at the top of the charts as Eazy's comic-book lyrics. On both the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin' and the 1991 album Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz4life" spelled backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that were as responsible for keeping N.W.A. While Eazy appeared to be the undisputed leader following Cube's departure - and he was certainly responsible for the group approaching near-parodic levels with their final pair of records - the music was in Dre's hands. Most of the group's political threat left with Cube when he departed in late 1989 amid many financial disagreements. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company, Priority, suggesting that N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press, or MTV. an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude - with Dre, Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella, releasing their first album in 1987. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz-n-the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. In 1986 he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Dre, a company that introduced the celebrity headphones phenomenon, later morphed into a streaming music service, and was then bought by Apple Inc.ĭre (born Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles and making a handful of recordings along the way. Dre retaliated by forming a new company, Aftermath, and while it was initially slow getting started, his bold moves forward earned critical respect. For nearly four years, G-funk dominated hip-hop, and Dre had enough sense to abandon it, and Death Row, just before the whole empire collapsed in late 1996. Soon, most rap records imitated its sound, and his productions for Snoop Doggy Dogg and Blackstreet were massive hits. in 1992, he founded Death Row Records with Suge Knight and the D.O.C., and the label quickly became the dominant force in mid-'90s hip-hop thanks to his debut, The Chronic. On his own, he reworked George Clinton's elastic funk into the self-styled G-funk, a slow-rolling variation that relied more on sound than content. he melded the noise collages of the Bomb Squad with funky rhythms. Dre was never much of a rapper - his rhymes were simple and his delivery was slow and clumsy - but as a producer, he was extraordinary. celebrated the hedonistic, amoral side of gang life. While BDP's early albums were hardcore but cautionary tales of the criminal mind, Dre's records with N.W.A. Instead, Dre pioneered gangsta rap and his own variation of the sound, G-funk. Dre was responsible for moving away from the avant-noise and political stance of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions as well as the party vibes of old-school rap. Rolling Stone notes that Dre was allegedly looking for over $676,000 in unpaid mechanical royalties, over $1.2 million for unpaid artist and producer royalties, as well as nearly $1.2 million in digital sales.More than any other rapper, Dr. Nearly two decades later, Dre filed a lawsuit against his former label alleging that they owed him over $3 million in unpaid royalties.Īccording to Radar Online, legal documents alluded that Dre believed there to be a "discrepancy in the payments he received" from Death Row Records and that they'd yet to "honor a bonus" from records sold while the label was in bankruptcy (via TMZ). During his time at Death Row Records, Dre saw immense success with the release of his debut solo album "The Chronic," as well as the rise of Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur (via Hip Hop DX).ĭre parted ways with the label in 1996, following alleged tension regarding the "creative direction" of the company between the rapper and Knight according to the Los Angeles Times. Dre ( real name Andre Romelle Young) sued Death Row Records (via Rolling Stone) –- a label he co-founded in 1992 with Suge Knight (via the Los Angeles Times).