By snoadmin
Grammy-nominated hip-hop and R&B singer Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, better known by the music industry as Nate Dogg, died Tuesday night at the age of 41.
Nate Dogg — a native of Long Beach — died of complications from multiple strokes that he suffered since 2007, attorney Mark Geragos told the Associated Press. After surviving a massive stroke in December 2007, Nate Dogg suffered yet another stroke in September 2008 that rendered the left side of his body paralyzed.
Since then, he had been undergoing a lengthy physical rehabilitation process to regain the ability to walk and talk just prior to his death.
“It’s really shocking,” said Athena Henderson, a Cal State Long Beach junior communications major who first heard the news on the radio while driving to school Wednesday morning. “I just think he’s really talented and his lyrics were really witty, and for me, that’s what stuck out the most about him.”
Nate Dogg first gained notoriety in the music scene for his soulful vocal choruses in collaborations with legendary rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Dr. Dre as part of the “G-Funk era,” a sub-genre of hip-hop that relied heavily on sampling classic ’70s funk and soul music.
Nate Dogg established himself as one of the catalysts of the West Coast hip-hop scene that expanded in the early-to-mid-1990s with his plethora of guest appearances.
He sang on a number of hip-hop classics, such as Warren G’s “Regulate,” Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “The Next Episode,” Ludacris’ “Area Codes,” and Eminem’s “Shake That,” — all of which were Grammy-nominated singles.
“I think [Nate Dogg] was one of the pioneering figures of hip-hop as far as bringing a style of singing that’s not all ‘lovey-dovey,'” biology graduate student Charlene Apelo said. “His style was still raw, still street, still hood, but it’s got that smooth kind of delivery.”
Nate Dogg has also lent his vocals to more than 40 charting-topping hits from a variety of rap music’s elite, including 2Pac, Pharoahe Monch, Kurupt, Mos Def and 50 Cent, among others.
“If you think about any hit song from a West Coast rapper, you can pretty much guarantee that Nate Dogg was on the song,” freshman business management major James Barrios said.
Born on Aug. 19, 1969, Nate Dogg’s musical upbringing can be traced back to his childhood as a choir member. He began singing for the New Hope Baptist Church in Long Beach and Life Line Baptist Church in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where his father served as a pastor.
Nate Dogg later attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where he eventually met Calvin Broadus, otherwise known as Snoop Dogg, in 1986 at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Marine Corps, where he completed three years of military service.
After returning, he reunited with Snoop Dogg and mutual friend, Warren G., to form the rap trio known as 213. The group then recorded their first demo tape in the back of the world famous V.I.P. record store on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.
Legendary hip-hop producer Andre Young, more popularly known as Dr. Dre, soon discovered the demo at a house party and was drawn to Nate Dogg’s inimitably rhythmic voice.
Dr. Dre then enlisted Nate Dogg in his seminal debut album “The Chronic” (1992), where he was featured on the tracks “Deeez Nuuuts” and “Lil’ Ghetto Boy.”
Shortly after the release, Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg signed with then-West Coast powerhouse label Death Row Records in 1993.
His first solo album “G-Funk Classics Vol. 1 & 2” was released under the Death Row label in 1998, while his sophomore album “Music and Me” on Elektra Records followed in 2001. Meanwhile, a long-awaited self-titled disc debuted in 2008.
Prior to his first stroke, Nate Dogg also worked on gospel music and had formed a choir group called “Innate Praise.”
“[Nate Dogg] wasn’t just a musician who threw raps down,” Apelo said. “But he would just start singing in this really melodic voice, and it was cool because it shows that ‘Gs’ could have a sensitive side too.”
Nate Dogg is survived by his mother Ruth Holmes; father, Daniel Hale Sr.; sister Pamela Hale-Burns and LaTonia Hale-Watkins; brothers Samuel Hale, Emmanuel Hale and Daniel Hale Jr., and six children.
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