Soon, the gang’s criminal activities would evolve from drug dealing to bank robbery while Dre began to evolve from a neighborhood kid to an underground rap star.Īccording to Diggs, Dre’s first appearance as a rapper was at a local Boys Club. Within the documentary’s narrative, Diggs states that the Romper Room gang’s name came from a kid’s show, and also due to the younger boys pulling pranks on the older “homeboys” from the gangs in the area. Two of these boys, Jamal Diggs and Simon “Kilo Curt” Curtis, would later mature into the main players in the Romper Room gang.
#All mac dre albums mac
However, before he could reach that audience, Mac Dre needed money, which is where his gang, the Romper Room, came in.Īccording to Detective McGraw of the Vallejo Police Department (VPD), in a Black Entertainment Television (BET) documentary entitled American Gangster: Romper Room Gang, the Romper Room gang was a tightly knit band from the Crest. Dre’s inventive lyrics and ability to articulate life in the Crest gave him instant credibility with his underground audience.
#All mac dre albums crack
Growing up near the Crest, Dre was subject to the crime and poverty that comes with living in a low-income area that had been destroyed by crack cocaine. He refused a deal offered by law enforcement authorities that would have required him to inform on other gang members. Following allegations by authorities about his membership in the gang, Hicks was sentenced to five years in prison. His many references to "Romper Room" in his songs, bore a similarity the "Romper Room Gang", a group of robbers who had been victimizing banks and pizza parlors in Vallejo. At the time Hicks owned the record label, Romp Productions. In 1992 Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. Mac Dre recorded his first three albums between 19. In the early 1980s, Hicks began his rap career under the stage name "Mac Dre", and by the middle of the 1990s his music had gained wide-spread popularity throughout the Bay Area thanks in part to the independent music distributor. Hyphy, Hip hop, West Coast hip hop, gangsta rapĪndre Nickatina, E-40 (rapper), Keak da Sneak (rapper), Baby Bash, B-Legit, San Quinn (rapper), Yukmouth (rapper), PSD, Mac Mall (rapper), Richie Rich, Smoov-E (aka Eli Meltzer), Too ShortĪndre Louis Hicks (J– November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper, and the initial founder of Thizz Entertainment, and the now defunct Romp Productions.Īndre Hicks was born in Oakland, California and moved to Vallejo at a young age. Furly, Muhammad Al Boo Boo, The Genie of the Lamp, Thizz King, Pill Clinton, Andre Macassi, Street Sampras, Ronald Dregan, The Make it Happen Cap'n, Andre McEnroe, The Thizzard of Oz, The Mac Named Dre, Dre Van Halen, The M.A.C. Mac Drizzle, Mac Dreezy, Mac Dregos, Mac Drevious, Thizzelle Washington, Furl, Furly, Mr.