Why does no one remember Nate Dogg anymore?

The other day I was listening to Till I Collapse by Eminem (from the album The Eminem Show) and I remembered how great it was to hear Nate Dogg on the chorus. This thought led me to one that had actually always been there, since the beginning of the millennium: Nate Dogg was the best hook specialist in hip hop.

At this point, it is important on the one hand to point out that, although I believed this when I was 13, I was not the only one to think so – he is known as the ‘King of Hooks’ – and on the other hand to clarify this statement as personal as it is universal, since in the world of hip hop there have been and always will be great hook specialists. Especially from the late 90s onwards, when rap became much more pop with names like Puff Daddy and others much closer to soul or R&B, where female voices such as Faith Evans, Mary J Blige or Ashanti stood out in the 2000s.

Like a large majority of rappers of the time, Nate Dogg also flirted quite a bit with R&B, but we can find most of his greatest hits in songs closer to gangsta rap, to the more mainstream fun and rap with a street conscience, as I will try to demonstrate in this article that includes a playlist. Was there anyone who was at least a little like him? Maybe Jadakiss, although he usually added some rapped verse in all his collaborations.

Nate Dogg’s date and cause of death

First of all, to answer the question that gives title to this text, I tell you that Nate Dogg died on March 15, 2011 when he was only 41 years old. A pioneer of G-funk and West Coast rap, he is, in 2024, the rapper with the most collaborations or featurings in history.

As for the cause of his death, Nate Dogg died due to complications from multiple strokes – there is also talk of congestive heart failure. Apparently, it is something that had been going on for a few years. The man had already suffered a stroke that left the left side of his body weakened in 2007 and another in 2008.

Although Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, which was Nate Dogg’s real name, managed to recover almost completely, his life ended a few years later, without enough time to prepare his comeback in the form of a solo album. This was announced as a post-album and was apparently scheduled for release in 2013, but to date no one has heard anything more about it.

In between, in addition to her musical career, she has been accused of multiple charges and arrests for gender violence, harassment and drug use.

Nate Dogg, or how to use a chorus to turn a song into a hit

Nate Dogg will always be known for his deep, melodic voice. His style, imitated but inimitable, was mainly influenced by the gospel music he performed in the church choir as a child, as well as the music that was heard in his home at the time. From Marvin Gaye to Stevie Wonder or Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. Some of his greatest musical influences confirmed by himself.

With those materials, how could he not almost always improve the songs he collaborated on? And I especially highlight the collaborations, because as a solo artist his songs tended to be rather monotonous and lacking something. I’ll let you check it out when you get to the playlist.

He, who did a mix between hip hop and R&B thanks to his vocal range between tenor and baritone, is considered the inventor of ‘gangsta singing’, a style of singing that consists of the mix of R&B and soul vocals with gangsta rap lyrics and that had a great influence on urban culture and on great abusers -and more things- of R&B like R. Kelly or Chris Brown.

Where have you heard the King of Hooks, even though you may not remember it?

In the playlist you will see that within the collaborations there are even more collaborations than those I highlight below, such as Kurupt or WC in many of them. It is like a Russian doll that also ignores 213 as a group and offers it as a trio collaboration.

I have done everything I could to make it make as much sense as possible. But anyway, the most important thing is that you listen to the songs and let yourself be carried away by them like a good rap lover.

Singing solo

• I Got Love
• Nobody Does It Better
• Music & Me
• So Fly (J. Period Remix)
• These Days
• Never Leave Me Alone

With Dr. Dre

• Your Wife
• The Next Episode
• Xxplosive
• Deeez Nuuuts

With his cousin Snoop Dogg

• Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)
• Lay Low
• Crazy
• Don’t Tell

With Warren G

• Regulate
• Game Don’t Wait
• Party We Will Throw Now!
• Do You See

With Xzibit

• Multiply
• My Name
• Been a Long Time
• Keep It G.A.N.G.S.T.A.

With 2Pac

• All About U
• Skandalouz
• How Long Will They Mourn Me?
• Thugs Get Lonely Too

With Eminem

• Till I Collapse
• Bitch Please II
• Never Enough
• Shake That

With members of G-Unit

• 50 Cent – 21 Questions
• Lloyd Banks – Til The End
• Lloyd Banks – Warrior Part 2

With The Game

• Special
• Where I’m From
• Too Much

With other rappers (not so often)

• Westside Connection – Gangsta Nation
• Mark Ronson, Ghostface Killah, Trife & Saigon – Ooh Wee
• Houston – I Like That
• Anderson .Paak – What Can We Do?
• Ludacris – Area Codes
• Fabolous – Can’t Deny It
• Jadakiss – Time’s Up
• Shade Sheist – Where I Wanna Be
• Mos Def – Oh No
• Obie Trice – The Setup
• Jermaine Dupri – Ballin’ Out of Control
• Shyne – Behind The Walls (East Coast Gangsta Mix)
• Mobb Deep – Have A Party
• Roscoe – Girls All Pause
• The Notorious B.I.G. – Running Your Mouth
• SNBRN – Gangsta Walk
• Tha Dogg Pound – Let’s Play House
• Tha Eastsidaz – Cool