Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B and RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s.^[1] The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.^[2]

The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, the term rhythm and blues was frequently applied to blues records.^[3] Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B".

Etymology[link]

Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine coined the term "rhythm and blues" in 1948 as a musical marketing term in the United States.^[4] It replaced the term "race music", which originally came from within the black community, but was deemed offensive in the postwar world.^[5][6] The term "rhythm and blues" was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, when its "Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles" chart was renamed as "Best Selling Soul Singles".^[7]

Writer/producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as "a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans".^[8] He has used the term "R&B" as a synonym for jump blues.^[9] However, Allmusic separates it from jump blues because of its stronger, gospel-esque backbeat.^[10] Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that "rhythm and blues" was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience. According to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts.^[11] Well into the 21st Century, the term R&B continues in use (in some contexts) to categorize music made by black musicians, as distinct from styles of music made by other musicians.^[12]

In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, and saxophone. Arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, and often hypnotic textures while calling attention to no individual sound. While singers are emotionally engaged with the lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, a practice associated with the modern popular music that rhythm and blues performers aspired to dominate. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords and structure.^[13]

History[link]

T-Bone Walker, American Folk Blues Festival 1972 (Heinrich Klaffs Collection 46)

Precursors[link]

Louis Jordan, New York, N.Y., ca. July 1946 (William P. Gottlieb 04721)

The migration of African Americans to the urban industrial centers of Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere in the 1920s and 1930s created a new market for jazz, blues, and related genres of music, often performed by full-time musicians, either working alone or in small groups. The precursors of rhythm and blues came from jazz and blues, which overlapped in the Late-1920s,1930s through the work of musicians such as The Harlem Hamfats, with their 1936 hit "Oh Red", as well as Lonnie Johnson, Leroy Carr, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and T-Bone Walker. There was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone.^[14]

Late 1940s[link]

Big Joe Turner, Hamburg 1974 (Heinrich Klaffs Collection 86)

In 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name "Blues and Rhythm". In that year, Louis Jordan dominated the top five listings of the R&B charts with three songs, and two of the top five songs were based on the boogie-woogie rhythms that had come to prominence during the 1940s.^[15] Jordan's band, the Tympany Five (formed in 1938), consisted of him on saxophone and vocals, along with musicians on trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums.^[16][17] Lawrence Cohn described the music as "grittier than his boogie-era jazz-tinged blues".^[18] Robert Palmer described it as "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat".^[2] Jordan's cool music, along with that of Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Billy Wright, and Wynonie Harris, is now also referred to as jump blues. Also in 1948, Wynonie Harris' remake of Roy Brown's 1947 recording "Good Rockin' Tonight" hit the charts in the #2 spot, following band leader Sonny Thompson's "Long Gone" at #1.^[19][20]

In 1949, the term "Rhythm and Blues" replaced the Billboard category Harlem Hit Parade.^[11] Also in that year, "The Huckle-Buck", recorded by band leader and saxophonist Paul Williams, was the #1 R&B tune, remaining on top of the charts for nearly the entire year. Written by musician and arranger Andy Gibson, the song was described as a "dirty boogie" because it was risque and raunchy.^[21] Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers' concerts were sweaty riotous affairs that got shut down on more than one occasion. Their lyrics, by Roy Alfred (who later co-wrote the 1955 hit "(The) Rock and Roll Waltz"), were mildly sexually suggestive, and one teenager from Philadelphia said "That Hucklebuck was a very nasty dance".^[22][23] Also in 1949, a new version of a 1920s blues song, "Ain't Nobody's Business" was a #4 hit for Jimmy Witherspoon, and Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five once again made the top 5 with "Saturday Night Fish Fry".^[24] Many of these hit records were issued on new independent record labels, such as Savoy (founded 1942), King (founded 1943), Imperial (founded 1945), Specialty (founded 1946), Chess (founded 1947), and Atlantic (founded 1948).^[14]

Afro-Cuban rhythmic influence[link]

African American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in the 1800s with the popularity of the Cuban contradanza (known outside of Cuba as the habanera). The habanera rhythm can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat.

The habanera rhythm shown as tresillo (lower notes) with the backbeat (upper note).

For the more than quarter-century in which the cakewalk, ragtime and proto-jazz were forming and developing, the Cuban genre habanera was a consistent part of African American popular music.^[25] Jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton considered the tresillo/habanera rhythm (which he called the Spanish tinge) to be an essential ingredient of jazz.^[26] There are examples of tresillo-like rhythms in some African American folk musics such as the hand clapping and foot stomping patterns in ring shout, post-Civil War drum and fife music, and New Orleans second line music.^[27] Wynton Marsalis considers tresillo to be the New Orleans "clave" (although technically, the pattern is only half a clave).^[28] Tresillo is the most basic duple-pulse rhythmic cell in Sub-Saharan African music traditions, and its use in African American music is one of the clearest examples of African rhythmic retention in the United States.^[29] The use of tresillo was continuously reinforced by the consecutive waves of Cuban music, which were adopted into North American popular culture. In 1940 Bob Zurke released "Rhumboogie," a boogie woogie with a tresillo bass line, and lyrics proudly declaring the adoption of Cuban rhythm:

