RO: Well, in the beginning, they were very, very good friends. And what kind of commentary did Suge Knight have about Dr. It's certainly clear that he doesn't mind giving an impression that he is one tough guy. Knight and has children with him.ĬHIDEYA: Suge Knight is one of the most controversial figures in rap history, you know, people would at various times have speculated whether he was involved murders and commissioning nefarious deeds. And today, you know, somehow, you know, Michel'le is married to Mr. And Dre had been with the label and ostensibly with Michel'le, I believe, from 1992 to 1996, when Dre and Marion Knight, Suge, parted, you know, under less than amicable terms. RO: Well, with Dre's former business partner at this label, Death Row Records, that they had co-founded in 1992. RO: No, no, they actually - when they met, they eventually fell in love and they had a child together, a little boy named Marcel.ĬHIDEYA: And then Michel'le went on to be with whom? Ready to make an entrance, so back on up.ĬHIDEYA: And there's definitely a little bit of art meets life here, because Michel'le was not just on one of his records, was she? SNOOP DOGGY DOGG: (Rapping) One, two, three and to the four, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr.
(Soundbite of song "Ain't Nothing But a G Thang") RO: And he played live music inspired by funk from the '60s and '70s on a single called "Ain't Nothing But a G Thang." SNOOP DOGGY DOGG: (Rapping) With so much drama in the LBC it's kind of hard being Snoop D-O-GG, but I… And then he continued to evolve and to grow, and by 1992 he'd formed his own record company and had discovered another superstar named Snoop Doggy Dogg. And then he had his group N.W.A., and with them he sort of introduced like this Red Foxx, Richard Pryor form of comedy. And also, musically, like in his first group, The World Class Wreckin' Cru, he sort of fused rap beats to R&B with the song by an artist named Michel'le called "Turn Out the Lights" which was, I believe, in the late '80s, immensely popular. RO: Well, for one, Dre is very well known for introducing a higher level of quality to the actually sound of a recording. And at each stage of his career he wound up introducing new elements, sounds, and techniques that influenced everything that followed.ĬHIDEYA: What kinds of techniques did he introduced?
And he had an interest in, you know, performing, and he joined a number of well-known groups. He was unsure what to do with his life right around the time he was going to graduate from high school. Dre was a young man from South Central Los Angeles. Dre in terms of who he was when he first got into hip-hop? NPR's Farai Chideya spoke with Ronin Ro about his new biography of Dre.įARAI CHIDEYA: Who is Dr. He's thought up all sorts of controversies with record labels and fellow rappers to remain one of the steadiest forces in hip-hop music. He discovered Snoop Dogg and helped rocket Eminem to rap stardom. Busta, where you at? Can't scrap a lick, so I know you got (unintelligible)…ĬOX: Dr. Dre's patented mix of George Clinton-ish funk and (unintelligible) hip-hop beat made him one of rap music's most important artists.ĭr. It was just one of his many hits during and after his days with N.W.A. He dropped his first solo disc, "The Chronic," in 1992. Dre made his first hits with Ice Cube and the gangster hip-hop crew, N.W.A. In the early '90s, the Los Angeles producer almost single-handedly crafted the new G-funk rap sound.
If you want to make your funk the G-funk, then you need to call on Dr.
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