Remembering Nate Dogg (10+ Artists Speak on Nate Dogg -- Hittman, Ras Kass, etc)

[Lunatic]

http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/2661/54/

Raptalk speaks exclusively to a number of artists on the passing of a west coast pioneer, Nate Dogg. Artists including Hittman, Lil Flip, Latoiya Williams, Ras Kass, Knoc-turn'al, Jayo Felony and more speak on Nate's passing, life and legacy.

Enjoy.

http://raptalk.net/website/content/view/2661/54/

Ras Kass: I just want to send out my condolences from my family to his. All of us are definitely wishing his family the best and we know he’s in a better place. Nate’s always been a great homeboy to me on the music side and on a social side. We have all kinds of stories but those are our stories and I’m not gonna’ share them with the world. I just want to send out much to love to his family; enriched by life. He’s from the Long Beach so we’ve always been connected. I’m glad he’s definitely in a better place and not suffering. Much love to Nate Dogg; you will be missed.

Hittman: I was blessed to be on a tour bus with Nate for 2 ½ months straight. He was a good dude altogether. He was a noble dude and he didn’t take any shit from anyone. What he brought to the game, there wasn’t anyone really doing shit like that as far as hooks go, straight singing them. Every time he laid something, the shit was incredible.

He was definitely an original and is definitely gonna’ be missed. He was funny too. People didn’t think me and him would get along because we were both known for being hard headed or stern, but as soon as we get on the bus, I give it about a weeks time being around one another, it was all good. He was a hilarious guy too.

It’s sad because we’d freestyle on the bus, I think Nate was a closet rapper; Nate had some dope rhymes. He’ll be missed man. I want to thank him for the laughs, the dope hooks and for schooling me on how to carry myself on tour because I was a rookie on the Up in Smoke Tour. Watching him, how he maneuvered and got stuff done, I learned a lot from him.

 Like I said, he’ll be missed. I’ve been banging his shit all day; different songs, unreleased songs that were supposed to go on Detox; different stuff like that. I wanna’ give my condolences to Snoop Dogg & Warren G, all of the Long Beach cats because I know that was there brother.

Latoiya Williams:  Nate Dogg, I just want to say that I love you and I miss you. Thank you for all of the great advice you’ve given me about the industry and hip-hop business throughout my career. I wish we could have brought out the song that we did together. Hopefully one day I can. I love and miss you so much.

Lil Flip: I was blessed to meet Nate Dogg on a handful of occasions in my life. You know when you always see artists and it’s quick like “what’s up? What’s going on? We should work together.”  Nate Dogg is an artist that I grew up listening too. I still humble myself as a fan and a student of the game. Anything that came before me, I look at what they did and I learn from it. I apply that to how I carry myself.

Every time I got to see Nate Dogg, he was always in a pleasant state of mind. Everything was always all good with the brother. He was always down to smoke with me and have a good time. You know he was on my “I Need Mine” album; a song called “Take You There.” We were supposed to shoot a video to that record but you know how label politics go. We ended up not getting a video done due to that. I wish I took my own damn money and did it. At that time, I was using my own money to shoot my own videos anyways.

I had a girl singing the reference hook on “Take You There” and I sent it to Nate Dogg because I was out of town. I ended up doing a record with Butch Cassidy and then I got with Nate Dogg on that record. He re-sung that shit and he put on a bridge on it. When it comes to this singing shit on a hip-hop level, can’t anybody fuck with Nate Dogg for real. The dude’s voice was so loud, clear and distinctive. He was always in a good mood. I’m thankful that I got the chance to work with him. I wish we would have shot a video to it.

I know he’s been dealing with what he’s been dealing with so I send my prayers out to his family. I just got through doing a couple of shows with Snoop Dogg and kicking it with Daz Dillinger. I did a whole album with Daz. Snoop jumped on my “Game Over” west coast remix and he’s always been like a big brother to me. He’s always given me advice and guidance when I needed it. So I feel for them because I know how close they were with Nate Dogg.

It’s just crazy man. The day he died, I had a show with Snoop Dogg. It was surreal to me man. When Warren G got on stage and performed “Regulate”, the whole crowd was singing that shit at the top of there lungs man. It’s crazy that I ended up having a show with Snoop Dogg the day that Nate Dogg died.

We’re gonna’ hold it down for him man. I’m switching up my show CD’s now where I’m gonna’ do tributes to Nate Dogg. I messed with him man; this isn’t for publicity. I’m gonna’ do a song dedicated to him too. I literally just got back from Houston so I’m about to jump in the lab and cook something up. But it’s gonna’ be done right and tastefully; not as a marketing tool. More or less, it’s an appreciation record because I appreciate his music. I’m glad I got a chance to tell him that to his face before he passed. I loved his voice and we’re gonna’ forever jam his music; for real.