"Harlem's got a new rhythm, man it's burning up the dance floors because it's so hot! They took a little rhumba rhythm and added boogie woogie and now look what they got! Rhumboogie, it's Harlem's new creation with the Cuban syncopation, it's the killer! Just plant your both feet on each side. Let both your hips and shoulder glide. Then throw your body back and ride. There's nothing like rhumbaoogie, rhumboogie, boogie woogie. In Harlem or Havana, you can kiss the old Savannah. It's a killer!" Watch: The Andrews Sisters performing "Rhumboogie" (1940).

Although originating in the metropolis at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans blues, with its Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traits, is distinct from the sound of the Mississippi Delta blues.^[30] In the late 1940s, New Orleans musicians were especially receptive to Cuban influences precisely at the time when R&B was first forming.^[31] The first use of tresillo in R&B occurred in New Orleans. Robert Palmer recalls:

Fats Domino 1956

New Orleans producer-bandleader Dave Bartholomew first employed this figure (as a saxophone-section riff) on his own 1949 disc "Country Boy" and subsequently helped make it the most over-used rhythmic pattern in 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll. On numerous recordings by Fats Domino, Little Richard and others, Bartholomew assigned this repeating three-note pattern not just to the string bass, but also to electric guitars and even baritone sax, making for a very heavy bottom. He recalls first hearing the figure – as a bass pattern on a Cuban disc" (1995).^[32]

In a 1988 interview with Palmer, Bartholomew (who had the first R&B studio band),^[33] revealed how he initially superimposed tresillo over swing rhythm:

"I heard the bass playing that part on a 'rumba' record. On 'Country Boy' I had my bass and drums playing a straight swing rhythm and wrote out that 'rumba' bass part for the saxes to play on top of the swing rhythm. Later, especially after rock ‘n’ roll came along, I made the 'rumba' bass part heavier and heavier. I’d have the string bass, an electric guitar and a baritone all in unison."^[34]

Bartholomew referred to the Cuban son by the misnomer rumba, a common practice of that time. Listen: "Country Boy" by Dave Bartholomew (1949). Fats Domino's "Blue Monday," produced by Bartholomew, is another example of this now classic use of tresillo in R&B. Listen: Fat's Domino's "Blue Monday" (1956). On Bartholomew's 1949 tresillo-based "Oh Cubanas" we clearly hear an attempt to blend African American and Afro-Cuban music. The word mambo, larger than any of the other text, is placed prominently on the 45' label.

In his composition "Misery," New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd) plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand. The deft use of triplets is a characteristic of Longhair's style.

"Misery" by Professor Longhair (1957).

Gerhard Kubik notes that with the exception of New Orleans, early blues lacked complex polyrhythms, and there was a "very specific absence of asymmetric time-line patterns (key patterns) in virtually all early twentieth century African American music . . . only in some New Orleans generes does a hint of simple time line patterns occasionally appear in the form of transient so-called 'stomp' patterns or stop-time chorus. These do do not function in the same way as African time lines."^[35] In the late 1940s this changed somewhat when the two-celled time line structure was brought into the blues. New Orleans musicians such as Bartholomew and Longhair incorporated Cuban instruments, as well as the clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as "Carnival Day," (Bartholomew 1949) and "Mardi Gras In New Orleans" (Longhair 1949). While some of these early experiments were awkward fusions, the Afro-Cuban elements were eventually integrated fully into the New Orleans sound.

Robert Palmer reports that, in the 1940s, Professor Longhair listened to and played with musicians from the islands and "fell under the spell of Perez Prado's mambo records."^[36] He was especially enamored with Afro-Cuban music. Michael Campbell states: "Professor Longhair’s influence was . . . far reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit is 'Longhair’s Blues Rhumba,' where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm."^[37] Longhair's particular style was known locally as rumba-boogie.^[38] In his "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," the pianist employs the 2-3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif in a rumba boogie "guajeo" (below).^[39] 2-3 clave is written above the piano excerpt for reference.

Piano excerpt from the rumba boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949) by Professor Longhair. 2-3 clave is written above for rhythmic reference.

The syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions) took root in New Orleans R&B during this time. Alexander Stewart states that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes.^[40] Concerning the various funk motifs, Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."^[41]

Johnny Otis released the R&B mambo "Mambo Boogie" in January 1951, featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression.^[42] Listen: "Mambo Boogie" by Johnny Otis (1951).

Saxophone guajeo in blues progression. "Mambo Boogie" by Johnny Otis (1951).

