Dr. Dre might just be the most influential artist and producer in the gangsta rap genre. Dre has been involved with such a large list of hip hop's greatest records and singles that imagining the current rap scene without his influence would be an impossible task. Nowadays, Dre has positioned himself in the recording studio- on the side of the glass with all the buttons and knobs- acting as a producer for many of the music industry's biggest names. But during his rapping and singing days his appeal, popularity and clout were rivaled only by the likes of such artists as Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Ice Cube.

Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the notorious Mecca of West Coast gang culture, provided the juvenile Andre Young (aka Dr. Dre, or simply Dre) with the content and mood that would show up throughout his music career. In 1986, when Dre met Ice Cube, a regular performer at Dre's hip-hop parties, the two began to work together writing songs. With the addition of Eazy-E, they formed the hip-hop group N.W.A., eventually releasing Straight Outta Compton in 1988. Filled with inflammatory, controversial and politically-charged lyrics, Straight Outta Compton was an underground hip-hop masterpiece which both pushed the genre in a different direction and captured the reality of gang life like nothing else before it. Cube split from N.W.A shortly after Strraight Outta Compton, leaving Eazy and Dre to produce multiple albums. By the early 1990s, Dre was already looking to branch out on his own and make different connections. After leaving N.W.A., Dre teamed up with Snoop Doog and Warren G, who helped him to refine the "G-funk" sound made famous by Death Row Records (the label he co-founded with Suge Knight) as well as the 1992 album The Chronic and 1999's 2001.

Fans of hip-hop during the 1990s and early 2000s know his most famous singles by heart. Who can forget such hits as "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" (featuring Snoop Dogg), "Still D.R.E." (featuring Snoop Dogg), "Forgot About Dre" (featuring Eminem), and "The Next Episode" (featuring Snoop Dogg & Nate Dogg). In addition to being the main attraction for some of the most famous gangsta rap singles, Dre famously offered his services to Blackstreet in "No Diggity," and Tupac Shakur in "California Love." Besides creating and producing music, Dre has been successful in small acting roles (including Training Day and The Wash) and as a music video director.