what we’re listening to…

// February 1st, 2010 // Uncategorized

283m

Mac Dre was born in Oakland, California and grew up in the Country Club Crest neighborhood in Vallejo, California. His first single was “2 Hard 4 the Fuckin’ Radio” in 1989. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. His record label, Romp Productions, and his many references to “Rompa 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 Bay Area banks and pizza parlors. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang which also included Bay Rapper J Diggs and Coolio Da’unda’dogg. It was during this time that Hicks recorded his song “Punk Police” as a taunt to police. Hicks was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992. In prison, he recorded his album Back N Da Hood from a prison phone.
After his release from Lompoc Prison in 1996, he released Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation. Following those albums, Hicks met with Executive Producer Bernard Gourley and recorded the album Rapper Gone Bad with production help from Tone Cappone, Lev Berlak, and Warren G. This started a new beginning for Mac Dre as he began to release albums steadily, building a huge catalog of music recorded at The Grill Studios in Oakland, CA. In 2000, Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California and started the label Thizz Entertainment. He is credited with coining the slang verb thizz and influencing the hyphy movement, fostering the racially tolerant atmosphere due to his inclusiveness of people of all ethnicities on his record label.

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