André Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, actor and record executive. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.
He was a member of the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A, which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut The Chronic, released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993. In 1996, he left Death Row to found his own label Aftermath Entertainment, producing a compilation album Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1997 and releasing a solo album titled 2001 in 1999. In the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals in other artists' songs. Rolling Stone magazine named him among the highest-paid performers of 2001 and 2004. In 2008, his final solo studio album Detox will be released, following much delay and speculation.
