Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), primarily known by his stage name
Dr. Dre, is an American
record producer,
rapper, and
record executive. He is the founder and current
CEO of
Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of
Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels such as
Snoop Dogg and
Eminem. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of
West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as
synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.
Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the
World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential
gangsta rap group
N.W.A, which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life.
His 1992 solo debut
The Chronic, released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993
and to win a
Grammy Award for the single "
Let Me Ride."
In 1996, he left Death Row to found his own label Aftermath Entertainment, producing a compilation album,
Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, in 1996, and releasing a solo album titled
2001, in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.
During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals in other artists' songs.
Rolling Stone named him among the highest-paid performers of 2001
and 2004.
Dr. Dre also had acting roles in the 2001 films
The Wash and
Training Day.
