Career
Mac Dre's 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. He released many hit singles, such as "Too Hard for the Radio", and most recently "Feelin' Myself". He was the creator of the "Thizzle Dance", a popular dance which holds no specific standard. Hardship and controversy were staples of Mac Dre's career. After recording his first three albums between 1989 and 1991, Mac 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 parlours. Hicks was alleged to be a member of the gang. The rapper was sentenced to five years in prison in 1992.
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, Mac Dre began releasing albums steadily, building pace in the early 21st century. Mac Dre's audience was growing, and mainstream hip-hop stations were beginning to give Hicks' music more airtime. Hicks relocated to Sacramento, California in 2001, where he began a label, Thizz Entertainment.
Death
On November 1, 2004, Mac Dre was shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas city. A car pulled up next to the white van carrying Dre along with other Thizz artists. Whether words where exchanged or not, the ordeal ended in the bloodshed of a bay area rap legend. The van swerved off the road and into a ravine where it ran into a tree. Word is that Dre was thrown from the van, but officials say they found him in the front seat, dead on arrival. Some believe that Mac Dre's killer was Kansas City rapper Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins. In 2005 Watkins was murdered, allegedly by Bay Area rapper Mac Minister. In March 2006, Mac Minister was arrested by FBI officials.
Gangsta
Mac Dre Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She hella cute
I′m always diggin in her bra
And gettin hella loot
What's Hatnin?
I′m mac dre the bitch sweater
And pimpin is one of the many ways I get cheddar
On a bitch back like a thick sweater
The P
Pimpin
West coast pimpin
Pockets so fat Mutha fucka got me limpin
It's in my blood I'm a mack from birth
A west coast cutthroat from the turf
I′m in her purse
More than she be
That′s his wife but I be fuckn mo than he be
That's on the real a
2xs
And the Pittsburgh I know don′t got no steelers
It's nuttin new
We old school like retro
In this gansta mac shit on this west coast
The lyrics of "Gangsta" by Mac Dre are about his life as a pimp and the glorification of gangsta culture in the west coast. The rapper talks about one of his girls who works on the corner and how he always checks her bra to get the money she made from her clients. He brags about his pimping skills being one of the ways he earns money and compares himself to a thick sweater that represents the 16th letter of the alphabet, the P for Pimpin. Mac Dre is proud of his west coast pimping style and how it has helped him accumulate wealth, as evidenced by his fat pockets that make him limp.
The rapper asserts that pimping is in his blood as he was born to be a mack, a cutthroat from the turf, and how he is in his girl's purse more than she is. Mac Dre also brags about sleeping with another man's wife and that he does it more than the husband does. He ends the verse affirming his gangsta status and how old school he is in this gangsta Mac sh*t on the west coast.
The lyrics of "Gangsta" are explicit with no attempt at disguise and reflect the harsh reality of pimping and gangsta culture, which is part of the west coast's DNA. The verse glorifies criminal behavior, objectification of women, and a culture of machismo.
Line by Line Meaning
I got this bitch on the corner
I have a sex worker working for me on the street corner
She hella cute
The sex worker I employ is very attractive
I'm always diggin in her bra
And gettin hella loot
I frequently search through her bra and obtain a lot of money
What's Hatnin?
What is happening or going on?
I’m mac dre the bitch sweater
And pimpin is one of the many ways I get cheddar
I am Mac Dre, the one who controls this woman like a sweater and pimping is one of the ways I earn money.
On a bitch back like a thick sweater
You know I represent that 16th letter
I control women like they are my possessions and my street name represents the letter P, which stands for pimping.
The P
Pimpin
West coast pimpin
Pockets so fat Mutha fucka got me limpin
I'm one of the best west coast pimps with so much money that it's making me struggle to walk.
It's in my blood I'm a mack from birth
A west coast cutthroat from the turf
Being a pimp is in my nature as I am born to be a ruthless west coast criminal.
I'm in her purse
More than she be
That's his wife but I be fuckn mo than he be
I access her money more than she does and despite her being in a relationship or married, I still sleep with her more often than her partner does.
That's on the real a
2xs
And the Pittsburgh I know don't got no steelers
What I just said is the truth, repeated twice, and where I come from, Pittsburgh, they do not have any football team known as the Steelers.
It's nuttin new
We old school like retro
In this gangsta mac shit on this west coast
What we do is nothing new and we have an old school style like retro, while engaging in gangster Mac (pimp) activities on the west coast.
Writer(s): Dedrick Rolison, James Williams, Unknown Splits, Kareem Cormier, Treyvon Green
Contributed by Austin C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Allante Hall
i'm glad i was introduced to Mac at a young age cuz i learned from him and other Bay legends through their music...they spit that real mane...
DAGBITR 94
Used to blast this on tower guard when I was deployed. Thizz N Peace MAC DRE!
Big Boss
R-i-pOnErrthang
Bird Dirty
2020 still slappin dre.
James Jones
to bad there ain't more rappers like this!!!
Gary Ellison
@Jack Cruz On mommas...he gave energy like Pac! Every hit he made made had brought the true potential of every feature out of the dark
Jack Cruz
None at all not even in the 90s Mac was one of a kind I never heard anything like it
Ivan P
Don't worry word on the street is that Thrashfly coming for the reconstruction resurrection party
Lerk _
40 holding it down...but there will never be another Pill Clinton .... to keep it treal tho i fuccs wit "Salsalino" .... strongest resemblece I've seen so far..
sean watts
Yeah e40