5, 2021,[214] and that he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's ICU in Los Angeles, California.[215] Hours after his admission to the hospital, Dre's home was targeted for an attempted burglary.[216] He eventually received support from LeBron James, Martin Lawrence, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Ellen DeGeneres, Ciara, her husband Russell Wilson, T.I., Quincy Jones and others.[217][218] In February, he was released with a following message on Instagram: "Thanks to my family, friends and fans for their interest and well wishes. I'm doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team. I will be out of the hospital and back home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!"" (wikipedia.org) " "Doggystyle is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg (then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg). It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop's appearances on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic (1992), to which Snoop contributed significantly. The West Coast style in hip-hop that he developed from Dre's first album continued on Doggystyle.[1] Critics have praised Snoop Dogg for the lyrical "realism" that he delivers on the album and for his distinctive vocal flow.[1][2] Despite some mixed criticism of the album initially upon its release, Doggystyle earned recognition from many music critics as one of the most significant albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the most important hip-hop albums ever released.[3] Much like The Chronic, the distinctive sounds of Doggystyle helped introduce the hip-hop subgenre of G-funk to a mainstream audience, bringing forward West Coast hip hop as a dominant force in the early-mid 1990s.[1][4] Doggystyle debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 806,858 copies in its first week alone in the United States, which was the record for a debuting artist and the fastest-selling hip-hop album ever at the time. Doggystyle was included on The Source magazine's list of the 100 Best Rap Albums, as well as Rolling Stone magazine's list of Essential Recordings of the '90s.[3] About.com placed the album in No. 17 of the greatest hip hop/rap albums of all time.[5] The album was certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By November 2015, the album had sold 7 million copies in the United States, and over 11 million copies worldwide.[6][7] Conception Background In 1992, Snoop Dogg came to attention of the music industry through his vocal contributions on Dr. Dre's The Chronic. That album is considered to have "transformed the entire sound of West Coast rap" by its development of what later became known as the "G-funk" sound.[4] The Chronic expanded gangsta rap with profanity, anti-authoritarian lyrics and multi-layered samples taken from 1970's P-Funk records.[4] Snoop Doggy Dogg contributed vocals to Dre's solo single, "Deep Cover", which led to a high degree of anticipation among hip hop for the release of his own solo album.[2] Doggystyle and The Chronic are associated with each other mainly because each prominently featured Snoop Dogg and because both contain G-funk style production from Dr. Dre. The two releases are linked by the high number of vocal contributions from Death Row Records artists, including Tha Dogg Pound, RBX, The Lady of Rage,[8] while both contain a high density of misogyny and profanity in their lyrics.[9] In addition, the two albums are each viewed by critics as early "G-funk classics", and have been described as "joined at the hip". 'Doggystyle' also marked the debut of Death Row vocalist, Nanci Fletcher - the daughter of jazz legend Sam Fletcher.[1][9] Gangsta rap has been criticized for its extreme lyrics, which are often accused of glamorizing gang violence and black-on-black crime. The Gangsta rappers responded that they were simply describing the realities of life in places such as Compton, California, and Long Beach, California.[10][11] Describing Doggystyle in 1993, Snoop Doggy Dogg likewise points to the album's realism, and the extent to which it is based on his personal experience. He said, "I can't rap about something I don't know. You'll never hear me rapping about no bachelor's degree. It's only what I know and that's that street life. It's all everyday life, reality."[12] Explaining his intentions, Snoop Doggy Dogg claims he feels he is a role model to many young black men, and that his songs are designed to relate to their concerns. "For little kids growing up in the ghettos," he said, "it's easy to get into the wrong types of things, especially gangbanging and selling drugs. I've seen what that was like, and I don't glorify it, but I don't preach. I bring it to them rather than have them go find out about it for themselves."[12] He further explained the "dream" that he would pursue after making the album: "I'm going to try to eliminate the gang violence. I'll be on a mission for peace. I know I have a lot of power. I know if I say, 'Don't kill', niggas won't kill".