Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre, born Andre Romell Young on February 18, 1965, emerged from Compton as a founding member of N.W.A, the group whose 1989 debut Straight Outta Compton became one of the most successful records in West Coast hip-hop and helped drive gangsta rap into wider prominence. He began recording with the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984, then formed N.W.A in 1987 with Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Arabian Prince. The group's explicit accounts of street violence brought intense attention to the music and its subject matter.

After N.W.A disbanded shortly after its second album, Niggaz4life (1991), Dre began a solo career and co-founded Death Row Records. His first solo album, The Chronic (1992), was Death Row's first major project and made him one of America's best-selling artists of 1993. The record helped define the synthesizer-led, slow and heavy sound of West Coast G-funk. Its lead single, “Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang,” featuring Snoop Dogg, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100; “Let Me Ride” won Best Rap Solo Performance at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards.

At Death Row, Dre produced Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle and mentored producers including Warren G and Daz Dillinger. He left the label in 1996 to establish Aftermath Entertainment, issuing the compilation Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath that year before returning with his second studio album, 2001, in 1999. After years of public discussion around a proposed album called Detox, he released his third studio album, Compton, in 2015.

During the 2000s, Dre increasingly concentrated on production and label work while making occasional vocal appearances. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, contributing extensively to both artists' releases. Aftermath's roster has also included the Game, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic, Busta Rhymes, Eve and Rakim. Dre has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and Rolling Stone placed him at number 56 on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list. Outside recording, he has acted in Set It Off, The Wash and Training Day, and he is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics.

Allegations of violence toward women have also been widely reported. In 1991, Dre pled no contest to assaulting television host Dee Barnes and received two years' probation; a related civil lawsuit was settled out of court. Former partners Michel'le and another ex-partner have made domestic-violence allegations, while former labelmate Tairrie B said he assaulted her in 1990. Following the release of Compton, Dre issued a public apology in 2015.