Dr. Dre Podcast NHD

Dr. Dre, a highly influential musician, pioneered gangster rap, which addressed social issues like police brutality and the crack epidemic. He mentored and produced artists like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent. Dr. Dre's record label, Death Row Records, popularized gangster rap in the early 1990s. Although controversial, gangster rap resonated with listeners who felt it reflected their lives. Dr. Dre's influence extended to the Super Bowl and inspired a new generation of rappers. Despite criticism, gangster rap brought attention to important issues and broke barriers in music. Andre Romello Young, also known as Dr. Dre, is one of the most influential musical artists of all time. Although many of his lyrics have portrayed gang violence and harsh topics, Dr. Dre has paved the way for other artists to capitalize on the new frontier, the sub-genre, of gangster rap that has combated police brutality, the crack epidemic, and music being heavily censored at the time. Dr. Dre was the most influential rapper because of his influence on gangster rap, which was the opening of a new frontier. What do you think the most influential thing Dr. Dre has ever contributed to? I don't know, man. One of the most monumental things he's ever done, in my opinion, was the way he produced and influenced the new age of rap. He brought up many artists like Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Nate Dogg, Warren G, Kendrick Lamar, and many more. He brought up so many new ideas and morals that could be expressed before, that couldn't be expressed before, into the practice of forms of music called gangster rap. For example, Dr. Dre was a huge help to Eminem in his career, producing many of his most successful songs and helping him get signed to Interscope Records. The year is 1986. Andre Young is 21. He currently is in the R&B group known as the World Class Wrecking Crew. He has a thought that rap shouldn't just be meaningless words, which is where he came up with the idea of gangster rap. He became one of the founders of Death Row Records, which was an American record label that was founded in 1991. This record label represented the beginning stages of gangster rap. It became the top of the mainstream charts in the early 1990s. Its success legitimized its popularity and prosperity and let everyone know that gangster rap was in the future of music. There was a lot of controversy around this new trend of gangster rap. The average American family thought the rap lyrics contributed to the suicide, violence, and the inappropriate sexual content in lyrics that also influenced and contributed to teens taking part in drugs and alcohol in a younger age. These thoughts spread quickly, but that didn't stop the youth of the world from encountering and encouraging it. Dr. Dre didn't want his lyrics censored. When NFL's officials took issue with the lyrics from Still Dre, part of the song where the lyrics mentioned still not loving the police, the star definitely uttered the lyrics during the halftime show. The star definitely uttered the lyrics during the halftime show. Anyways, to the chagrin of the NFL brass, the youth of the world agreed. They thought it was a cool because people could resonate with the morals they were putting out because of what happened in their everyday life. For example, they talked about the crack epidemic, which was the beginning of a drug epidemic. It was something that was different because the high was such a rush and so intense, but it would only last a few minutes, so people would keep coming back for more. It was almost like fast food of drugs, so easy to forget you had some and the next minute you're coming back for more. This furthered the gap of gangster rap and the controversy between the youth and the adults of the world. Since parents obviously didn't want their children involved in drugs and alcohol, they leaned away from it, as well as the fact that the next big thing in Dre's frontier was the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud between artists and fans of the East Coast hip-hop and the West Coast hip-hop scenes in the United States, especially from the mid-1990s. Focal points of the feud were East Coast-based rappers The Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Daddy and their New York City-based label, Bad Boy Records, and West Coast-based rapper Tupac Shakur with Suge Knight and their Los Angeles-based label, Death Row Records. The feud accumulated in the murders of both rappers in drive-by shootings. Although several suspects have been identified, both murders remain unsolved. These issues furthered the gap between American families and gangster rap. Families didn't want their kids getting involved in gangs and the dangers that came with them. When people are in gangs, they're considered family, and if Dr. Tre hadn't made those strides in rap music, he wouldn't have broken their new frontier. Going back to the issue of parents having a problem with gangster rap, parents heard the so-called vulgar language and were worried about the influence it would have on the listeners, their children. The curse words became popular, and children figured if cool people were doing something, then it must be okay. But the average families were still trying to preserve their children as long as they could, leading to the hate of gangster rap by the parents of many children. That's not to mention the hate it received for the moral barriers it crossed. For example, they talked about sex, drugs, and gang violence, which was universally frowned upon, even though what they were talking about isn't necessarily untrue. People started to feel bad about what they were listening to. But there was another side to this. Many people who listened to the music resonated with the lyrics, and felt like it described aspects of their life that haven't been talked about before. This slowly led to the lyrics becoming more unhinged to appeal for their bigger fan base. These big rappers loved displaying their lavish lifestyles. The listeners saw this, and since most of their listeners were young people, they started thinking about dropping out of school to receive the lavish lifestyle they had seen on TV. What people didn't realize was that this wasn't actually an unrealistic dream to follow, because people had many built-up emotions that they could put into their music, which also helped with self-esteem and people starting to accept themselves more because of the positive feedback they were receiving. Going along with the topic of influence, Dr. Dre influenced many big rappers like Eminem, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Mary J. There are just a couple examples of rappers that he influenced. Eminem made it to the Super Bowl and performed, and he would never have gotten there without Dr. Dre's influence and the confidence he had to say what other people couldn't. The new frontier that Dr. Dre crossed also touched on issues like poverty as well. Many of the lyrics talked about how they started from the bottom and rose to the top, implying that they started with no money and in gang territory, struggling to trying to get that money, and ended up on top with money and women, which is what the phrase suggests. So many rappers started from the bottom, which was where they all got the influence and inspiration for their famous lyrics. Essentially, Dr. Dre opened up the doors to a new land, and many rappers took this as an opportunity to express their opinions and their beliefs in the form of music, which would still be censored about their music if it weren't for him and his influence. For example, he found new talent. In 1996, Dr. Dre started a new label called Aftermath Entertainment and signed various rappers and MCs. What if I told you Dr. Dre had that dog in him? He performed at the Super Bowl alongside Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg. The influence of gangster rap had reached so far that it was included in events celebrated by the whole nation, like the Super Bowl, one of the most viewed events in the world. Many people believed and still believe the lyrics are foul, but as time passed, newer generations became more accustomed to the harmful notes and resonated with the lyrics, and that it described their issues and problems in their lives that they couldn't normally talk about. Gangster rap dealt with problems many have faced. Doing so inspired the world, especially the Americans, with its hardcore lyrics that people could relate to. So the once terrible gangster rap had become something new that inspired the American people. Although the issue is still controversial since it caused gang problems like the East Coast-West Coast gangs, this has led to many deaths, murders, and violence that many were afraid of. Racial tension was at its peak when gangster rap was flourishing. Lyrics about police brutality drove a vision of the boys in blue to the floor. People started being defiant and wanted justice. So much of the rap community protested and showed their side of their story while most of the world tried to silence them. Much of the community believed that they just wanted to silence them to prevent them from speaking the truth about what had happened to them. While police brutality was actually happening, they believed that they were doing what was just, and they deserved what they got. Others denied that it even happened and put it off to clear their name. Police brutality is an issue that still exists today and is very controversial between people. All these issues we talked about today are still present today and the controversy with gangster rap still exists. Overall, we would argue that gangster rap has changed the world for the better and broken the biggest barrier in rap culture and music. In addition, changing the overall culture of the world in general posed big influences on people. Overall, Dr. Dre has been the most influential person towards rap and gangster rap.