Mac Dre
Mac Dre |
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Andre Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name Mac Dre, was one of the originators of hyphy and is generally considered the creator of Thizz music.[1] He worked with well-known artists such as Snoop Dogg,[2] Warren G, Richie Rich, Keak da Sneak, E-40 ,Daz Dillinger, Baby Bash, B-Legit, San Quinn, Yukmouth, Andre Nickatina, Tupac Shakur, Mac Mall and Too $hort. He also provided an uncredited hook to the track "Gotta Survive" off of Young Lay's Black N' Dangerous album.[3]
His lyrics were largely based on his neighborhood known by those around him as "The Crest", short for Country Club Crest. His music gained popularity in the early to mid 1990s throughout the Bay Area, eventually receiving national recognition through his independent record labels Romp and Thizz Entertainment. During his music career, he released many hit singles, such as "Too Hard for the Fuckin' Radio", and more recently "Feelin' Myself" and "Get Stupid". His music continues to be released posthumously. He was the creator of the "Thizzle Dance", as well as many other popular dances which were referred to as giggin'.
Early life and career
Mac Dre was born in Oakland, CA. Hardship and controversy were staples of Mac Dre's career. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. His record label, Romp Productions, and his many references to "Romper Room" in his songs, coincided with a Vallejo robbery gang of the time calling themselves the "Romper Room Gang" and responsible for the robberies of many area banks and pizza parlors. The Robberies even had a small segment on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang which also included Bay Rapper J Diggs and Coolio Da'Unda'Dogg.[4] Hicks was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.[5]
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In prison Hicks gained some notoriety by recording the lyrics to songs directly over the Fresno County jail inmate telephone. His album, Young Black Brotha, was a result of such efforts, as well as guest appearances on fellow artists' songs, all while Hicks was still imprisoned. A later album, Back 'N Da Hood, was also made up of these prison-recorded songs.
After his release from prison in 1996, He first released Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation, it was said he did this compilation with many other artists from the Bay Area before his solo album Stupid Doo Doo Dumb to give them more exposure, as he knew his return from Lompoc would be greatly noticed. Following those albums, Hicks met with Executive Producer Bernard Gourley and recorded the album "Rapper Gone Bad" with the help of production from Tone Cappone, Lev Berlak, and Warren G. This started a new beginning for Mac Dre as he began to release albums steadily, building a huge catalog of music recorded at The Grill Studios in Oakland, CA. At many small studios, Mac Dre's audience was growing and in turn, mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks' music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California where he started a new label imprint, "Thizz Entertainment", and is credited with coining the slang verb to thizz thus securing Dre as the Godfather of the Hyphy movement that years later was brought to the mainstream by E-40. another great influence to mac dre's career was an underground rapper Sparx; a.k.a. Alex Guerrero. Sparx was one of mac dre's childhood friends when they both grew up together in a neighborhood of Vallejo. Sparx ultimately left the rapping game after the death of Mac Dre.
Death
On November 1, 2004, returning to Kansas City, Missouri, a car pulled up next to the white diesel van carrying Dre. Though it is not known whether words were exchanged, occupants of the car opened fire. The van swerved off the road and into a ravine where it ran into a ditch and Dre was thrown from the vehicle. Mac's driver could not find him in the dark and ran down the freeway to get help but found Mac dead upon returning. He is believed to have died instantly from a gunshot wound to the neck. [6][7] In 2005 due to a large amount of suspicion, Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins was murdered in Las Vegas, allegedly by Bay Area rapper and Dre's good friend Mac Minister, in retaliation for Hicks' death. The body of a prostitute, 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, was found in Fairfield, CA in November 2005; Laursen had been in the company of Mac Minister (Andre Dow) and Jason Mathis in Las Vegas when Watkins was murdered.[8] In March 2006, Dow was arrested by FBI officials and both Dow and Mathis were indicted on murder charges in the Watkins murder.[9] Some in the rap community initially suspected the March 2007 shooting death of Johnny Cash (Johnny Castaneda, a/k/a "The Fast Gunna") was related to the Mac Dre killing; however, officials attributed Castaneda's death to unrelated "street violence".[8]
On the weekend of the August 26, 2006, Hicks' tombstone was stolen from his final resting place at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. AP.9, a rapper who was close to Hicks offered a $10,000 reward out of his own pocket for anyone who had any information on the location of the tombstone. AP.9 stated that he believed the theft had nothing to do with Hicks' murder.[10] The tombstone has since been replaced.
Television
Mac Dre's underground rap career kept him off of the radio stations and T.V. screens almost entirely. However, BET's documentary-type show American Gangster aired an episode on January 16, 2009, focusing on Mac Dre and his Romper Room ties. Mac Dre was also featured on MTV's My Block in a memorial Chris Kanaris montage. Mac Dre was also featured on a Thizz Nation DVD Treal TV. Although there was a sequel, it was done after his death. Mac Dre was also featured on a special documentary which aired on the E network entitled "Thizz a Ma Jizz" in which Dre appears wearing nothing but a trucker hat and a pair of green socks. He then repeats "do the thizz dance" 105 times before cutting to an hour long clip from The French connection. This was Dre's first and only foray into experimental art cinmea. The Sequel, "Thizz a Ma Jizz 2: Othello ma Nigga", was more conventional as a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear set in 1940s Baltimore amidst a backdrop of corruption on the docks and an influx of Korean immigrants
Discography
References
- ^ Hicks, Lisa (2006-10-22). "Mistah F.A.B." San Francisco Chronicle. pp. PK-20. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
...hyphy pioneer Mac Dre.
- ^ Free Music: The Appearances by Mac Dre - Rhapsody Online
- ^ Caples, Garrett (2005-11-16). "Nation of Thizzlam: Mac Dre's Thizz label undergoes a rebirth". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Police say Hicks was once part of Vallejo's north side Romper Room Gang, which was suspected of committing a series of bank robberies and pizza parlor stickups in the early 1990s." Bulwa, Demian (2004-11-02). "Rapper Mac Dre slain in Kansas City". San Francisco Chronicle.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Mac-Dre". Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Snapp said Hicks 'probably died instantly' from a gunshot wound to the back of the neck, though that's uncertain because he wasn't found immediately after the shooting. 'The van went over an embankment and into a ravine, and Hicks was ejected from the van,' Snapp said. 'His associate couldn't find him in the dark, and walked to get help. When they came back, they found him deceased.'" from Raskin-Zrihen, Rachel (November 4, 2004). "Did dispute over performance lead to Mac Dre death?". Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton, CA).
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Hicks was thrown from the van, but police said he died from the shooting." from "Underground rapper killed in shooting on Kansas City highway". November 2, 2004.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Lee, Henry K. (2007-04-01). "Mystery over death of Mac Dre protege". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. D-1. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
- ^ "Bay Area Rapper Mac Minister Apprehended By FBI". MTV News. 2006-03-03. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Johnson, Dick "SOHH Exclusive: Mac Dre's Tombstone Stolen, Longtime Friend Speaks Out, SOHH.com (August 24, 2006)