Dr. Dre Nas' "Hustlers", and several beats on Eminem's Relapse album. Soul and R&B pianist Mark Batson, having previously worked with The Dave Matthews Band, Seal and Maroon 5 has been credited as the architect of this sound. Besides Batson, Aftermath producer and understudy of Dre's, Dawaun Parker, who has named Q-Tip and J Dilla as his primary influences, is thought to be responsible for giving Dre's newest beats an East Coast feel. Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four
Dr. Dre third richest figure in hip hop, with a net worth of $770 million. Dre began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru. He found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella, which popularized explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut "The Chronic", released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993, and earned him a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop