• Andre Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name Mac Dre, was one of the originators of hyphy and is generally considered the creator of Thizz music.[1] He worked with well-known artists such as Snoop Dogg,[2] Warren G, Richie Rich, Keak da Sneak, Andre Nickatina, Mac Mall and Too $hort. He also provided an uncredited hook to the track "Gotta Survive" off of Young Lay's Black N' Dangerous album.[3]

    His lyrics were largely based on his neighborhood known by those around him as "The Crest", short for Country Club Crest. 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 F*****n' Radio", and more recently "Feelin' Myself" and "Get Stupid". His music continues to be released posthumously. He was the creator of the "Thizzle Dance", as well as many other popular dances which were referred to as giggin'.
    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 parlors. The Robberies even had a small segment on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang which also included Bay Rapper J Diggs and Coolio Da'Unda'Dogg.[4] Hicks was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.[5]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, He first released Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation, it was said he did this compilation with many other artists from the Bay Area before his solo album Stupid Doo Doo Dumb to give them more exposure, as he knew his return from Lompoc would be greatly noticed. Following those albums, Hicks met with Executive Producer Bernard Gourley and recorded the album "Rapper Gone Bad" with the help of production from Tone Cappone, Lev Berlak, and Warren G. This started a new beginning for Mac Dre as he began to release albums steadily, building a huge catalog of music recorded at The Grill Studios in Oakland, CA. At many small studios, Mac Dre's audience was growing and in turn, mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks' music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California where he started a new label imprint, "Thizz Entertainment", and is credited with coining the slang verb to thizz thus securing Dre as the Godfather of the Hyphy movement that years later was brought to the mainstream by E-40.
    On November 1, 2004, returning to Kansas City, Missouri, a car pulled up next to the white diesel van carrying Dre. Though it is not known whether words were exchanged, occupants of the car opened fire. The van swerved off the road and into a ravine where it ran into a ditch and Dre was thrown from the vehicle. Mac's driver could not find him in the dark and ran down the freeway to get help but found Mac dead upon returning. He is believed to have died instantly from a gunshot wound to the neck. [6][7] In 2005 due to a large amount of suspicion, Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins was murdered in Las Vegas, allegedly by Bay Area rapper and Dre's good friend Mac Minister, in retaliation for Hicks' death. The body of a prostitute, 21-year-old Lee Danae Laursen, was found in Fairfield, CA in November 2005; Laursen had been in the company of Mac Minister (Andre Dow) and Jason Mathis in Las Vegas when Watkins was murdered.[8] In March 2006, Dow was arrested by FBI officials and both Dow and Mathis were indicted on murder charges in the Watkins murder.[9] Some in the rap community initially suspected the March 2007 shooting death of Johnny Cash (Johnny Castaneda, a/k/a "The Fast Gunna" wink was related to the Mac Dre killing; however, officials attributed Castaneda's death to unrelated "street violence".[8]

    On the weekend of the August 26, 2006, Hicks' tombstone was stolen from his final resting place at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. AP.9, a rapper who was close to Hicks offered a $10,000 reward out of his own pocket for anyone who had any information on the location of the tombstone. AP.9 stated that he believed the theft had nothing to do with Hicks' murder.[10] The tombstone has since been replaced.
    Mac Dre's underground rap career kept him off of the radio stations and T.V. screens almost entirely. However, BET's documentary-type show American Gangster aired an episode on January 16th, 2009, focusing on Mac Dre and his Romper Room ties. Mac Dre was also featured on MTV's My Block in a memorial Chris Kanaris montage. Mac Dre was also featured on a Thizz Nation DVD Treal TV. Although there was a sequel, it was done after his death.
    R.I.P