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About Mac Dre: Andre Hicks (July 5, 1970 - November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name, Mac Dre, was a San Francisco Bay Area-based gangsta rapper who is considered one of the predecessors of the hyphy movement . During his career in the rap world, he worked with artists like Yukmouth, Snoop Dogg, and Keak da Sneak.
Mac Dre's Career:
Mac Dre hailed from Vallejo, California. 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 has released many hit singles, such as "Too Hard for the Radio", and most recently "Feelin' Myself". He was the creator of the "Thizzle Dance", a popular dance which holds no specific standard. Hardship and controversy were staples of Mac Dre's career. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Mac 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 parlours. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang. The rapper was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.
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, Mac Dre began releasing albums steadily, building pace in the early 21st century. Mac Dre's audience was growing, and mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks' music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California in 2001, where he began a label, Thizz Entertainment. A notorious ecstasy enthusiast, he is credited with coining the slang verb to thizz, which refers to the state of being high on the drug. He was one of the precursors of the current Thizz movement, a hip hop subculture based around ecstasy use .
Mac Dre's Death: On November 1, 2004, Mac 'Dre was shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri. A car pulled up next to the white van carrying Dre. Whether words were exchanged or not, the ordeal ended in the bloodshed of a Bay Area rap legend. The van swerved off the road and into a ravine where it ran into a tree. Mac Dre apparently died from a gunshot wound to the back of the neck, although Dre was thrown from the vehicle and wasn't found immediately after the accident. It was rumored that Mac Dre's killer was Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins. In 2005, Watkins was murdered, allegedly by Bay Area rapper Mac Minister, in retaliation for the death of Mac Dre. In March 2006, Mac Minister was arrested by FBI officials.
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Last edited by Ghetto187 on Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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