My theme song from Nate Dogg was “Never Leave Me Alone” (starts singing melody). I feel like that record is for people with bad spirits man. His music was all about enjoying your life and it was feel good music. It didn’t matter how old you are, you could relate to “Never Leave Me Alone.” Everybody has somebody that fucks with them; either your baby momma, parole officer or whoever. You could use “Never Leave Me Alone” as your anthem. Nate Dogg will forever be a legend and we’re gonna’ keep his name alive.

Jayo Felony: What’s cracking with it cuzz? I just wanna’ shout out my dog, Rest in Peace Nate Dogg. Much love to my nigga. We’ve always been on deck, riding around together. I wish we got to do a record together but I’ll see you in the afterlife because we all make it there one day. God bless you bro, we’re gonna’ keep pushing this G-Funk and repping this west coast like I know you’d want us too. Nobody lives forever so make every day your best day. Put your best foot forward. I’ve been thinking about my nigga all day. Nate was a real hood star. Much love, Rest in Peace bro. God bless you and your family.

Knoc-turn’al: It’s a tragedy for the west coast because one of our greats has passed. He’s a legend and he deserves a star on Hollywood Blvd. We’re at the studio right now and we’re all talking about one of the greats on the west coast which was Nate Dogg. His passing is a very sad situation for me. He taught me a lot about rhythms and harmonies; just different musical things he gave me pointers on. I wish I could have done more for him. I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him. In the condition that he was in, I don’t know what to say. We grew up together in Long Beach.

But I love the fact that this man gave the world his all to be able to do what he did. No matter what Nate Dogg did, he always gave it his all. And no matter what Nate Dogg did, he always loved people and he cared for people. When it came time for people to care back for him, I just hope they gave him there all.

You have people that say they love you sometimes but they need to love you in the right way. God said love is unconditional so when he was in a bad condition, I hope people loved him and gave him what he needed, and made sure that he was OK. Nate Dogg is and always will be a legend. When I was a snotty nosed kid he’d say “nigga take your ass inside, you know your daddy gonna’ get mad at you if you out here” (laughs).

That helped me a lot; to understand there’s a time to be inside and a time to be outside. I have children of my own and Nate Dogg has children left behind. We all gotta’ figure out what to do to make sure his children are ok.  I just hope people didn’t leave him in his time of need because that wouldn’t be right. I’ll never forget what Nate Dogg did for me to help me build my family. These are things that he taught me.

Nate Dogg used to always say and I quote, “Knoc, you just can’t live your life in a bottle; get your shit together.” that’s something that he used to tell me as his young homie. Much love to Nate Dogg.

I feel like Nathaniel died when he had so much more to do. God bless you Nathaniel AKA Nate Dogg.

Sam Sneed: I want to send my condolences out to Nate Dogg’s family and friends. When I was at Death Row, he was one of the good ones. I’m sorry to hear about his loss and everything. May God bless him.

Problem: We really lost somebody who impacted west coast rap music in a way that most rappers wish they could. We really need to respect that and be happy that we were able to have him apart of our culture. The hits just reign; we can talk about all of our favorite Nate Dogg records all day. There’s so many of them. For the next generation of crooners and hook writers, know that if you’re from over here, your style should be based on Nate [Dogg]. Rest in Peace Nate Dogg. I want to send my condolences to all the homies, everybody in Tha Dogg Pound who lost a real brother. I feel honored that I got a chance to meet him and be in his presence. Everybody needs to really realize what has happened. Let’s start respecting our OG’s for real.

Sly Boogy: I would just like to say that Nate Dogg is gonna’ live forever through his work. I think that he’ll always be remembered and he pretty much brought a new sound to the entire hip-hop genre with his style of gospel vocals. I think that he’ll always be remembered for that.

Teak of Hallway Productions: When you think about Nate Dogg’s legacy, you’re looking at such an impactful figure not just on the west coast, but the music industry as a whole. He’s single handedly by far the best hook man that we’ve ever seen in modern music. I want to send my condolences to his family and really the whole music industry because it’s really a huge figure that we’ve lost. He paved the way for people like T-Pain who have made careers off doing dope hooks. Being a musician, that’s the type of person that we’ve lost; a really huge figure in modern music.