[12] Recording Snoop Dogg (formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg) (pictured in 2005) wrote the majority of Doggystyle while in the studio. Doggystyle was recorded in early 1993 at Death Row Studios. It was produced in a style similar to The Chronic; some critics called it a "carbon copy".[2] Snoop Doggy Dogg collaborated with two music groups, 213 and Tha Dogg Pound. Daz Dillinger, of the latter group, accused Dr. Dre of taking sole recognition for producing the album and alleged that Warren G and himself contributed substantially to the production of the project.[13] Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight stated in 2013 that, "Daz pretty much did the whole album", and that credit was signed over to Dr. Dre for a fee.[14] Snoop Doggy Dogg said Dr. Dre was capable of making beats without the help of collaborators and addressed the issues with Warren G and Daz, stating "They made beats, Dre produced that record". He discussed the track "Aint No Fun", mentioning that Daz and Warren G brought Dr. Dre the beat but "Dre took that muthaf to the next level!"[15] Bruce Williams, closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, discussed the recording process during Dre's time at Death Row Records, stating:     Dre's going to be the first one in the studio and the last one to leave. He'll start messing with a beat. As the beat starts pumping, the guys start filtering in. Everybody will get their little drink and smoke in. Soon enough, the beat starts to make a presence. You'll look around the room and every cat that was a rapper – from Kurupt to Daz to Snoop – will grab a pen. They would start writing while Dre is making a beat so by the time he's finished with the beat, they are ready to hit the booth and start spittin'. To see those young cats – they were all hungry and wanted to make something dope. The atmosphere that was there, you couldn't be wack.[16] Williams said the album was never finished and because of the demand for the record, the distributors insisted the album be completed, otherwise they would cancel the album's orders. This resulted in Dr. Dre mixing the album and inserting the skits within 48 hours, which enabled the album to be released.[16] Rolling Stone writer Jonathan Gold described how Dr. Dre produced a beat from scratch to complete instrumental: "Dre may find something he likes from an old drum break, loop it and gradually replace each part with a better tom-tom sound, a kick-drum sound he adores, until the beat bears the same relationship to the original that the Incredible Hulk does to Bill Bixby".[17] Gold also described how the track progressed with other musicians adding to the song, stating "A bass player wanders in, unpacks his instrument and pops a funky two-note bass line over the beat, then leaves to watch CNN, though his two notes keep looping into infinity. A smiling guy in a striped jersey plays a nasty one-fingered melody on an old Minimoog synthesizer that's been obsolete since 1982, and Dre scratches in a sort of surfadelic munching noise, and then from his well-stocked Akai MPC60 samples comes a shriek, a spare piano chord, an ejaculation from the first Beastie's record—'Let me clear my throat'—and the many-layered groove is happening, bumping, breathing, almost loud enough to see."[17] While recording Doggystyle with Dr. Dre in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed in a gang fight. According to the charges, the rapper's bodyguard shot Woldermarian as Snoop Dogg drove the vehicle; the rapper claimed it was self-defense, alleging the victim was stalking him. He spent most of 1995 preparing the case which went to trial in late 1995. He was cleared of all charges in February 1996 when he began working on his second album, Tha Doggfather.[2] Title significance The album's title alludes to the doggy style sex position and is a reference to the musician's name. The artwork, which was done by artist Joe Cool, represents the themes covered in the album and the style of implementation of those ideas. Some critics believe the artwork portrays a woman merely as a hole to be filled by the man, which they believe adheres to the narcissistic and sexist lyrical themes Snoop Dogg covers.[18] In this interpretation, the cover art and lyrics convey what they refer to as the self-indulgent "gangsta" lifestyle, drugs, cars, sex, and money.[18] The artwork uses several quotes from the 1982 George Clinton single "Atomic Dog". The quotes come from the dogs at the top of the brick wall on the album cover, which say, "Why must I feel like dat?", "Why must I chase da cat?" and "Nuttin' but da dogg in me".[19] Music Production Snoop collaborated with fellow hitmaker Dr. Dre (pictured in 2008) on the album production. Dre's handling of the production was praised by critics. AllMusic writer Stephen Erlewine stated: "Dre realized that it wasn't time to push the limits of G-funk, and instead decided to deepen it musically, creating easy-rolling productions that have more layers than they appear". He added that the beats were "laid-back funky, continuing to resonate after many listens".