Ike Turner recorded "Cubano Jump" (1954) an electric guitar instrumental, which is built around several 2-3 clave figures, adopted from the mambo. Listen: "Cubano Jump" by Ike Turner (1954). The Hawketts, in "Mardi Gras Mambo" (1955) (featuring the vocals of a young Art Neville), make a clear reference to Perez Prado in their use of his trademark "Unhh!" in the break after the introduction.^[43] Listen: "Mardi Gras Mambo" by the Hawketts (1955).

Ned Sublette states: "The electric blues cats were very well aware of Latin music, and there was definitely such a thing as rhumba blues; you can hear Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf playing it."^[44] He also cites Otis Rush, Ike Turner and Ray Charles, as R&B artists who employed this feel.^[44]

The use of clave in R&B coincided with the growing dominance of the backbeat, and the rising popularity of Cuban music in the U.S. In a sense, clave can be distilled down to tresillo (three-side) answered by the backbeat (two-side).^[45]

3-2 clave written in two measures in cut-time.

Tresillo answered by the backbeat, the essence of clave in African American music.

The "Bo Diddley beat" (1955) is perhaps the first true fusion of 3-2 clave and R&B/rock 'n' roll. Watch: "Hey Bo Diddley" performed live by Bo Diddley (1965). Bo Diddley has given different accounts of the riff's origins. Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."^[46] Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive" (1958) is another example of this successful blend of 3-2 clave and R&B. Watch: "Hand Jive" performed by Johnny Otis. The Johnny Otis Show. Otis used the Cuban instruments claves and maracas on the song.

Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley beat" is a clave-based motif.

Afro-Cuban music became the conduit through which African American music was "re-Africanized," through the adoption of two-celled figures like clave and Afro-Cuban instruments like the conga drum, bongos, maracas and claves. According to John Storm Roberts, R&B became the vehicle for the return of Cuban elements into mass popular music.^[47] Ahmet Etregun, producer for Atlantic Records, is reported to have said that "Afro-Cuban rhythms added color and excitement to the basic drive of R&B."^[48] As Ned Sublette points out though: "By the 1960s, with Cuba the object of a United States embargo that still remains in effect today, the island nation had been forgotten as a source of music. By the time people began to talk about rock and roll as having a history, Cuban music had vanished from North American consciousness."^[49]

Early to mid 1950s[link]

Ray Charles in 1971. Photo: Heinrich Klaffs.

Johnny Otis, who had signed with the Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy Records, produced many R&B hits in 1951, including: "Double Crossing Blues", "Mistrustin' Blues" and "Cupid's Boogie", all of which hit number one that year. Otis scored ten top ten hits that year. Other hits include: "Gee Baby", "Mambo Boogie" and "All Nite Long".^[50] The Clovers, a vocal trio who sang a distinctive sounding combination of blues and gospel, had the #5 hit of the year with "Don't You Know I Love You" on Atlantic Records.^[50][51][52] Also in July 1951, Cleveland, Ohio DJ Alan Freed started a late-night radio show called "The Moondog Rock Roll House Party" on WJW-AM (850).^[53] Freed's show was sponsored by Fred Mintz, whose R&B record store had a primarily African American clientele. Freed began referring to the rhythm and blues music he played as "rock and roll".

In 1951, Little Richard Penniman began recording for RCA Records in the jump blues style of late 1940s stars Roy Brown and Billy Wright. However, it wasn't until he prepared a demo in 1954, that caught the attention of Specialty Records, that the world would start to hear his new, uptempo, funky rhythm and blues that would catapult him to fame in 1955 and help define the sound of rock 'n' roll. A rapid succession of rhythm and blues hits followed, beginning with "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally", which would influence performers such as James Brown,^[54] Elvis Presley,^[55] and Otis Redding.^[56]

Ruth Brown on the Atlantic label, placed hits in the top 5 every year from 1951 through 1954: "Teardrops from My Eyes", "Five, Ten, Fifteen Hours", "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "What a Dream". Faye Adams's "Shake a Hand" made it to #2 in 1952. In 1953, the R&B record-buying public made Willie Mae Thornton's original recording of Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" the #3 hit that year. Ruth Brown was very prominent among female R&B stars. Ruth Brown’s popularity most likely derived because of “her deeply rooted vocal delivery in African American tradition”^{[57] [58]} That same year The Orioles, a doo-wop group, had the #4 hit of the year with "Crying in the Chapel".^[59]

Fats Domino made the top 30 of the pop charts in 1952 and 1953, then the top 10 with "Ain't That a Shame".^[60] Ray Charles came to national prominence in 1955 with "I Got a Woman". Big Bill Broonzy said of Charles' music: "He's mixing the blues with the spirituals... I know that's wrong."^[61]

In 1954 The Chords' "Sh-Boom" became the first hit to cross over from the R&B chart to hit the top 10 early in the year. Late in the year, and into 1955, "Hearts of Stone" by The Charms made the top 20.^[62]

At Chess Records in the spring of 1955, Bo Diddley's debut record "Bo Diddley"/"I'm A Man" climbed to #2 on the R&B charts and popularized Bo Diddley's own original rhythm and blues clave-based vamp that would become a mainstay in rock and roll.

