Dr. Dre Vinyl, CD & Tape

The Birthday DJ Dr. Dre

Born in 1965, André Romelle Young AKA Dr. Dre, grew up in one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Los Angeles. His mother, Verna Griffin, let her son spin the records at family parties from an early age. Little Young enjoyed his MC role and soon became completely immersed in his new obsession. Funkadelic and George Clinton thundered out of his nursery, which he didn’t even leave for lunch or dinner after his mother gave him a new mixer for Christmas. In his teens, he made a name for himself as Dr. J and joined the DJ collective World Class Wrecking Crew, which rocked the house at local parties. He didn’t last long, though, and left the crew because of the weird outfits. He had a bigger plan that could only be executed by a key person with the right amount of cash. The name: Eric Wright AKA Eazy-E, a locally feared drug dealer who was trying to build his own rap empire. With Dre’s music and Eazy E’s money, they brought in other rappers and DJs and called themselves NWA, Niggaz With Attitude, perhaps the most infamous group in rap history, whose violent and sexist lyrics about the criminal life outraged as many people as they inspired.

Once a gangster, always a gangster

After his wild time with NWA, experiences with the police and the death of his brother, he quit Ruthless Records and founded Death Row Records with football player Shuge Night, which soon became the hottest label in the industry thanks to Dr. Dre’s production skills. After a shooting at a hotel party, Dr. Dre ended up in the hospital and decided to change his life. He recorded his first tape The Chronic, which sold over 8 million copies and won two Grammy Awards. It included a track that made fun of his old friend Eazy E, and gave an unknown 16-year-old rapper named Snoop Doggy Dogg a spot in the video of Nuthin But A G Thang. He released the track Been There, Done That and finally graduated from the gangster lifestyle. He had two sons and married his girlfriend Nicole, but he didn’t escape the lifestyle completely. A few years later he took youngster Eminem under his wing and made him the next big thing. It was also at this time that he released his second long-awaited vinyl 2001, which included the hit single Still Dre and the reunion with Snoop Dogg.

The man, the legend

In addition to numerous rap icons such as Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac Shakur or Snoop Dogg, who have gained legend status through Dr. Dre’s productions, he was the co-founder of G-Funk and was listed by Rolling Stone as the 56th greatest musician of all time. Besides his headphone brand Beats by Dr. Dre, he released a bunch of merchandise, which is also available on our site. The cassette format released The Aftermath Prison Tape features songs for his friends from prison. As a producer, he steadily worked on more albums for other artists and in 2015 released the soundtrack for the movie Straight Outta Compton, which includes legendary features from Kendrick Lamar, Anderson.Paak, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, BJ The Chicago Kid, Eminem, Xzibit or The Game. On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre performed alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar at the 56th Super Bowl halftime show.