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Andre Hicks (July 5, 1970 - November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name, "Mac Dre", was a San Francisco Bay Area based gangsta rapper from Vallejo, California. He has worked with artists like E-40, Yukmouth, Snoop Dogg, and Keak da Sneak.
Artist Info
Date of birth: July 5 1970
Place of birth: Oakland, California
Date of death: November 1, 2004
Place of death: Kansas City, Missouri
Career
Mac Dre's music gained popularity in the early to mid 1990s throughout the Bay Area, eventually receiving national recognition through his independent record labels Romp and Thizz Entertainment. During his music career, he has released many hit singles, such as "Too Hard for the Radio", and most recently "Feeling Myself". He was the creator of the "Thizzle Dance", a popular dance which holds no specific standard.
Hardship and controversy have been staples of Mac Dre's career. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Andre Hicks was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Hicks' record label, Romp Productions, and his many references to "Romper 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 area banks and pizza parlours. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang. The rapper was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.
In prison, Hicks gained some notoriety by recording the lyrics to songs directly over the Fresno County jail inmate telephone. His album, ''Young Black Brotha'', was a result of such efforts, as well as guest appearances on fellow artists' songs, all while Hicks was still imprisoned. A later album, ''Back 'N Da Hood'', was also made up of these prison-recorded songs.
After his release from prison in 1997, Mac Dre began releasing albums steadily, building pace in the early 21st century. Mac Dre's audience was growing, and mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks' music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California in 2001, where he began a label, Thizz Entertainment.
Death
On November 1, 2004, Hicks was found shot to death in a van along U.S. Highway 71 in Kansas City, Missouri, while being driven from a concert where he had performed. There seems to be no known motive, and there are no suspects.
Mac Dre's popularity has risen at an intense rate since his death, and his music is still played regularly on local urban radio stations.
Discography
Albums
"2005"
*''Back N Da Hood EP (re-release)''
*''Da U.S. Open''
*''Money Iz Motive''
*''Super Sig Tapes''
*''15 Years Deep''
*''Mac Dre's the Name''
"2004"
*''The Game Is Thick, Vol. 2''
*''The Genie of the Lamp''
*''Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics''
"2003"
*''Al Boo Boo''
"2002"
*''Remember Me''
*''Thizzelle Washington''
*''Mac Dammit Man & Friends: City Slickers''
*''Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation, Vol. 3''
"2001"
*''Turf Buccaneers''
*''Mac Dre's the Name''
*''Back 'N Da Hood''
*''It's Not What You Say... It's How You Say It''
"2000"
*''Heart of a Gangsta, Mind of a Hustla''
"1999"
*''Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation, Vol. 2''
*''Rapper Gone Bad''
*''California Livin''
"1998"
*''Stupid Doo Doo Dumb''
*''Don't Hate the Player Hate the Game''
"1989 - 1996"
*1996: ''Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation, Vol. 1''
*1993: ''Young Black Brotha''
*1992: ''Back N Da Hood EP''
*1992: ''What's Really Going On?''
*1991: ''California Livin' ''
*1989: ''Young Black Brotha EP''
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