On his song “Twist My Fingaz” from his new album Still Brazy, YG boasts that he’s “the only one to make it out the West without Dre.” He’s very wrong.
YG‘s claim isn’t completely off base though. Dr. Dre’s fingerprint can be found all over just about every piece of West Coast Hip-Hop since the late 1980s. He co-founded NWA, built Death Row Records and created Aftermath Entertainment. This means that he’s played a direct part in the careers and successes of Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, The Game and now Kendrick Lamar.
Succeeding out of the West without a Dr. Dre co-sign or NWA affiliation of some sort is no easy task. But it has been done before YG twisted his fingers, pounded his chest and patted his back.
Here are just some of the many West Coast rappers who have built careers without a Dr. Dre co-sign.
