The first of these was "Surgery", a basic electro track with a chorus of "Calling Dr Dre to surgery". These sessions, and night at Eve After Dark, taught him the turntable techniques he would later bring to N.W.A., after forming the World Class Wreckin Cru at th age of 17. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A., an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude, with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delevired "Staight Outta Compton", a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority,suggesting that the group should watch their step. On both the 1990 EP "100 Miles and Runnin" and the 1991 album "Efil4zaggin"(Niggaz 4 Life spelled backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that were as responsible for keeping N.W.A. at the top of the charts.
While the group was at the peak of their populariy in 1991, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew,especially after he was charged with assaulting the host of a televised rap show(Dee Barnes) in 1991. He broke from them because he claims he was under-paid. The folowing year, Dre left te group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight. According to legend, Knight held N.W.A.'s manager at gun point and threatening to kill him if he refused to let Dre out of his contract. Dr. Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of his elastic G-funk sound, it also was the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg. Dre discovered Snoop through his stepbrother Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper -- Snoop was on Dre's 1992 debut The Chronic as much as Dre himself. Thanks to the singles "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day" and "Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum, Top 10 smash for eight months, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with it. For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some way by Dr. Dre and his patented G-Funk. Not only did he produce Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle, but he orchestrated several soundtracks, including Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case (both 1994), which functioned as samplers for his new artists and production techniques, and he helmed hit records by Warren G ("Regulate") and Blackstreet, among others, including a hit reunion with Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz." During this entire time, Dre released no new records, but he didn't need to -- all of Death Row was under his control and most of his peers mimicked his techniques.

The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996, when Dre grew frustrated with Knight's strong-arm techniques. At the time, Death Row was devoting itself to 2-Pac's label debut All Eyez on Me (which featured Dre on the breakthrough hit, "California Love") and Snoop was busy recovering from his draining murder trial. Dre left the label in the summer of 1996 to form Aftermath, declaring gangsta rap was dead. The label's first release was a various artists compilation titled "Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath", whose standout track was Dre's declamatory hit single "Been There Done That", a kiss-off to gangsta rap and Death Row. The album received considerable media attention, but the record didn't become a hit. Even though the album wasn't a success, the implosion of Death Row in 1997 proved that Dre's inclinations were correct at the time. In 1998, Dre was back in the news again as co-producer on his prot,g, Eminem's controversial breakthrough album, The Slim Shady LP. The following November he released his highly anticipated sophomore colectio, "Dr. Dre 2001." Featuring collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and more, the album was a highly effective reminder of Dre's pre-eminence in the world of gangsta rap.