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More Biographies!
Who Are My Biographies On?
The biographies are on, Jay-Z, DRE, and Snoop Dogg. There will be links on the sites that I went to that couldn't fit on my Link's Page. PEACE
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Jay-Z
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Bio on Jay-Z
No link to add site but this is a coo Jay-Z site: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/jayz/
Livin' just enough for the city wasn't enough for a little contumacious black kid born Shawn Carter. The battered
brick asbestos asylums just didn't offer the type of sophistication conducive to a Cristal-sipping lifestyle. Working
some simpleton grocery bagging job fourteen hours a day wasn't the move either. So, when the lanky boy set foot
on the burning sands of manhood, he left his given name of Shawn Carter and did a Lou Ferrigno/Incredible Hulk.
Jay-Z, ambitious and solution oriented in a world offering more uberous awards, found a hustle sellin' drugs. An
occupation that guaranteed to get him attention from Presidents who wouldn't give him the time of day if they
were alive. "A lot of kids in the ghetto are out to get 'Dead Presidents' because they don't wanna be hungry or
poor. I'm not glorifying selling' drugs, because it's a hard job, and I don't recommend nobody doin' it. At the time, I
didn't feel like hustlin' was goin' over the line. My intentions were good."
Robin Hood's intentions were good too, but he still went down in history as being an English outlaw instead of a
Christian martyr. "Not everybody in the family was eatin' right, so I felt that I had to protect them. I had to weigh
my choices...hustle or somethin'. But what? I didn't see another option. Young Black men in the ghetto don't have
options, because they're surrounded in despair and depression. I didn't want to be poor."
Jay-Z made certain that he and poverty never bumped heads. Having no intention of going from the play pen to
the state pen, he kept the high profile flossin' to a bare minimum, with the exception of a very extravagant hotel
room set on top of four wheels. The ride, a Lexus, is equipped with a Sony VCR and three TV screens (two in the
headrests, one in the passenger-side visor.) "I plan to be traveling a lot," he says, making an earnest attempt at
explaining his Imelda Marcos-simulated lust for toys.
"So while I'm getting driven to where I need to go, I can watch some TV, pass time. I ain't flashy like some of
these other niggas, owning three cars, wearing a whole bunch of gold, and showin' off. I just did my thing quietly.
I made trips here and there doin' what I had to do, but I can't tell you too many of my secrets or I'll have the FBI
comin' after me, askin' questions. I don't wanna have to deal with them. They come after a nigga when they see
there's something to gain personally."
Jay-Z is all for capitalism in it's idealistic state, get what you can while the gettin' is good- but he doesn't
advocate legalizing the profession that kept his family fed. "I don't think legalizing certain drugs would be
beneficial because it would be hard to control, and you can see that the government's having a hard enough time
trying to control alcohol. Legalizing drugs would only prove that the government is out for what they can get in
taxes instead of what's really good for people. I can't see walkin' into a store buying dope. Plus, I think people
would get out of control if drugs were too accessible. Weed, that's different. It doesn't make people crazy. I
better not say much more on the subject, or else I'll hear a knock on my door when this article comes out."
Jay laughs, Goodfella-like, at the vision of federal agents rifling through his Park Slope apartment, and then
continues "Life's been good. I can't complain. Things could have been worse."
Lacquered with a coat of Lady Luck's elixir, Jay's never been locked up. Ask how his wrists escaped the stainless
steel bracelets, and he'll downplay fortune's role and give credit to innate intelligence. "I'm smart. I'd get bored in
school, 'cause I was so good at it. My sixth grade teacher was my favorite. She took the class to her house and I
was like 'Wow." She was the first person I knew who had a refrigerator with an ice machine attached to it. That
shows where I came from. When I left the house, I said, "I want a nice house like this-the truck, car, motorcycle,
a swing in the backyard, the wife, and the kids."
Hunger, poverty, and regression on the other hand scare Jay almost as much as the second coming of Christ.
Among his list of must-haves, having a thick bankroll ranks just below having fresh air and a notch above shelter.
"The people making the world go 'round wouldn't be making shit if it weren't for the money. Being in the same
position before my career got started taking off scares me more than anything, and I ain't really scare much of
nothin'." As part of his get-money plan, Jay plans to book Budweiser-type fests. "We had a Rocafella fest with
myself, B.I.G. and AZ, and it went well. Me, Yvette Michelle and the Lost Boyz may tour this summer. If I don't
go, I'll work on Ruffness, this female emcee we signed. I keep telling everybody that this is my first and last
album, a super secret 'til it comes out. Ain't no mix deejays gettin' hold of this. I respect their hustle, but I don't
want 'em makin' money off me. If you could get a tape with 26 cuts on it, why you gonna buy my tape?
"I want Rocafella to go down as one of the most successful companies in the world, not just as far as black
companies go. I got that concept from Russell (Simmons). Me and my partner ran up on him at a party like we
gonna start 'somethin', and we said "We don't want nothin' from you, but we're common' for your spot." He's the
King and we're comin' for his crown. He loved that so much, he gave me his home number. I never called him, but
he'll hear from me again, because I know what kids want to listen to just like he does. Later on, he came over and
had a drink with us, cause he was so impressed by our line."
