“I've always been a lunatic.”

American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor

Dr. Dre, the stage name of Andre Romell Young, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He came up in the 1980s and became a central figure in West Coast hip-hop, with a career that also includes founding Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founding Death Row Records. He first worked with World Class Wreckin' Cru, then rose to wider fame with N.W.A, which he formed in 1987 with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Arabian Prince. N.W.A helped bring explicit street narratives into hip-hop, and its debut album, Straight Outta Compton, played a major part in the spread of gangsta rap. In the early 1990s, Dre was also a key force behind West Coast G-funk, a style marked by synthesizers and heavy, slow production.