[1] Rolling Stone writer Touré noted "The Chronic's slow, heavy beats were a sonic representation of angry depression as accurate as Cobain's feedback blasts; Doggystyle is leaner, with its high-tempo Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield-derived tracks". He went on to say that "Most of Dre's hooks and nearly all his beats refuse to linger, as if the songs themselves are nervous, fearful of exposure, restless to get offscreen."[20] Entertainment Weekly magazine's David Browne mentioned that "The mix of samples and live music on Dre's latest, The Chronic, gave it texture and depth, and he continues his knob-turning growth on Doggystyle, fluidly weaving together a gaggle of background singers and rappers, quirky samples, his trademark horror-flick keyboard lines".[21] The Source magazine columinst wrote: "Dre's brand of G-funk may be common now, but it is still painstakingly well-produced".[8] Lyrics Snoop Doggy Dogg's lyrics were generally praised by critics, although they caused some controversy. He was acclaimed for the realism in his rhymes and his harmonious flow.[1][2] AllMusic's Stephen Erlewine commended Snoop Doggy Dogg, saying: "he's one of hip-hop's greatest vocal stylists with this record" and he "takes his time, playing with the flow of his words, giving his rhymes a nearly melodic eloquence. Snoop is something special, with unpredictable turns of phrase, evocative imagery, and a distinctive, addictive flow".[1] Time magazine's Christopher John Farley noted "Snoop's rapping isn't flashy, but it is catchy" and stated "His relaxed vocal style is a perfect match for Dre's bass-heavy producing. Snoop's voice is lithe enough to snake its way around the big beats," said Farley on November 29, 1993.[22] The ideas put forward through the lyrics include Snoop Doggy Dogg's adolescent urges, as he freely talks of casual sex, smoking marijuana and gunning down rival gang members. Time magazine remarked that the notions "are often unnecessarily graphic; at some points they're downright obscene" and that "the album would have been stronger if such misgivings about the criminal life, as well as Snoop's touches of introspection, had been applied to some of the cruder songs".[23] The album also covered gun play, drug dealing and pimping. The New York Times said that the lyrical concepts were delivered in "crudest, rudest terms".[24] Some critics said Snoop Doggy Dogg was "obsessed with being a 'G', a gangster, a lawbreaker who smokes dope and kills with impunity" and that his lyrics depict the black-on-black crime in the inner-cities.[18] The lyrics involve many derogatory terms against women, with expressions such as "bitches" and "hoes" being used throughout, which illustrates the feeling of sexism and oppression within American society.[18] In certain tracks Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound casually speak of group sex, illustrating the demeaning of women.[25] Snoop Doggy Dogg's lyrics depict drugs, alcohol, sex, and money as methods of escape from oppression, but they also show an underside of the "gangsta" lifestyle and the results of following this lifestyle.[18] The lyrics' violent representations, including murder and aggressive behaviour, have also generated controversy. C. DeLores Tucker of the National Political Congress of Black Women named gangsta rap "a profane and obscene glorification of murder and rape", which can be attributed to Doggystyle.[25] Content "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)" was the first single released from the album, on November 11, 1993.[26] It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and reached No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles, receiving a Gold certification from the RIAA on February 8, 1994.[26] It reached No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994 and re-entered the chart in 2004, reaching No. 100.[27][28] "Gin and Juice" was the second single released on January 18, 1994.[29] Like the previous single, it was a hit on multiple charts. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, No. 1 on Hot Rap Singles, and No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart.[27][30] The RIAA certified it Gold on April 6, 1994.[29] The song was nominated at the 1995 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Solo Performance, but lost to Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y.". "Doggy Dogg World" was released as a Europe-only single during June 1994. Even though the single was not officially released in the U.S., it received some radio airplay which resulted in position 19 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart.[30] A music video was produced for the single, which gained American video TV-play and won the 1994 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video. It reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart.[27] "Lodi Dodi" and "Murder Was the Case" were not official singles, but they received radio airplay and charted in Rhythmic Top 40.[30] An 18-minute music video was shot for the two songs, with an accompanying Murder Was the Case soundtrack.