Sam Sneed (born Sam Anderson; February 29, 1968) is an American producer and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. He originally got his start working as a producer for

K-Solo Kevin Madison, also known as K-Solo (born April 17, 1968) is an American rapper from Brentwood, New York who, along with Redman, EPMD, Das EFX, and Keith Murray, was part of the Hit Squad in the 1990s. Career K-Solo was a member of EPMD's "Hit S ...

and the

Hit Squad The Hit Squad is an American hip hop collective of East coast hip hop artists. Originally formed in the 1990s by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith of the rap group EPMD, the group included rap artists such as K-Solo, Redman, Das EFX, Top Quality, ...

Biography

Early years

In 1993 he was signed to

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre ('' ...

, releasing only one single, "

U Better Recognize "U Better Recognize" is Sam Sneed's first and only single while he was on Death Row Records. The B-side was "Come When I Call" by Danny Boy. Single information "U Better Recognize" featuring Dr. Dre was released by Sam Sneed in 1994. He beca ...

" featuring

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

, in 1994. The single appeared on the ''

Murder Was the Case ''Murder Was the Case'' is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring and performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection afte ...

'' soundtrack, and peaked at #16 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

chart, #18 on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio statio ...

chart and #48 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart.. He became well known for a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, "My name is Sam Sneed, you better recognize!" which originally appeared on the Snoop Dogg debut album,

Doggystyle ''Doggystyle'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg (then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg). It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop's app ...

. He also appeared in the Death Row movie, ''

''. Sam Sneed also co-produced the hit songs "

Keep Their Heads Ringin' "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" is a song by American rapper Dr. Dre featuring vocalist Nanci Fletcher. It was the only single released from the soundtrack of the 1995 movie ''Friday'', starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. Although the soundtrack was re ...

" and "

Natural Born Killaz "Natural Born Killaz" is a collaborative single released by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube for the soundtrack of the film ''Murder Was the Case''. It was originally intended for the scrapped album ''Heltah Skeltah''. It would later be used by professional ...

" with Dr. Dre. "Natural Born Killaz" was originally supposed to be a Sam Sneed and

J-Flexx J-Flexx is an American former rapper and producer of Death Row Records. Career J-Flexx ghostwrote lyrics for Dr. Dre during his tenure at Death Row Records. The first song he co-wrote in that collaboration, "Natural Born Killaz", became a Top ...

song called "The Heist". The original alternate version of "Natural Born Killaz" with Sam Sneed rapping a verse was released on the Ultimate Death Row Collection on November 24, 2009. He recorded an album on Death Row Records with his group ''Street Scholars'' in 1996 which included

, Sharief (now known as Killer Ben) & Drauma (now known as Stocks McGuire) which remains unreleased. Sneed was diagnosed with a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

in 1999, which put a temporary halt to his career; but has since recovered and is once again an active hip hop producer. He has since produced songs for the likes of

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

, Scarface,

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and many others, Sam went to work with Dr. Dre in 2007 again, but nothing manifested. He has since started a new company with his business partner Craig "Stretch" Mason, Nustarz Entertainment. The label features new artists managed by Sam such as The Boy Goldy, Money Ink and British rapper, producer and songwriter

Nat Powers Nat Powers (born Nathaniel Powers on 4 June 1986) is a British record producer and song writer from Leicester who has worked with hip-hop figures such as Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC, Spice One and with a majority of the iconic Death Row ...

.Destinations Magazine
December 2011 In 2010 Death Row/WIDEawake Entertainment announced the release date (January 25, 2011) for Sam Sneed's album ''Street Scholars'', which contained four unreleased songs from Sneed's time at Death Row, along with 10 newly recorded tracks.

Discography

* ''Street Scholars'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneed, Sam 1968 births 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American male rappers African-American record producers American hip hop record producers Death Row Records artists East Coast hip hop musicians G-funk artists Living people People from McKeesport, Pennsylvania Record producers from Pennsylvania