At the urging of Leonard Chess at Chess Records, Chuck Berry had reworked a country fiddle tune with a long history, entitled "Ida Red". The resulting "Maybellene" was not only a #3 hit on the R&B charts in 1955, but also reached into the top 30 on the pop charts. Alan Freed, who had moved to the much larger market of New York City in 1954, helped the record become popular with white teenagers. Freed had been given part of the writers' credit by Chess in return for his promotional activities; a common practice at the time.^[63]

Late 1950s[link]

Della Reese

In 1956, an R&B "Top Stars of '56" tour took place, with headliners Al Hibbler, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Carl Perkins, whose "Blue Suede Shoes" was very popular with R&B music buyers. Some of the performers completing the bill were Chuck Berry, Cathy Carr, Shirley & Lee, Della Reese, the Cleftones, and the Spaniels with Illinois Jacquet's Big Rockin' Rhythm Band. Cities visited by the tour included Columbia, SC, Annapolis, MD, Pittsburgh, PA, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, NY, into Canada, and through the mid Western US ending in Texas. In Columbia the concert ended with a near riot as Perkins began his first song as the closing act. Perkins is quoted as saying, "It was dangerous. Lot of kids got hurt. There was a lot of rioting going on, just crazy, man! The music drove 'em insane." In Annapolis 70,000 to 50,000 people tried to attend a sold out performance with 8,000 seats. Roads were clogged for seven hours.^[64] Film makers took advantage of the popularity of "rhythm and blues" musicians as "rock n roll" musicians beginning in 1956. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, The Treniers, The Platters, The Flamingos, all made it onto the big screen.^[65]

Two Elvis Presley records made the R&B top five in 1957: "Jailhouse Rock"/"Treat Me Nice" at #1, and "All Shook Up" at #5, an unprecedented acceptance of a non-African American artist into a music category known for being created by blacks.^[66] Nat King Cole, a former jazz pianist who had had #1 and #2 hits on the pop charts in the early 1950s ("Mona Lisa" at #2 in 1950 and "Too Young" at #1 in 1951), had a record in the top 5 in the R&B charts in 1958, "Looking Back"/"Do I Like It".

In 1959, two black-owned record labels, one of which would become hugely successful, made their debut: Sam Cooke's Sar, and Berry Gordy's Motown Records.^[67] Brook Benton was at the top of the R&B charts in 1959 and 1960 with one #1 and two #2 hits. Benton had a certain warmth in his voice that attracted a wide variety of listeners, and his ballads led to comparisons with performers such as Cole, Sinatra and Tony Bennett.^[68] Lloyd Price, who in 1952 had a #1 hit with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" regained predominance with a version of "Stagger Lee" at #1 and "Personality" at #5 for in 1959.^[69][70]

The white bandleader of the Bill Black Combo, Bill Black, who had helped start Elvis Presley's career, was popular with black listeners. Ninety percent of his record sales were from black people, and his "Smokey, Part 2" (1959) rose to the #1 position on black music charts. He was once told that "a lot of those stations still think you're a black group because the sound feels funky and black." Hi Records did not feature pictures of the Combo on early records.^[71]

1960s and later[link]

Sam Cooke's #5 hit "Chain Gang" is indicative of R&B in 1960, as is Chubby Checker's #5 hit "The Twist".^[72][73] By the early 1960s, the music industry category previously known as rhythm and blues was being called soul music, and similar music by white artists was labeled blue eyed soul.^[74] Motown Records had its first million-selling single in 1960 with The Miracles' "Shop Around", and in 1961, Stax Records had its first hit with Carla Thomas' "Gee Whiz! (Look at His Eyes)".^[75][76] Stax's next major hit, the Mar-Keys' instrumental "Last Night" (also released in 1961) introduced the rawer Memphis soul sound for which Stax became known.^[77] In Jamaica, R&B influenced the development of ska.^[78][79][80]

By the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues was being used as a blanket term for soul, funk, and disco. Around the same time, earlier R&B was an influence on British pub rock and later, the mod revival. Now the term R&B is almost always used instead of the full rhythm and blues, and mainstream use of the term usually refers to contemporary R&B, which is a newer version of soul and funk-influenced pop music that originated as disco faded from popularity.

British rhythm and blues[link]

Eric Burdon & the Animals (1964).