[31] The video won the 1995 Video of the Year award at The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards. "Gin and Juice" was nominated at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap Solo Performance. A bonus track, "Gz Up, Hoes Down", was included in the album's first pressing, but not in later versions because of sample clearance issues. Snoop Doggy Dogg could not gain the rights to use the beats because the record company was not willing to pay license fees for using the samples.[32] "Gz Up, Hoes Down" was later released on the Death Row compilation "15 Years on Death Row". "Tha Next Episode" was listed on the cover, but not included in any pressing. It is considered the original material used for the 2000 Dr. Dre single "The Next Episode" but bears no resemblance to the later song. It was 4 minutes and 36 seconds (4:36) long.[33] "Tha Next Episode" was later released on the Dr. Dre mixtape Pretox under the name "Chronic Unreleased Studio Session", but only 1:10 long. "Doggystyle" featuring George Clinton was a 5:26 long outtake from the album sessions. It is a singing melody with vocals dominating the song and it extensively samples "Oh I" by Funkadelic from their album The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Jewell & The Brides of Funkenstein are featured on the chorus.[33] The song was released on Death Row: The Lost Sessions Vol. 1 amongst other songs recorded by Snoop Doggy Dogg during his tenure at Death Row. Legacy and influence Hip-hop music Doggystyle is seen by many hip hop pundits as a "classic".[34] It is credited with defining West Coast hip hop; shifting the emphasis to more melodious, synth-driven, and funk-induced beats. About.com stated during the period the album was released, "Gangsta rap never sounded so sweet." The album is credited for further establishment of the slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence on Doggystyle and The Chronic.[1][2] The album is considered one of the first G-funk albums, the style of which many rappers duplicated in later years.[1] Hip-hop culture It has been suggested by some writers and publications that Doggystyle has considerably affected African-American culture. Some publications have held the rap genre responsible for social problems such as sexual violence and sexism, which has been blamed on Snoop Doggy Dogg and other rappers for calling their controversial lyrics "keeping it real."[35] The problems of sexual violence and sexism are attributed to lyrics degrading women such as "bitches" and "ho's," which some believe have influenced black males.[18][36] Snoop Doggy Dogg and other hip hop artists, including N.W.A, especially Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube (due to their success) and 2Pac, have been held accountable for developing the gangsta rap form; a genre which articulated the rage of the urban underclass and its sense of intense oppression and defiant rebellion,[18] which has been attained through the ability to communicate free of censorship, and has allowed hip hop culture to become a dominant style and ethos throughout the world.[18] Mariah Carey sampled the song "Aint No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" in her 1999 album Rainbow for the remix of Heartbreaker which featured Missy Elliott and Da Brat. The writers of Enculturation, Steven Best and Douglas Kellner, have noted that Snoop Doggy Dogg and other rappers only condemn violence when it is directed against them, otherwise "they celebrate it, internalize it, and embrace it as an ethos and means of self expression," which some believe has an effect on the black-on-black crime.[18] The release of music videos from Doggystyle and The Chronic has enabled the artists to add visual illustrations to their lyrics, which generally involve Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg driving around South Central, Los Angeles in a lowrider (a vehicle with lowered suspension). This imagery of the "gangsta lifestyle" is thought to have influenced young black males into trying to live the same lifestyle and it is also noted by T. Denean, writer of Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women, that the videos highlight the representation of class, race and Black masculinity within contemporary urban America.[37] Subsequent work Doggystyle is generally considered Snoop Dogg's best album, in addition to being his highest charting and best-selling album as his later albums were certified double Platinum, Platinum or Gold although Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told was certified double Platinum making it his second best selling album and also his only other one to be certified multi Platinum.[2][38][39][40] It differs from following albums as his later work featured production from multiple individuals, such as The Neptunes, Timbaland and Daz Dillinger, with reduced input from Dr. Dre, which shows a shift from G-funk production.[2] Snoop Doggy Dogg's follow-up album, Tha Doggfather (1996), did not involve Dr. Dre, as he left Death Row Records. As a result, DJ Pooh was the main beat-maker for the album. Tha Doggfather followed the methods of a G-funk record and initially sold well, but received mixed reviews and failed to produce a major hit single.