Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre has dictated the pace of change in West Coast rap more than any other single figure. As DJ/producer for N.W.A., he ushered in a whole new era in rap by adapting the raw sonics of Public Enemy & Boogie Down Productions to the ethos of L.A.'s youth gangs. After the group's split, he expanded his style to include eerie P-Funk synths on his solo releases and those of protégé Snoop Dogg. The resulting "G-Funk" sound influenced many other West Coast rap artists. In the late 1990s, Dre signed a promising young lyricist from Detroit named Eminem to his Aftermath Productions label. Eminem's debut album would go on to sell over 5 million copies while the follow-up, THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP, earned Dre a Producer of the Year Grammy Award for 2000.

• pop
• hip hop/rap