British rhythm and blues developed in the early 1960s, largely as a response to the recordings of American artists, often brought over by African American servicemen stationed in Britain during the Cold War, or merchant seamen visiting ports such as London, Liverpool, Newcastle on Tyne and Belfast.^[81] Many bands, particularly in the developing London club scene, tried to emulate black rhythm and blues performers, resulting in a "rawer" or "grittier" sound than the more popular "beat groups".^[82] Initially developing out of the trad jazz, skiffle and folk club scenes, early artists tended to focus on major blues performers and standard forms, particularly Alexis Korner, who acted as a mentor to members of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, the Graham Bond Organisation and The Kinks.^[82] Although this "purist" interest in the blues would have an impact on major British rock musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Peter Green and Jimmy Page, other artists adopted an interest in a wider range of rhythm and blues styles.^[82]

Most successful were the Rolling Stones, whose first eponymously titled album in 1964 largely consisted of rhythm and blues standards. They soon established themselves as the second most popular UK band (after The Beatles) and led a second wave of the "British Invasion" of the US pop charts.^[82] In addition to Chicago blues numbers, the Rolling Stones also covered songs by Chuck Berry and Bobby and Shirley Womack, with the latter's "It's All Over Now", giving them their first UK number one in 1964.^[83] Blues songs and influences continued to surface in the Rolling Stones' music in later years. Other London-based bands included the Yardbirds, the Kinks, Manfred Mann and the Pretty Things, beside more jazz-influenced acts like the Graham Bond Organisation, Georgie Fame and Zoot Money.^[82] Bands to emerge from other major British cities included The Animals from Newcastle on Tyne, The Moody Blues and Spencer Davis Group from Birmingham, and Them from Belfast.^[82] None of these bands played exclusively rhythm and blues, but it remained at the core of their early albums.^[82]

The British Mod subculture was musically centred on rhythm and blues and later soul music, performed by artists that were not available in small London clubs around which the scene was based.^[84] As a result a number of bands emerged to fill this gap, including Small Faces, The Creation, and most successfully The Who.^[84] The Who's early promotional material tagged them as producing "maximum rhythm and blues", but by about 1966 they moved from attempting to emulate American R&B to producing songs that reflected the Mod lifestyle.^[84] Many of these bands enjoyed national success in the UK, but found it difficult to break into the American market.^[84]

The British R&B bands produced music which was very different in tone from that of African American artists, often with more emphasis on guitars and sometimes with greater energy.^[82] They have been criticised for exploiting the massive catalogue of African American music, but it has also been noted that they both popularised that music, bringing it to British, world and in some cases American audiences, and helping to build the reputation of existing and past rhythm and blues artists.^[82] Most of these bands rapidly moved on from recording and performing American standards to writing and recording their own music, often leaving their R&B roots behind.^[82] Many helped pioneer psychedelic, and eventually progressive and hard rock, having a major influence of the nature and sound of rock music and meaning that rhythm and blues would be a major component of that sound.^[82]

See also[link]

R&B and Soul Music portal

• Chitlin' circuit
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)
• Music of the United States
• Rhythm and Blues Foundation
• Urban contemporary gospel

References[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Pitchfork Media	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

Keep It Together is an album by the band Guster released in June 2003. The album was recorded from 2001 to 2003 in Bearsville, New York, New York City, Burbank, California, and Shokan, New York. This is the first album by Guster that features Brian Rosenworcel on kit drums instead of hand percussion. Keep It Together went through several working titles, including Bitch Magic, Olympia Dukakis and Come Downstairs & Say Hello.

Joe Pisapia contributed guest vocals on "Jesus on the Radio." Just months after the release of the album, he became the new member of the band.

The song "I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today" features Ben Kweller on vocals.

Track listing[link]

1. "Diane" – 3:46
2. "Careful" – 3:42
3. "Amsterdam" – 3:37
4. "Backyard" – 2:55
5. "Homecoming King" – 3:37
6. "Ramona" – 3:06
7. "Jesus on the Radio" – 2:17
8. "Keep It Together" – 3:43
9. "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" – 5:16
10. "Red Oyster Cult" – 3:27
11. "Long Way Down" – 4:34
12. "I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today" – 3:22
13. "Silence" – 0:30
14. "Two at a Time" (hidden track – 4:57)

Charts[link]

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Song facts[link]

• "Jesus on the Radio" - When the band plays the song live, they often play it "unplugged", without any instruments or microphones plugged in.^[4]

• "Keep It Together" - The song can be heard at the end of the Season 1 The O.C. episode The Rescue.

• "I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today" - The song can be heard during the film Wedding Crashers, when John and Jeremy "break up".

See also[link]

• The Meowstro Sings - Guster's Keep It Together

References[link]

"Andre Young" redirects here, for the football player, see Andre Young (American football).