[2] In 1998, Snoop Dogg left Death Row and joined No Limit Records, changing his stage name from Snoop Doggy Dogg to Snoop Dogg. During his tenure at the label, he continued several of the themes from Doggystyle with follow-ups to earlier songs, such as "Gin & Juice II" (1998) and "Snoop Dogg (What's My Name II)" (2000).[41] Subsequent studio albums such as Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002) and R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004) exhibited a more mainstream, pop-oriented theme with new sounds, but remained "hardcore throughout" and featured "plenty of street and commercial appeal".[41] These releases included three hit singles, "Beautiful", "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Signs". Snoop Dogg was credited for returning to his G-funk roots in 2006, which was established with his eighth studio album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006).[2] The album was noted for being a "hard and very G-Funk record".[2] In March 2022, Doggystyle and other Death Row albums were removed from all streaming platforms.[42] In October 2022, Snoop announced a spiritual sequel of the album, Missionary, also produced by Dr. Dre. The album is going be released by Death Row Records and Dr. Dre’s label, Aftermath.[43] Critical reception Professional ratingsReview scores Source    Rating AllMusic    [1] Chicago Sun-Times    [44] Encyclopedia of Popular Music    [45] Entertainment Weekly    B−[21] Los Angeles Times    [46] Music Week    [47] Q    [48] Rolling Stone    [20] The Rolling Stone Album Guide    [49] The Source    4/5[8] Spin Alternative Record Guide    6/10[50] Doggystyle was released to widespread critical acclaim. Rolling Stone writer Touré mentioned "Doggystyle is filled with verbal and vocal feats that meet its high expectations. It speeds through 55 minutes of constant talk as if on a suicide hot line".[20] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly noted "It is the most limber, low-rider gangsta album to date" and went on to say "Doggystyle is a grim, bleak-faced record. It's set in a dead-end, no-tomorrow world of cheap thrills".[21] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated "Doggystyle and The Chronic stand proudly together as the twin pinnacles of West Coast G-funk hip-hop of the early '90s"[1] Stylus magazine presented "The Chronic vs. Doggystyle" article, and stated a strong point of Doggystyle compared to Dre's album was its follow-up singles and that "some of the album tracks are more famous than the singles".[9] Vibe magazine expressed that "Snoop is no ordinary gangsta; that's impossible for an artist this playful. On his debut, with Dre riding shotgun anthems abound as often as gin-soaked debauchery".[51] The Source magazine gave the album a 4/5 mic rating. It said Snoop Doggy Dogg emerged as a rapper who lived up to all the advance hype which came from his work on The Chronic, and discussed songs on the record, stating "If 'Murder Was The Case' is a stroke of near genius, then 'Lodi Dodi' is an example of total genius."[8] NME magazine called the lead single "a pinnacle he conquered effortlessly" and went on to name the record a "benchmark album".[52] The album also received some negative criticism. Erlewine of AllMusic mentioned the album did not "surprise or offer anything that wasn't already on The Chronic".[1] Christopher John Farley noted Snoop Doggy Dogg had little examination over his emotions and feelings.[23] David Browne spoke of "Aint No Fun", stating it was an example of how "musically artful, yet lyrically repellent, this album can be" and went on to say "It's easy to be impressed one moment and appalled the next".[21] Renowned rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "dud" rating,[53] which signifies "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought. At the upper level it may merely be overrated, disappointing, or dull. Down below it may be contemptible."[54] Q's Danny Kelly observed: "Snoop Doggy Dogg's record is more or less a 19-track homage to/gleeful rip off of George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog' ... It's inclined to become a touch unimaginative; a tad, let's be honest, dull ... And the sleeve competes with The Waterboys' Dream Harder and Billy Joel's River of Dreams as the worst attached to a recent release."[55] Despite the initial mixed criticism, critical perception of the album later improved, as Doggystyle has earned several accolades and rankings on critics' "best album" lists.[3] A review of the album's reissue upped Q's rating from three to four stars out of five. "A modern classic," observed reviewer Tom Doyle.[48] The Source magazine later gave the album a classic five-mic rating.[56] In 2020, "Doggystyle" placed 340 in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time. Accolades The information regarding accolades attributed to Doggystyle is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.[3] Publication     Country     Accolade     Year     Rank About.com     United States     10 Essential Hip-Hop Albums[34]     2006     10 Blender     U.S.     500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die[3]     2003     * Ego Trip     U.S.     Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980–98[3]     1999     3 Pause & Play     U.S.     