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Mac Dre
Background information
Birth name	Andre Louis Hicks
Born	(1970-07-05)July 5, 1970 Oakland, California, U.S.
Origin	Vallejo, California, U.S.
Died	November 1, 2004(2004-11-01) (aged 34) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop West Coast hip hop, Gangsta rap (early) Hyphy (later)
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Record Producer, Screenwriter, Movie Director
Years active	1984–2004
Labels	Thizz Entertainment
Associated acts	Mac Mall
Website	http://www.legendofthebay.com

Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known professionally as Mac Dre, was an American rapper and record producer based in Oakland, CA. ^[1][2] He was instrumental in the emergence of Hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip-hop scene that emerged in the early 00s.^[3] Hicks is considered one of the movement's key pioneers that fueled its popularity into mainstream, releasing songs with fast-paced rhymes and baselines that inspired a new style of dance.^[3] As the founder of the independent record label, Thizz Entertainment, Hicks recorded dozens of albums and gave aspiring rappers an outlet to release albums locally.^[4] In 2004, Hicks was killed by an unknown assailant after a music performance in Kansas City, Missouri, ^[5] In 2011, Time Magazine reported that his murder was still unsolved.^[6]

Early life and career

Andre Louis Hicks was born in Oakland, California on July 5, 1970 and moved to Vallejo at a young age, growing up in the Country Club Crest neighborhood, also known as The Crest, and attended Hogan High School. When asked about his childhood, Hicks stated: "Situations came out for the better most of them, I went through the little trials and the shit that I went through."^[7] Hicks first adopted the stage name MC Dre in 1984, but altered it to Mac Dre the following year because he considered the name sounded "too East Coast-ish".^[8] Hicks recorded his first three EPs as Mac Dre between 1988 and 1992.^[1]

Robbery conviction

In 1992, Hicks was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, and was sentenced to five years in federal prison after he refused a deal which included informing law enforcement about his partners. At the time of his conviction, Hicks owned the record label Romp Productions.^[1] While imprisoned in Lompoc, Hicks obtained his G.E.D.. While awaiting trial, Hicks would record an album over the phone.^[8] Hicks was released from prison in 1997, having served five years.^[1]

During his time in prison, "Mac Dre Presents: The Rompalation" was released in 1996. After his release from prison in 1997, he recorded his second album Stupid Doo Doo Dumb. It was released April 28, 1998. Following those albums, Hicks met with Executive Producer Bernard Gourley and recorded the album Rapper Gone Bad with production help from Tone Capone, Lev Berlak, and Warren G.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Hicks relocated to Sacramento to distance himself from his home neighborhood in Vallejo. Around this time Hicks founded the Thizz Entertainment label, which is now managed by Hicks' mother, Wanda Salvatto, as Thizz Entertainment LLC.^{[citation needed]}

Death

After Hicks and other Thizz Entertainment members had performed a show in Kansas City, Missouri on October 31, 2004, unidentified gunmen shot at the group's van as it traveled on U.S. Route 71 in the early morning hours of November 1. The van's driver crashed and called 9-1-1, but Hicks was pronounced dead at the scene from a bullet wound to the neck. ^[9]

He was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.^[10]

Discography

Studio albums

• 
  Young Black Brotha (1993)


• 
  Stupid Doo Doo Dumb (1998)


• 
  Rapper Gone Bad (1999)


• 
  Heart of a Gangsta, Mind of a Hustla, Tongue of a Pimp (2000)


• 
  Mac Dre's the Name (2001)


• 
  It's Not What You Say... It's How You Say It (2001)


• 
  Thizzelle Washington (2002)


• 
  Al Boo Boo (2003)


• 
  Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics (2004)


• 
  The Genie of the Lamp (2004)


• 
  The Game Is Thick, Vol. 2 (2004)

Posthumous studio albums

• 
  Judge Dre Mathis (2005)


• 
  Pill Clinton (2007)


• 
  Dre Day: July 5th 1970 (2008)

Collaboration albums

• 
  Supa Sig Tapes with Little Bruce (1990)


• 
  Turf Buccaneers with Cutthroat Committee (2001)


• 
  Money iz Motive with Cutthroat Committee (2005)


• 
  Da U.S. Open with Mac Mall (2005)


• 
  A Tale of Two Andres with Andre Nickatina (2008)

See also

• Hyphy


• Thizz Entertainment


• Ghost-riding


• Rapbay

References