Tribute to a Bay Area Legend

Mac Dre was born in Oakland, California and raised in Vallejo, California. His music gained popularity in the early to mid 1990s throughout the Bay Area, eventually receiving national recognition through his independent record labels Romp and Thizz Entertainment. During his music career, he released many hit singles, such as “Too Hard for the Fuckin’ Radio”, and most recently “Feelin’ Myself”.

His music continues to be released posthumously.He was the creator of the “Thizzle Dance”, a popular dance which holds no specific standard. Hardship and controversy were staples of Mac Dre’s career. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery.

His record label, Romp Productions, and his many references to “Romper Room” in his songs, coincided with a Vallejo robbery gang of the time calling themselves the “Romper Room Gang” and responsible for the robberies of many area banks and pizza parlours. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang.The rapper was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.

In prison, Hicks gained some notoriety by recording the lyrics to songs directly over the Fresno County jail inmate telephone. His album, Young Black Brotha, was a result of such efforts, as well as guest appearances on fellow artists’ songs, all while Hicks was still imprisoned. A later album, Back ‘N Da Hood, was also made up of these prison-recorded songs.

After his release from prison in 1996, Mac Dre began releasing albums steadily, building pace in the early 21st century. Mac Dre’s audience was growing, and mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks’ music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California in 2001, where he began a label, Thizz Entertainment.

On November 1, 2004, Mac Dre was shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri. A car pulled up next to the white van carrying Dre. Whether words were exchanged or not, the ordeal ended in the bloodshed of a Bay Area rap legend. The van swerved off the road and into a ravine where it ran into a tree.

Mac Dre apparently died from a gunshot wound to the back of the neck, although Dre was thrown from the vehicle and wasn’t found immediately after the accident.It was rumored that Mac Dre’s killer was Kansas City rapper Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins. In 2005, Watkins was murdered, allegedly by Bay Area rapper Mac Minister, in retaliation for Hicks’ death. In March 2006, Mac Minister was arrested by FBI officials.

On the weekend of the August 26, 2006, Hicks’ tombstone was stolen from his final resting place. AP9, a rapper who was close to Hicks offered a 10,000 USD reward out of his own pocket for anyone who had any information on the location of the tombstone. AP9 stated that he believes the theft was an isolated incident, and nobody involved with Hicks’ murder was responsible.

Mac Dre Discography
1989) Young Black Brotha EP
1991) California Livin’
1992) What’s Really Going On?
1992) Back N Da Hood
1993) Young Black Brotha: The Album
1998) Stupid Doo Doo Dumb
1998) Don’t Hate the Player Hate the Game
1999) Rapper Gone Bad
2000) Heart of a Gangsta, Mind of a Hustla, Tongue of a Pimp
2001) Turf Buccaneers
2001) Mac Dre’s the Name
2001) It’s Not What You Say… It’s How You Say It
2002) Mac Dammit Man & Friends: City Slickers
2002) Thizzelle Washington
2002) Remember Me
2003) Al Boo Boo
2004) Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics
2004) The Genie of the Lamp
2004) The Game Is Thick, Vol. 2
2005) Da U.S. Open
2005) Money Iz Motive
2005) 15 Years Deep
2005) 23109 Exhibition of Speed
2006) Uncut
2006) 16 Wit Dre
2006) Alaska 2 tha Bay
2006) 16 Wit Dre, Vol. 2
2006) Tales of II Andre’s
2007) Everybody Ain’t Able
2007) Starters in the Game
2007) Pill Clinton
2008) Dre Area

Mac Dre passed and left the whole Bay feeling a huge sense of loss…but with his passing he left behind something incredible…The Bay Area has never been so proud…..