Dr. Dre
Dr Dre, backstage at Pussycat Dolls in Los Angeles 2008
Background information
Birth name	Andre Romelle Young[1]
Born	(1965-02-18) February 18, 1965 (age 47) Compton, California, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Record producer, rapper, entrepreneur
Instruments	Vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, turntables, drum machine, sampler
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Priority, Death Row, Aftermath, Interscope, Ruthless
Associated acts	World Class Wreckin' Cru, N.W.A, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem,Eazy-E ,50 Cent, Game, Akon, Jay-Z, Nate Dogg, Obie Trice, Kendrick Lamar
Website	drdre.com

Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Game. 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. As of 2011, Dr. Dre is ranked as the third richest figure in the American hip hop scene by Forbes with a net worth of $250 million.^[2]

Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella 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 and to win a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride". In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label, he produced a compilation album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996, and released a solo album titled 2001 in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals to other artists' songs. Dr. Dre signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his record label in 1998 and 2003 respectively while contributing production on their albums. Rolling Stone named Dr. Dre among the highest-paid performers of 2001 and 2004. Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, and the 2001 films The Wash and Training Day.

Early life[link]

André Romelle Young was born in Compton, California on February 18, 1965. He was the first child of Theodore and Verna Young, ages 17 and 16, respectively at that time.^{[citation needed]} André's middle name, Romelle, is derived from his father's amateur R&B singing group, The Romells. Married in 1964, André's parents divorced in 1968.^{[citation needed]} Verna later married Curtis Crayon. They had three more children together, two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both deceased)^[3][4] and daughter Shameka.^[5]

In 1976, Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.^[6] Verna later married Warren Griffin, whom she met at her new job in Long Beach,^[7] which added three stepsisters and one stepbrother to the family. That stepbrother, Warren Griffin III, would eventually become rapper Warren G.^[8] Young attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.^[9] Young fathered a son, Curtis, born December 15, 1981, with Lisa Johnson. Curtis Young was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon.^[10]

Music career[link]

1984–85: World Class Wreckin' Cru[link]

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.^[11] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".^[12] He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "Surgery" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area.^[13] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.^[14] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".^[15]

His frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.^[16] He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.

1986–91: N.W.A and Ruthless Records[link]

	"Fuck Tha Police" noicon from Straight Outta Compton
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In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper Ice Cube, who collaborated with Dr. Dre to record songs for Ruthless Records, a rap record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.^[17]

After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin. He also produced tracks for a number of other rap acts on Ruthless Records, including Above the Law, and The D.O.C. for his 1989 album No One Can Do It Better.^[18] In 1991, at a music industry party in Hollywood, he assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump it Up, feeling dissatisfied with a news report of hers regarding the feud between the remaining N.W.A members and Ice Cube. Thus, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500 and given two years' probation and 240 hours of community service, as well as a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.^[19][20]

[edit] 1992–95: The Chronic and Death Row Records

	"Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" noicon from The Chronic
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After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, The D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992 Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.^[17] Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic, released under Death Row Records. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content.^[21]

On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s.^[17] In 1993 the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album multi-platinum,^[22] and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride".^[23] For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.^[24]

Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, which became the first debut album for an artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 album charts.^[25] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995.^[17] For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached No.10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.^[26]

In 1995, just as Death Row Records was signing rapper 2Pac and positioning him as their major star, Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. In 1996, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records.^[17] Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.^[27]

1996–98: Move to Aftermath Entertainment[link]

The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap.^[28] Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA,^[29] the album was not very popular among music fans.^[17] In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" on Saturday Night Live.^[30] In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on The Firm's The Album; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties.^[31] Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath.^[32] First Round Knock Out, a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings.^[33]

Despite the mixed reception to his label's album, Dr. Dre was featured on two Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles in 1996, those being 2Pac's "California Love" and R&B group Blackstreet's "No Diggity". They were Dr. Dre's first No.1 singles as a lead or featured artist.

The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Jimmy Iovine, the head of Aftermath's parent label Interscope, suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999.^[34] The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", would help propel Eminem into stardom. The album was eventually certified 4x Platinum and helped to revive the Aftermath label. Also during this time, Dre assisted on the mix for Nine Inch Nails' track "Even Deeper", from 1999 album The Fragile.

[edit] 1999–2000: 2001

	"Still D.R.E." noicon from 2001
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Dr. Dre's second solo album, 2001, released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots.^[35] It was initially titled The Chronic 2000 to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort The Chronic but was re-titled 2001 after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title Chronic 2000: Still Smokin in May 1999. Other tentative titles included The Chronic 2001 and Dr. Dre.^[36] The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Hittman, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg and Eminem. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the sound of the album as "adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae" to Dr. Dre's style.^[35] The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the Billboard 200 charts^[37] and has since been certified six times platinum,^[22] validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 23, 1999.^[38] Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000,^[17] and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.^[39]

During the course of 2001's popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked "Deep Note".^[40] The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the 2001 album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003.^[41] The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and heavy metal rock band Metallica in the summer of 2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.^[42]

2001–08: Focus on production[link]

Following the success of 2001, Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem’s landmark Marshall Mathers LP, including the Grammy-winning lead single, “The Real Slim Shady”. The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone.^[43] He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B singer Mary J. Blige for her album No More Drama in 2001.^[44] He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani^[45] and signed R&B singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001.^[46] Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem’s 2002 release, The Eminem Show. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for “Without Me”.

Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album Truthfully Speaking if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.^[47]

Another successful album on the Aftermath label was Get Rich or Die Tryin', the 2003 major-label debut album by Queens, New York-based rapper 50 Cent. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club", a joint production between Aftermath, Eminem's boutique label Shady Records and Interscope.^[48] Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, Encore, again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles. In November 2004, at the Vibe magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man.^[49] Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award.^[50] Knight immediately went on CBS's The Late Late Show to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged.^[51] In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.^[52]

Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapper The Game from his album The Documentary.^[53] For an issue of Rolling Stone magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for Rolling Stone magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".^[54]

In November 2006, Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.^[55] He also produced tracks for the rap albums Buck the World by Young Buck,^[56] Curtis by 50 Cent,^[57] Tha Blue Carpet Treatment by Snoop Dogg,^[58] and Kingdom Come by Jay-Z.^[59] Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track "Bounce", from his 2007 solo album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value along side, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake.^[60]

Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled Breakup to Makeup, an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled Heltah Skeltah,^[18] an N.W.A reunion album,^[18] and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled Chairmen of the Board.^[61] Other upcoming albums for which he will produce include The Reformation by Bishop Lamont,^[62] The Nacirema Dream by Papoose,^[63] Flirt by Eve,^[64] and an upcoming album by Queen Latifah.^[65]

[edit] 2009–present: Detox and The Planets

Detox is to be Dr. Dre's final album.^[66] In 2002, Dre told Corey Moss of MTV News that he intended Detox to be a concept album.^[67] Work for the album dates back to early 2004,^[68] but later in that year he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release.^[69] After several delays, the album was finally scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 by Interscope Records, which has not set a firm release date for the album as of July 2010.^[66] Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr.,^[70] Hi-Tek,^[71] J.R. Rotem,^[72] RZA,^[73] Jay-Z,^[74] Warren G, and Boi-1da.^[75] Snoop Dogg claimed that Detox was finished, according to a June 2008 report by Rolling Stone magazine.^[76]

After another delay based on producing other artists' work, Detox was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct and Eminem's Relapse, an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties.^[77][78] Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show in December 2008.^[79] At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week.^[80] and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009.^[81] Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album Relapse. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m.". (the only track Dre didn't produce was the Eminem produced single "Beautiful")

In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of Detox.^[82][83] 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's 106 & Park that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for Detox.^[84] Detox is likely to be released sometime in 2012.^[85] The first two singles, "Kush" and "I Need a Doctor", were released in September 2010 and February 2011 respectively. "Kush" has become a top 40 hit in the United States and "I Need a Doctor" peaked at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100.^[86] The third single, "The Psycho" featuring 50 Cent is set to release sometime this year respectively.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will honor Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.^[87]

In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album titled The Planets is in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System.^[88] On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.," "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," and "Crack a Bottle," alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX," to which he replied, "I'm coming!"^[89]

Dr. Dre was featured on the cover of XXL in the December/January 2011 issue. After Detox he will be one of the producers of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' album Still Cool.^[90]

On November 14, 2011, Dre announced that he will be taking a break from music once he has finished producing for artists Slim the Mobster and Kendrick Lamar. In this break he will work on bringing his Beats By Dre to a standard as high as Apple and will also spend time with his family.^[91]

On January 9th, 2012 Dre was announced to headline the final nights of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival taking place the weekends of April 13-15 and April 20-22. ^[92]

Other ventures[link]

Film career[link]

Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie Set It Off.^[93] In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies The Wash and Training Day.^[94] A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al) and produced by Mahogany, was featured on The Wash soundtrack.^[95] Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg. In February 2007 it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing."^[96] Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre will produce a biographical film about N.W.A tentatively titled Straight Outta Compton.^[97]

Entrepreneurship[link]

Beats By Dr. Dre logo

In July 2008, Dr. Dre released his brand of headphones, Beats by Dr. Dre. The line consists of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone, Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone, Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone, Beats Spin, Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone, and Diddy Beats.^[98] The headphones are made by Monster.^[99] He is also planning to release an "Aftermath Cognac and vodka" at around the same time he releases Detox.^[100] For the 2009 Fall season, HP and Dr. Dre are teaming up to release Beats By Dr. Dre with the sale of all HP laptops and headsets.^[101] HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event in Santa Monica, California. The new laptop, known as HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, will be available for sale October 22 and be priced around $2,299. Besides the laptop, the PC comes with Dr. Dre's signature headphones.^[102]

Musical influences and style[link]

Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo.^[103] In 2001 he told Time magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better."^[104] Other equipment he uses include the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland.^[105]

After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" on The Chronic, for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.^[106]

In 1999, Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette,^[107] In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions.^[108][109] Dr. Dre also told Scratch magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.^[103]

Work ethic[link]

Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances.^[103] In 2006 Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times.^[110] Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic.^[103] He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it isn't to his liking.^[111] However, he does give MCs he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book How to Rap.^[112]

