RIP Nate Dogg
Wed, 03/16/2011 - 3:05pm
Nathaniel “Nate Dogg” Hale, the former Death Row singer who helped to popularize the G-Funk sound and the baritone behind some of hip-hop’s famous hooks, has died. He was 41.
The announcement came late last night from the Long Beach newspaper the Press Telegram, which attributed the news to Hale’s family. The cause of death is unknown at this time, though Hale had had some health problems, suffering two strokes in the last few years.
Hale rose to prominence alongside his fellow West Coast rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Dr. Dre in the early 1990s. Hale, a Grammy-nominated artist, was renowned for lending his deep and charismatic voice to the Warren G. smash “Regulate,” Dre’s album The Chronic, Dre and Snoop’s “The Next Episode,” Ludacris’ “Area Codes” and many other classics.
Hale’s peers have taken to Twitter to show their support for the Long Beach native, including Snoop Dogg, a longtime friend: “We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met.”
Ludacris also payed his respects to Hale, his sentiments mirroring those of the music community: “There is a certain void in hip hop’s heart that can never be filled.”
Wed, 03/16/2011 - 6:03pm
#2
here's some nate dogg
here's some nate dogg sounding classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY8UD-eLIfw
The actual article has some embedded/supportive links.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2011/03/dr_hook_nate_dog...
Here is the text:
He never got the headlines his peers did. But real rap fans recognize: Nate Dogg was one of the most important artists to emerge from the West Coast hip-hop boom of the early ’90s.
His place in music history was guaranteed the moment he stepped to the microphone during Dr. Dre’s "The Chronic" album sessions in 1992. In that blunt-choked studio filled with hardcore gangsta rappers, he demonstrated that a smooth singer could hold his own.
Nathaniel "Nate Dogg" Hale had the voice of a gentleman and the stance of a hardcore emcee. His singing became as integral to the G-funk sound of Southern California rap as Dre’s thick bass grooves and buzzing-mosquito synthesizers.
Hale died Tuesday at the age of 41 from complications related to two strokes. Radio stations and podcasters paid tribute to the Long Beach, Calif. singer by spinning other people’s songs: music by Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Ludacris, Eminem and others.
Hale often sang the "hooks" on these tracks. Sometimes that hook was the song’s chorus, but more often it was simply the bit that got lodged in your head and compelled you to press replay, again and again. His performances legitimized the use of sung hooks in hardcore hip-hop, and expanded the genre’s sonic palette.
It’s arguable that gangsta rap never would have become as popular as it did if he hadn’t shown that singing could be a street-credible option. Now commonplace on hip-hop tracks, the sung-hook production technique had fallen far out of favor in the early ’90s. Singing was viewed as soft; something best left to the R&B or pop artists.
Hale had the voice to bring it back. He could simultaneously be pretty and menacing, tuneful and tough. His outro to the sixth track on "The Chronic" was an outright challenge; an invitation to throw punches. "Regulate," his 1994 collaboration with rapper Warren G, told the story of a gunfight.
Critics who have called his singing monotonous have missed the point. In the early ’90s, Hale couldn’t afford to sound flamboyant. He had to mimic the forceful cadences of the hardcore emcees whose records he was subtly sweetening. The juxtaposition of his pure vocal tone and his potty-mouthed lyrics supplied shock value; on Snoop Dogg’s "Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)," he crooned an anatomically explicit come-on that was outrageous for its time.
Hale would go on to make several solo records under the Nate Dogg name; on these, he stretched out and sang more expressively than rap producers would allow.
"G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2," released in 1998, was the best. By then, the G-funk craze had given way to East Coast player rhyming, and the album was not a hit. Had it been released at the height of Snoopmania, Hale probably would have become a star.
It hardly matters. Every commercially successful rap artist who uses sung hooks or choruses — from Kanye West to Drake and 50 Cent — owes him a debt of gratitude. Better still, they all know it.
Nate Dogg’s appearances on Dr. Dre’s "The Chronic" album in 1992 were electrifying: smooth, forceful, confrontational and freighted with f-bombs. Everything on "The Chronic" is essential listening for rap fans. Here are seven other examples of the singer’s distinctive style:
"Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)" (1993), with Snoop Dogg
"Regulate" (1994), with Warren G
"Nobody Does It Better" (1998), with Warren G
"The Next Episode" (1999), with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Kurupt
"Area Codes" (2001), with Ludacris
"21 Questions" (2004), with 50 Cent
"Shake That" (2005), with Eminem