Developing a crown capturing strategy came natural for the benevolent businessman who participated in the City
Food Harvest Drive and Toys for Tots. He worked hard, staying in his dry-assed gray flannel district office until
the "It's ten o-clock. Do you know where your children are?" PSA comes on. "I'm gonna make it happen. Some
nights I'm here 'till midnight. The emcee's billowy soup coolers immediately sweep upwards into a "say cheese"
smirk. Then suddenly his face gets slapped by seriousness. No longer glowing, but not exactly glowering. Like a
male Mona Lisa whose expression cannot be pegged, he concludes, "Look out for Rocafella. You can't ignore us,
'cause we're comin.'
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Biography on DRE
(Andre Young, 1965)
With the first release on his Death Row records this former N.W.A producer-rapper could claim 2 have changed tha face of
hip-hop. Dre's unanticipated 3-times platinum album The Chronic turned a clutch of funk classics into a nu form dubbed
"G-Funk". Juddering basslines lulled listeners into a mid-tempo stupor while high-end '70s synths wove a hypnotic top-end
around implacable gangsta threats; 3 straight Chronic hits were accompanied by Dre-directed videos evoking an gangsta
lifestyle.
Dre, once a member of tha obscure, effetely clad funk group World Class Wreckin' Cru, had earned respect as a producer
during his N.W.A tenure, creating diverse hits 4 fellow band member Eazy-E, Texas rhymer The D.O.C., female rap group J.J.
Fad, and tiny-voiced R&B singer Michel'le. The Chronic, released with Death Row Records, confirmed him as an astute
businessman: Dre used the album as a proving ground 4 Death Row artists, including Snoop Dogg and tha Dogg Pound. The
soundtrack to '93's Above tha Rim was another notable success 4 tha label that was later 2 find itself at tha center of tha '95
media firestorm over Time Warner's corporate responsibility.
In late '94 Dre announced that he intended 2 further extend his franchise by reuniting with former bandmate Ice Cube on an
album 2 b titled Helter Skelter. Tha video 4 tha "Natural Born Killaz" single expensively made tabloid stories like tha O.J.
Simpson murder and tha Menendez brothers case. In '95 Dre found himself doin' 5 months n Pasadena City Jail 4 parole
violation. His prior offenses included assaulting TV host Dee Barnes n '91 and hittin' a police officer n a New Orleans hotel n
'92. Suge Knight plead no contest n Feb. 1995 to assault with a deadly weapon on 2 rappers back n 1992. Eazy-E had
previously accused tha former football player of using duress to end Dr. Dre's contract with his Ruthless Records.
Dre's Official Site
Snoop Doggy Dogg's Bio!
Calvin Broadus, 1971, Long Beach, California, USA. Snoop Doggy Dogg's commercial rise
in 1993 was acutely timed, riding a surge in hardcore rap's popularity, and smashing previous
records in any genre. Doggy Style was the most eagerly anticipated album in rap history, and
the first debut album to enter the Billboard chart at number 1. With advance orders of over
one and a half million, media speculators were predicting its importance long before a release
date. As is de rigeur for gangsta rappers such as Snoop, his criminal past casts a long,
somewhat romanticised shadow over his current achievements. He was busted for drugs after
leaving high school in Long Beach, and spent three years in and out of jail. He first appeared
in 1990 when helping out Dr Dre on a track called 'Deep Cover', from the film of the same
title. Dogg was also ubiquitious on Dr Dre's breakthrough album, The Chronic, particularly on
the hit single 'Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang', which he wrote and co-rapped on. After presenting a
gong to En Vogue in September 1993 at the MTV video awards, Dogg surrendered himself
to police custody after the show, on murder charges. This was over his alleged involvement in
a driveby shooting. Inevitably, as news spread of Dogg's involvement interest in his vinyl
product accelerated, and this played no small part in the eventual sales of his debut album.
Critics noted how closely this was styled on George Clinton 's Atomic Dog project. Many
also attacked the abusive imagery of women Dogg employed, particularly lurid on 'Ain't No
Fun'. His justification: 'I'm not prejudiced in my rap, I just kick the rhymes'. If the US press
were hostile to him they were no match for the sensationalism of the English tabloids. During
touring commitments to support the album and single, 'Gin And Juice', he made the front page
of the Daily Star with the headline: 'Kick This Evil Bastard Out!'. It was vaguely reminiscent
of the spleen vented at the Sex Pistols in their heyday, and doubtless a good sign. He was
asked to leave his hotel in Milestone, Kensington on arrival, and Terry Dicks, a bastion of
Tory good taste, also objected to his presence in the country. A more serious impediment to
Snoop's career was the trial on charges of accessory to the murder of Phillip Woldermariam,
shot by his bodyguard McKinley Lee. The trial was underway in November 1995 and
attracted a great deal of media attention, due in part to Dogg's defence attorney being Johnnie
Cochran, O J Simpson's successful defender. During the trial Snoop's bail was set at $1
million. The verdict on February 20 1996 acquitted Dogg and McKinley Lee of both murder
charges and the manslaughter cases were dropped in April. The trial had not overtly damaged
his record sales; his debut has now topped 7 million copies worldwide, and the follow up Tha
Doggfather entered the USA album chart at number 1.
No-Limit's official site
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DRE
This is tha Doctor of Rap, it's tha DRE! |
Snoog Doggy Dog!
Its tha D-O-Double G! |
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