Dae One: Nate Dogg was a very creative person. He created his own style and he made his own lane. I don’t think he’ll ever be forgotten for that. He made it cool to do what he did. Ad now, that’s something that’s accepted (hooks, melodies, etc). I remember hanging out with him a few times. We hung out when I was working with Xzibit on his album when they did the “Multiply” record.

We were at Encore Studios, me and Sir Jinx working on Xzibit’s record. Xzibit was trying to come up with the hook for “Multiply” and was having difficulty. He couldn’t come up with the right hook. He was calling Dr. Dre playing different hooks for him and Dre kept saying “change it, I don’t like that.” It was me, Sir Jinx, Taje and Xzibit there in the studio.

They came up with this new hook, wrote it and Xzibit lays it and comes back out to play it for Dr. Dre over the phone. Dre liked it and said “call Nate Dogg; tell him to come to the studio.” This was my first time meeting Nate Dogg so I was like “damn, Nate Dogg about to come through?” I was acting like a fan like yo that’s crazy. Nate Dogg comes to the studio, knocked that hook out in about 5 or 6 takes, no joke. He was very professional. He walked in and handled it. He was actually at another studio session down the street. He stopped his session and came over there in like ten minutes. Dr. Dre was like “Nate’s down the street, just give him a call.”

He came and laid the hook real quick. He was all about the music. He was definitely a hard worker. He jumped in the booth, laid his hook and he was out, went right back to his session down the street. That was the first time I met Nate Dogg. Every time we met, he was always very respectable and cool. He was always well received. We also kicked it a few times at Warren G’s studio. He would come up there and hang out with us. One time he came up there and played like 40 songs for us for a new record he was working on. He had songs with everybody from Eminem to Fabolous to Nas. He had all these records. We played these songs for about two hours straight; just Nate Dogg records. I’ll probably never hear those songs again but the experience itself was great.

Ms. Toi: Nate Dogg called into K-Day [radio] when I was on the radio station with Greg Mack [afternoon host]. That’s how we ended up doing a song together called “Something I Can Go Home With.” That’s because of Nate Dogg, the way he called into the station and let me know how he supported my career. Really, I got love for the brother and I can say a lot about him. That was a wonderful experience I had with him.

This was in 2007 when I put out my independent album “Not Your Average Chick” and I had a song on there called “West Coast Gangsta Shit” and Nate called in to tell me how he liked the record. We ended up getting on the phone again later that night and he invited me to the studio. We were on the “Up in Smoke Tour” together of course in 2001. This was in 2007 and he was looking out for me as far as saying he was watching my career and what I had been doing. He wanted to do that song with me. That was a blessing for me to have one of our greatest hip-hop icons to look out for you.

He showed me so much love and he had so much love for this music. People can find that record by me and him on Youtube and it was on my mixtape “Hustle Hard Pt.2.” Nate Dogg featuring Ms. Toi, “Something I Can Go Home With.” Much love and Rest in Peace Nate Dogg.

Pr1me: My fondest memory of chilling with Nate Dogg was in 2004 when me and my homeboys from Long Beach had a show. One of the group members is Snoop’s little brother so we grew up around the whole Dogg Pound unit. We had this show and we only reached out to a few people for some support to see who would come out and rock. Nate Dogg was the only one who came through.

He was the first major figure to show us love on our show. He didn’t charge us nothing either. He came up there with us and even did a little melody. We just asked him to come on stage and let his presence be known. He actually did a melody and the whole crowd went bananas. It was one of the most memorable times of being with Nate Dogg.

Right after that show, we had a little after hour’s house party at Diamond Bar. He stayed all the way til the very end until it was just five or six people in the house. He was playing his unreleased album for us. He had tracks with Dr. Dre on there. There were some songs that sounded like they’d be from the 1960’s. He was really changing his style up. It was an honor to have him play those records for us. We thought that shit was so hard. We couldn’t wait it for it to come out. We have major love for Nate Dogg.

He was one of the only cats that kept it 100 with us after selling millions and millions of records with other artists and himself. He always kept it humble and all the way real with us. And we were the young boys from Long Beach coming up. Later on, Daz, Snoop and them started fucking with us too – But Nate Dogg was the first one. He opened the door for us.

I’m gonna’ miss that nigga like a motherfucker. He taught us so much and he showed us so much. Even from all the stories Butch [Cassidy] tells me, Nate was just an overall good dude. The west coast really took a blow when we lost him. Will never have another Nate Dogg. I’m gonna’ leave the man at peace. I’ll see him when I get there.

