Believe it or not but hip hop music has played a fairly significant role in my life. Growing up my mother loved Motown music so the house was always overflowing with the sound of Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross. Therefore I grew up loving music and the natural evolution of Motown lay in the foundation of hip hop music. To my surprise my mother evolved as well and thoroughly enjoyed this relatively new genre of music. She didn't like the swearing, violent threats, or sexual references but one man made up for all of that, and that man was Nate Dogg.
His melodic, deep, and sexy voice added the flavor that would turn any hardcore rap song into a crowd pleasing party track and in my case mother friendly. Nate made the songs memorable, singing the hooks that will stay in my head forever. He showed people that rappers aren't just about violence and sex but fighting for your rights and making love.
Nate Dogg is best know for his friendship with rappers Snoop Dogg and Warren G. The three of them were members of the Rolling 20's crips in Los Angeles. When they started making music they called themselves 213, Warren G would mix the beats, Snoop would rap and Nate Dogg would sing the hooks. They cut a demo tape and that tape just so happened to be playing at a house party Dr Dre just so happened to be at and the rest is history.
Nate was easily one of the most widely liked members of the rap community. Even if his actions werent always angelic his voice always was. He died at age 41 of congestive heart failure, he will be missed but his music will live forever at high school dances and on my mother's i pod.
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