A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists that initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie The Wash, featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, 2001 vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.^[113]

Collaborators/co-producers[link]

Over the years word of other collaborators has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album The Chronic and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album Doggystyle (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album Tha Doggfather after Young left Death Row Records).^[114]

It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album 2001; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told Rolling Stone:

"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".^[115]

Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to Songwriter Universe magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it."^[109] This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book Angry Blonde, stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.^[116]

A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of The Source. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" on The Eminem Show, the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.^[113]

Although Young studies piano and musical theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of TIME magazine has noted:

Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear."^[104]

Although Snoop Dogg retains working relationships with Warren G and Daz, who are alleged to be uncredited contributors on the hit albums The Chronic and Doggystyle, he states that Dr. Dre is capable of making beats without the help of collaborators, and that he is responsible for the success of his numerous albums.^[117] Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.

Ghostwriters[link]

It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs.^[118] As Aftermath producer Mahogany told Scratch: "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say. 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers."^[119] As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).

In the book How to Rap, RBX explains that writing The Chronic was a "team effort"^[118] and details how he ghostwrote "Let Me Ride" for Dre.^[118] In regard to ghostwriting lyrics he says, "Dre doesn't profess to be no super-duper rap dude – Dre is a super-duper producer".^[118] As a member of N.W.A, The D.O.C. wrote lyrics for him while he stuck with producing.^[18] New York City rapper Jay-Z ghostwrote lyrics for the single "Still D.R.E." from Dr. Dre's album 2001.^[36]

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

Dr. Dre's eldest son is named Curtis Young. When Curtis Young was born, Greene was 16, and Dr. Dre was 17. Curtis Young is an aspiring rapper who goes by the rap moniker "Hood Surgeon".^[120] In 1988, Dr. Dre had his second son, Andre Young Jr., with Jenita Porter. Porter sued Dr. Dre in 1990 in Orange County Superior Court seeking $5,000 of child support per month.^[121] From 1990 to 1996, Dr. Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Death Row Records albums. In 1991, the couple had a son, Marcel.^[122] In 1996, Dr. Dre married Nicole Threatt, the ex-wife of NBA player Sedale Threatt.^[123] They have two children together: a son named Truth (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).^[124]

On August 23, 2008, Young's second son, Andre Young Jr., died at the age of 20 at his mother's Woodland Hills home.^[121] The coroner determined that he died from an overdose of heroin and morphine.^[125]

Income[link]

In 2001, Dr. Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year.^[44] Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve.^[126]

Discography[link]

• The Chronic (1992), Death Row
• 2001 (1999), Aftermath
• Detox (2012), Aftermath
• The Planets (TBA), Aftermath – instrumental^[127][128]

Awards and Nominations[link]

^{[129][130][131]} Dr. Dre has won six Grammy Awards. Three of them are for his production work.

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Filmography[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Kenyatta, Kelly (2000). You Forgot About Dre!: The Unauthorized Biography of Dr. Dre and Eminem. Los Angeles, California, United States: Amber Books Publishing. ISBN 0-9702224-9-1. http://books.google.com/?id=dCFq7jRrhFsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22dr.+dre%22 
• Ro, Ronin (2007). Dr. Dre: The Biography. New York City, United States: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-921-3 

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dr. Dre on Myspace
• Official Detox blog
• Beats by Dr. Dre official site
• Dr. Dre at MTV
• Dr. Dre at the Internet Movie Database
• Dr. Dre at WhoSampled
• Dr. Dre at Beatbuggy

AJ Rafael (born March 12, 1989^[1]) is a Filipino American musician and Internet celebrity. He is best known for his original songs such as I Just Want You and We Could Happen. Some of his influences include Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz, MYMP, The Beatles, John Legend, and Bob Marley.^[1].

Career/Life[link]

AJ started posting on YouTube in 2006, and has since gotten over 300,000 subscribers and over 73,000,000 hits. ^[3][4] In 2011, he was nominated to be a part of Billboard's Battle of the Bands alongside Gentlemen Hall, Otenki, Hotels, Lightning Love (band), and Side by Side.^[5][6]

Music Speaks[link]

Music Speaks was started in 2006 when looking for a charity to donate to for his concert. Since his nephew, Nathan, has autism, he decided to donate to Autism Speaks.^[7] This concert utilizes the gifts of music and dance to inspire those fortunate enough to be born without autism to speak out for those who were, by being aware of their condition and taking action towards improving their living conditions and perhaps even uncovering the mystery behind its cause.^[8] Some of the previous performers for these concerts include:^[1][9]

• Jennifer Chung
• Quest Crew
• JR Aquino
• Mike Isberto
• Chris J. Limjuco

Discography[link]

AJ's full-length album, Red Roses, was released on June 7, 2011.^[6] One of his songs, "Emma Watson", is about his eponymous celebrity crush.^[10]

Juicebox EP[link]

[edit] Red Roses^[11][12]