Albums Inducted into a Time Capsule, One Album per Week[3]     -     * Pause & Play     U.S.     The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums[3]     1999     11 Rolling Stone     U.S.     The Essential Recordings of the 90s[3]     1999     * Rolling Stone     U.S.     The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[57]     2020     340 Rolling Stone (Chris Rock)     U.S.     Top 25 Hip Hop Albums Ever[3]     2005     2 Stylus     U.S.     Top 200 Albums of All time[3]     2004     115 The Source     U.S.     The 100 Best Rap Albums[3]     1998     * The New Nation     United Kingdom     Top 100 Albums by Black Artists[3]     -     30 Robert Dimery     -     1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[58]     2005     * * denotes an unranked list Commercial performance Doggystyle debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, powered by spectacular first week sales of 806,000 copies.[59] As of November 2015, the album had sold seven million copies in the United States, and over eleven million copies worldwide.[6] It was certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on May 31, 1994.[60] It is Snoop Doggy Dogg's most successful album; his following albums were certified single or double platinum.[61] Doggystyle first appeared on music charts in 1993, peaking on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at No. 1.[38][39] It re-peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 in January 1994, when it was already certified three times platinum by the RIAA.[62] The record was mildly successful in Europe, reaching No. 18 in Sweden, No. 21 in Germany and No. 35 in Austria. It also peaked at No. 25 on the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand album chart.[63][64][65][66] At the end of 1994, the album was No. 3 on the Billboard Year-End Top Albums Chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Year-End Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.[67][68] It re-entered the charts in 2003, peaking on the Ireland Albums Top 75 at No. 70.[69] As of September 2015, it had spent a total of 74 nonconsecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart.[70] Track listing     All songs produced by Dr. Dre. No.    Title    Writer(s)    Length 1.    "Bathtub"    Calvin Broadus Jr.    1:50 2.    "G Funk Intro"        Broadus Jr.Robin Allen     2:24 3.    "Gin and Juice" (featuring Dat Nigga Daz)        Broadus Jr.Andre YoungHarry Wayne CaseyRichard Finch     3:31 4.    "W Balls" (interlude)    Broadus Jr.    0:36 5.    "Tha Shiznit"    Broadus Jr.    4:04 6.    "Domino Intro" (interlude)    Broadus Jr.    0:37 7.    "Lodi Dodi" (featuring Nancy Fletcher)        Broadus Jr.Douglas DavisHachidai NakamuraEi RokusukeRicky Walters     4:24 8.    "Murder Was the Case (DeathAfterVisualizingEternity)" (featuring Dat Nigga Daz)        Broadus Jr.YoungDelmar Arnaud     3:38 9.    "Serial Killa" (featuring The D.O.C., Tha Dogg Pound, and RBX)        Broadus Jr.YoungArnaudBootsy Collins     3:32 10.    "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)"        Broadus Jr.YoungGeorge ClintonGarry ShiderDavid Spradley     4:06 11.    "For All My Niggaz & Bitches" (featuring Tha Dogg Pound and The Lady of Rage)        Broadus Jr.ArnaudRicardo BrownAllen     4:43 12.    "Aint No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" (featuring Nate Dogg, Warren G, and Kurupt)        Broadus Jr.YoungBrownNathaniel HaleWarren Griffin     4:06 13.    "Chronic Relief Intro" (interlude)    Broadus Jr.    0:33 14.    "Doggy Dogg World" (featuring Tha Dogg Pound and The Dramatics)        Broadus Jr.ArnaudBrownRichard "Dimples" FieldsJames Harris IIITerry Lewis     5:05 15.    "Class Room Intro" (interlude)    Broadus Jr.    0:44 16.    "Gz and Hustlas" (featuring Nancy Fletcher)        Broadus Jr.ArnaudDon Blackman     3:51 17.    "Checkin'" (interlude)        Broadus Jr.Young     0:57 18.    "Gz Up, Hoes Down"        Broadus Jr.YoungArnaud     2:21 19.    "Pump Pump" (featuring Lil Malik)        Broadus Jr.YoungJamal PhillipsMalik Edwards     3:42 Total length:    54:44 Notes     "Gz Up, Hoes Down" is only included on the very first pressings of the album. It was later omitted due to sample clearance issues. It was later re-released on the 2006 Death Row Records compilation, 15 Years on Death Row.     On the U.S. original release's back cover "Gz Up, Hoes Down" is erroneously listed after "Pump Pump" instead of immediately before.     Original pressings in Europe features track names for all interludes - the interlude track names listed above are taken from the said European release. "W Balls" was the only interlude listed on the original American release. All interludes, including "W Balls" were later omitted from all track listings.     The original pressings of the album, which contains "Gz Up, Hoes Down", list an outro track titled, "Tha Next Episode", but does not feature on any pressings of the album. A low-quality recording of the song later leaked online sometime in the late 2000s. Cut tracks     "Gz Up, Hoes Down", only included on original pressings of the album. Omitted due to sample clearance issues.     "Tha Next Episode", produced by and featuring Dr. Dre, was listed on the track listing provided to retailers before the album's release, but does not feature on any pressings of the album. A similar instrumental (i.e., it used the same sample as its main melody) was later used for Warren G's track "Runnin' Wit No Breaks" from his 1994 debut album, Regulate...G Funk Era[71] Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre later recorded a track titled "The Next Episode" for Dre's second studio album, 2001, which is completely different from the original.     "Doggystyle", featuring Jewell and George Clinton, was recorded during the album sessions but remained unreleased until its inclusion on the compilation album Death Row: The Lost Sessions Vol. 1[71]     "The Root of All Evil (Outro)", featuring Teena Marie, was recorded during the album sessions but remained unreleased until its inclusion on the compilation album Death Row: The Lost Sessions Vol. 1. The instrumental was later significantly reworked and used for the remix of "California Love", by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre.     "Every Single Day", featuring Kurupt, Jewell and Nate Dogg, was recorded during the album sessions, remaining unreleased until an alternate version was released on Tha Dogg Pound compilation album 2002. Personnel     Snoop Doggy Dogg – lead vocals     Dr. Dre – producer, vocals     Daz Dillinger – vocals, performer     Sam Sneed - performer, inspiration     Ulrich Wild – engineer     Tha Dogg Pound – performer     Warren G – performer     The D.O.C. – performer     The Lady of Rage – performer     RBX – performer     Kurupt – performer     Nate Dogg – performer         The Dramatics – performer     Emanuel Dean – producer     Chris "The Glove" Taylor – songwriter, mixing     Suge Knight – executive producer     Bernie Grundman – mastering     Chi Modu – photography     Nanci Fletcher – performer, vocals (featured and background)     Dan Winters – photography     Kimberly Holt – artwork     Kimberly Brown – project coordinator     Joe Cool – cover artwork     Lasheena Denty - performer, vocals (featured) Charts Weekly charts Chart (1993–2015)     Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[72]     24 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[63]     35 Canadian Albums (RPM)[73]     10 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[74]     34 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[64]     21 Irish Albums (IRMA)[69]     70 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[65]     25 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[66]     18 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[75]     24 UK Albums (OCC)[76]     38 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[77]     12 US Billboard 200[38]     1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[39]     1     Catalog charts Chart (1997–2015)     Peak position US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)[78]     7 US R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums (Billboard)[79]     3 Year-end charts Chart (1994)     Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[80]     78 Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[81]     15 US Billboard 200[82]     3 US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums (Billboard)[83]     1 Chart (1995)     Position US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums (Billboard)[84]     100 Chart (2002)     Position Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[85]     198 Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[86]     98 Decade-end charts Chart (1990–1999)     Position US Billboard 200[87]     64 Certifications Region     Certification     Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)[88]     Platinum     100,000^ France (SNEP)[89]     Gold     100,000* United Kingdom (BPI)[90]     Platinum     300,000^ United States (RIAA)[60]     4× Platinum     6,957,800[6] Summaries Worldwide     —     11,000,000[6] * Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Release history Region     Date     Format(s)     Label     Ref. United States     November 10, 1993     cassette     Atlantic     November 23, 1993     CDLP Death RowInterscope" (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: New with defects
  • Condition: Appears new; backside has a small hole under collar. See photos and description.
  • Pattern: Solid
  • Sleeve Length: Short Sleeve
  • Character: Snoop Doggy Dogg
  • Neckline: Crew Neck
  • Garment Care: Machine Washable
  • Size: L
  • Color: Black
  • Material: Cotton
  • Year Manufactured: 2020-2029
  • Fabric Type: Knit
  • Vintage: No
  • Brand: Joe Cool
  • Fit: Slim
  • Size Type: Regular
  • Graphic Print: Yes
  • Type: T-Shirt
  • Department: Men
  • Model: Doggystyle
  • Theme: 90s, Animals, Art, California, Cartoon, Classic, Colorful, Dog, Hip Hop, Music, Retro
  • Features: Easy Care, Tagless
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Honduras
  • Season: Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
  • Product Line: Tha Dogg Collection

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