Editing Dr. Dre (section)

===1991–1996: ''The Chronic'' and Death Row Records===
After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, the D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, [[Suge Knight]]. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr.&nbsp;Dre as his flagship artist, founded [[Death Row Records]]. In 1992, Young released his first single, the [[Deep Cover (song)|title track]] to the film ''[[Deep Cover]]'', a collaboration with rapper [[Snoop Dogg]], whom he met through Warren G.<ref name="AllMusic"/> Dr.&nbsp;Dre's debut solo album was ''[[The Chronic]]'', released under Death Row Records with Suge Knight as executive producer. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content, including introducing a number of artists to the industry including Snoop Dogg, [[Kurupt]], [[Daz Dillinger]], [[RBX]], [[the Lady of Rage]], [[Nate Dogg]] and [[Jewell (singer)|Jewell]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey|first= Steve|title='The Chronic' – Overview|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r70573|pure_url=yes}}|website=AllMusic|access-date=September 22, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Dr. Dre logo b.png|thumb|Logo used by ''Chronic''-era Dr. Dre]]
On the strength of singles such as "[[Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang]]", "[[Let Me Ride]]", and "[[Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')]]" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, ''The Chronic'' became a cultural phenomenon, its [[G-funk]] sound dominating much of hip-hop music for the early 1990s.<ref name="AllMusic"/> In 1993, the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) certified the album triple platinum,<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web |url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Dr.+Dre%22 |title=Gold & Platinum Dr. Dre |publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |access-date=April 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231231917/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Dr.+Dre%22 |archive-date=December 31, 2015 }}</ref> and Dr.&nbsp;Dre also won the [[Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance]] for his performance on "Let Me Ride".<ref name="grammy">{{cite web|title=Dr. Dre – Grammy Awards|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p26119|pure_url=yes}}|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 17, 2008}}</ref> For that year, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine also ranked Dr.&nbsp;Dre as the eighth-best-selling musical artist, ''The Chronic'' as the sixth-best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th-best-selling single.<ref name="pop life">{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|title=The Pop Life|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/12/movies/the-pop-life-849405.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 14, 1994|access-date=March 3, 2008}}</ref>

[[File:California Love (1995), by Tupac Shakur.png|thumb|"California Love" earned Dr. Dre his first number one spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and two [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations.]]
Besides working on his own material, Dr.&nbsp;Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album ''[[Doggystyle]]'', which became the first debut album for an artist to enter the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album charts at number one.<ref>{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title="Doggystyle" – Overview|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r185654|pure_url=yes}}|website=AllMusic|access-date=February 15, 2008}}</ref> In 1994 Dr.&nbsp;Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films ''[[Above the Rim]]'' and ''[[Murder Was the Case]]''. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "[[Natural Born Killaz]]" in 1995.<ref name="AllMusic"/> For the film ''[[Friday (1995 film)|Friday]]'', Dre recorded "[[Keep Their Heads Ringin']]", which reached number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.<ref name="dr-dre-sin">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p26119|pure_url=yes}}|title=Dr. Dre – Awards|website=AllMusic|access-date=January 1, 2009}}</ref>

In 1995, Death Row Records signed rapper [[2Pac]], and began to position him as their major star: he collaborated with Dr. Dre on the commercially successful single "[[California Love]]", which became both artists' first song to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref name="AllMusic"/><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA118 | title=Bone Broken: 2Pac Takes Over At No. 1 | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=July 1996 | volume=108 | issue=28 | page=118 | issn=0006-2510 | access-date=April 11, 2013}}</ref> However, in March 1996 Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Later that year, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, [[Interscope Records]].<ref name="AllMusic"/> Subsequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the [[racketeering]] charges brought against Knight.<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|title=Suge Knight – Biography|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p279843|pure_url=yes}}|website=AllMusic|year=2003|access-date=February 17, 2008}}</ref>

Dr. Dre also appeared on the single "[[No Diggity]]" by [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] group [[Blackstreet]] in 1996: it too was a sales success, topping the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks, and later won the award for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group at the [[1997 Grammy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-mn0000049774 | title=Blackstreet – Biography | website=AllMusic | access-date=April 11, 2013 | author=Huey, Steve}}</ref> After hearing it for the first time, several of Dr. Dre's former Death Row colleagues, including 2Pac, recorded and attempted to release a song titled "[[Toss It Up]]", containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre and using a deliberately similar instrumental to "No Diggity", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet sent the label a [[cease and desist letter]] stopping them from distributing the song.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.11343/title.danny-boy-tells-all-about-death-row-years-part-two | title=Danny Boy Tells All About Death Row Years, Part Two |  work=HipHopDX | date=May 27, 2010 | access-date=April 11, 2013 | author=Arnold, Paul W. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714231636/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11343/title.danny-boy-tells-all-about-death-row-years-part-two | archive-date=July 14, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>