For today’s “Remembering Nate Dogg” series, Dubcnn caught up with an artist best known as being one of Nate’s label mates during his time at Death Row Records, The Lady of Rage. Rage shares some old memories with Nate Dogg and recalls the last time seeing him. Read the piece below, R.I.P Nate Dogg.
“I just wanted to reflect on Nate and what he meant to me. To me he was just a cool guy, just so smooth. He always looked serious, but once he broke that smile on you, you kinda knew he was approachable. His outer shell was not as hard as his inner shell. I mean he was nothing to play with, as we all know he knew how to handle a golf club quite well, so you better approach with caution. But Nate, for the most part was just him being cool with his cognac, laughing and playing video games. I remember going to his house a few times, it was hard to get him to do his vocals because he was playing “Call of Duty” forever. He would be on that thing forever, I think days! Or I used to play with him Evander Holyfield’s “Real Deal” Boxing on Sega when video games was coming out real tough. And I beat him a couple of times, but you would always hear him say “Nah Rage, I don’t remember that, I don’t remember that!”. 
I remember talking to him when he had his first stroke. He asked me did I know anybody that ever survived or came back from a stroke. I told him I couldn’t recall anybody that I knew, but everybody that I knew that had a stroke was older. I told him he was young and that he could bounce back. And I believe that he did. The second time he had a stroke, I went to the hospital. I was supposed to see him the first time, but my daughter got sick and I was really unable to go. And the second time he had a stroke I made it my business to be there, but no one was allowed to see him at that time for a very long time. So I never got to see him, and that’s one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t get to see him before he left. But I did talk to him when he had his first stroke, and I just wish that I could have seen him and talked to him, maybe give him some type of inspiration. You can come back from this, but in my mind I’m thinking that he didn’t wanna be that way and he was just ready to go. He just didn’t wanna be that way. I talked to a lot of guys before this happened, and most guys don’t wanna be taken care of, they don’t wanna be debilitated. They don’t wanna be unable to help themselves, they would rather leave here than be here. And maybe it got to that point with him as well, he probably thought ‘This ain’t for me. Maybe the angels need me to sing a hook or two.’ Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m crossing the line for saying that, I don’t know. And I don’t want to offend anybody, but that’s just what I think. I just wish I could have talked to him.
He will be greatly missed, sorely missed. I know Snoop, Warren, the Dogg Pound family, and most of all his biological family is going through a hard time right now. I know they’ve stuck with him by his side through thick and thin and was there to the end. Nate Dogg was loved, I mean the tributes that they’ve been doing on KDAY and all the other stations, I forgot some of the songs he had. I was like ‘Wow, Nate had a gang of stuff!’. So I just know that he’s gonna live on forever, his music is gonna live on forever. I plan on attending his services on Saturday, I contemplated that because my last memory of him was at the House of Blues. We did a show with Snoop, maybe 3 or 4 years ago. And he was over there in his corner with his cognac and with his hat on. I think it was a hat or it could have been a bandana, he was cool whatever he had on. That’s my last visual memory of him, and I didn’t want to see him in any other state. But I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t know if it would be disrespectful for me not to be there and pay my last respect. But just not wanting to have that vision of him laying in a casket in my mind, I just don’t wanna see that. But, I’m gonna go and I will pay my respect.
And that’s how I feel about Nate. Nathaniel! I remember we used to talk about how his mother and grandmother called him Nathaniel, Nathaniel! So everytime I saw him I’d be like ‘Wassup Nathaniel?!’ (laughs) That’s my homie Nathaniel and my little memory that I will hold on to.“