Jazzy D of Jazzy Management: I’m just privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Nate Dogg. He was always a real brother every time I saw him. He was the same person from 11 years ago to when I first met him to now. A lot of people knew I did the Gangsta Granny character on a couple of WC’s albums. Every time I would see Nate, he would ask me to do a skit – “Jazzy, say one of the Granny skits man” (laughs). A lot of people liked those a lot.

It was a privilege to talk to Nate man. I truly was a big fan of his. It was crazy to know that he liked that character that I did. I’m gonna’ miss Nate man. A lot of people say he’s in a better place and I totally agree with that. I know he left a legacy and some guidelines behind for anybody who wants to get into the music industry. They can admire his hard work as proof that hard work pays off.

I’m more than happy to say something good about Nate Dogg. That’s what it is man.

Armed Robbery: I was with Nate Dogg. I was his artist. I was with him all the way up until he went into the hospital; the last seven years of his career and life. That was my mentor and I was his understudy. That was my big homie plain and simple.

I have my fondest memory of Nate Dogg that I’d like to share. This was the last time he was on stage – In Las Vegas. We went out there to do a show. Nate had pneumonia and he didn’t know it. Me and Fredwreck were going to get his medicine because he had just seen the doctor for something else. Analyzing his symptoms, me and Fredwreck were like “you might have pneumonia.”

Anyways, we pushed out to the venue. He was sucking it up man. He was a real soldier. It came time to perform and he went out there and gave his fans a hell of a show. Bad Azz & The Outlawz were up there with us, much respect to those guys. He killed the show. It was right around his birthday in 2007.

As soon as he got off stage, I’m still on stage playing around, talking on the mic to all the females in the crowd. I go backstage and I see the EMT’s all huddling around somebody. I’m like what’s going on? My brother like Nate Dogg nearly passed out. I rush over there and they have the oxygen mask on him. They had him in a chair giving him some air. I went up to the room the back way. That’s the first time I ever saw that; the casino’s had that back elevator to the stage.

It’s about the endurance and the will. He loved his music and he loved this rap game. That’s all we ever talked about was music; from sun up to sun down. That would be the best memory that I have of Nate Dogg. That’s what you call going in hard. He had pneumonia and he would just take a Nyquil every five minutes and still get on stage and rock it for the people who came to see him.

It was a blessing for me and I’ll never forget it. I’ll always remember him for many things but the way he pulled that show out, that spoke volumes to me. He taught me things every day and that was another learning lesson right there. This is what you do and I feel like that every day. You get up and go hard for what you love and believe in.

I love him for that.

[Hoodlum204]

DOOOOOOPE!!!

[GangstaBoogy]

lil flip is still alive? And lol @ jayo's comments, never has a dedication sounded so ignorant

so there's unreleased nate dogg stuff on detox? Nice!

[The_Ripper]

Knoc-turn’al:  I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him.

[Lunatic]

Knoc-turn’al:  I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him.

?

[The_Ripper]

Knoc-turn’al:  I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him.

?

your idol knoc-turn'al is an asshole.

[Lunatic]

Knoc-turn’al:  I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him.

?

your idol knoc-turn'al is an asshole.

LOL. How does this quote make him an asshole? Just wondering

[J$crILLa]

Knoc-turn’al:  I feel like a lot people around him could have done more for him.

?

your idol knoc-turn'al is an asshole.

LOL. How does this quote make him an asshole? Just wondering

cuz he would know if people helped him out if he was around, the way he spoke as if he wasnt around either




anyways, nice read tho overall just to hear the stories is awesome

[Lunatic]

^ Knoc hasn't lived in L.A. for quite a bit now, so no, unfortunately he wasn't around. But he did see Nate once.

Anyways, this isn't about Knoc persay.

Thanks for compliment on the good read.

[Dre-Day]

nice.

so there's unreleased nate dogg stuff on detox? Nice!

note he said supposed

[Will_B]

Ms. Toi ft Nate Dogg - Sumthin I Can Go Home With
http://www.mediafire.com/?he4xv8gcs99zgbo

Sounds like an old Dre beat

[jaytee]

Good read and it's always great to hear more personal stories about Nate.

[Mista Rosa]

Great read. Too bad Ras Kass didn't feel like sharing a memory. Thanks Luna.

Dae One, Prime, Hittman are some lucky ones to have had a chance to hear some unreleased Nate songs. Interesting what Prime said about Nate's new style, sounding like 60's records.

[Okka]

Damn, great read. I'm glad to hear that there's a lot of unreleased Nate Dogg material still in the vaults. RIP Nate.

[dnjp4life]

A bit odd that Armed Robbery/Rob Stricklong's fondest memory is of Nate almost passing out from health problems.