Nate Dogg

Real Name: Nathaniel Dawayne Hale
D.O.B.: 1969 Clarksdale, Mississippi

Known as Nate Dogg he is the silky-smooth R&B voice of the west coast gangsta rap/G-Funk genre. Brought up alongside the legendary forces behind the gangsta rap movement in the powerhouse LA based record label Death Row with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg he was signed with Death Row as the R&B backing vocals for the rap artists’ tracks. He is just about the most collaborated artist in the complete hip-hop community. Today any single with his choir-like voice on it is undoubtedly a huge hit.

Young Nate began singing in the New Hope Trinity Baptist Church choir as a child where his father, Daniel Lee Hale, was pastor at the time. During his childhood his family had moved out west to Long Beach in California where he formed the longstanding friendship with his cousin Snoop Dogg and Warren G both of whom were born and raised in Long Beach. It was in his teenage years where Nate fell into the street gangs and lined himself up with the Rolling 20 Crips along with young Snoop. To avoid a prison sentence he escaped gang life at the age of 16 dropping out of high school to join the United States Marine Corps where he served for 3 years before being dishonourably discharged. In 1991 Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg and Warren G formed a rap trio called 213 in Long Beach who weren't to release an album until 2004. This union with Warren G led them to being recognized by his half-brother Dr. Dre when he was scouting for new talent for the new Death Row Records. Warren played a demo tape of 213 for Dre who approached Snoop to work with him, along with Nate for his vocal presence. Warren however opted to continue a solo career elsewhere.

Nate Dogg first made his debut on the ground-breaking 1992 album from Dre called, The Chronic. His trademark style of singing would be well-received by fans and critics of both gangsta rap and R&B. By 1993 Nate Dogg had signed with Snoop Dogg to Death Row Records and backed Snoop up on his début album, Doggystyle. In ‘94 he produced his first hit single, "Regulate" with Warren G. Although he collaborated with almost every Death Row Inmate on their projects, unfortunately he would not be given the opportunity to produce a début album under Death Row Records. In 1998 on Breakaway Records Nate recorded his début double album ‘G-Funk Classics Vol 1&2’ and followed this with Music & Me in 2001 on Elektra Records.

However Nate has found far greater success on the mainstream pop charts collaborating with other hip-hop artists rather than in solo projects. By 2004 Nate Dogg has featured in and contributed to over 60 chart singles. Nate Dogg has now begun work on a project executive-produced by the west coast legend Dr. Dre.

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