Priest Joseph Brooks, (known professionally as Soopafly born December 8, 1972) is a hip hop 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 ...

from

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He is a member of the DPGC.

Early life

The oldest of three children, Brooks grew up in Long Beach. He was given a keyboard by his father after being inspired by the piano players he saw in church.

Early career

During his teenage years, Brooks met rappers

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

and

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 ...

. Proving himself with his keyboard skills, Soopafly was assigned his first piece of work for

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 ('' ...

on the soundtrack ''

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 ...

''. He played keyboards for Dr. Dre and

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

on the track "

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 ...

" and for

Jodeci Jodeci ( ) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Dalvin DeGrate, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci (singer), K-Ci, and K-Ci and JoJo, JoJo. Formed in 1989 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci's members began their mu ...

on the track "Come Up To My Room", as well as his first production credit with "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit" featuring Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound. In 1995, he produced "Sooo Much Style" for

Tha Dogg Pound Tha Dogg Pound is an American Hip hop music, hip hop duo made up of rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were signed to Death Row Records in their early careers and were key to the label's success. Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albu ...

on their debut album "Dogg Food". He also played the keyboards on eight other songs throughout. Then in 1996, he was featured on the soundtrack to the movie '' A Thin Line Between Love and Hate'' on the song "I Don't Hang." A remix would later follow. Soopafly was further introduced to mainstream listeners on Snoop Dogg's second studio album ''

Tha Doggfather ''Tha Doggfather'' is the second studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released on November 12, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records. After the success of his debut album ''Doggystyle'' (1993), Snoop was arrested and charged with ...

''. He produced the songs "Freestyle Conversation" and "You Thought", appearing alongside veteran rapper

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

. Since then, he has been featured primarily on albums by local artists such as

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger (formerly Dat Nigga Daz and commonly Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. In the 1990s at Death Row Records, aided the catapult of West Coast rap and ga ...

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Po ...

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...

RBX Eric Dwayne Collins (born October 8, 1969) better known by his stage name RBX (standing for "Reality Born Unknown"), is an American rapper and songwriter from Long Beach, California. Early life and education Contrary to popular belief, Collins i ...

, Bad Azz and

Tha Eastsidaz Tha Eastsidaz is a hip hop trio consisting of Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee and Goldie Loc. Their first appearance was on Tommy Boy Records' ''The Ride: Music from Dimension'' with Crooked Eye Q on a Battlecat-produced song called "Feels So Good" in 19 ...

. To date, he has released three solo albums.

Westurn Union

In July 2006, the rap group called

Westurn Union Dubb Union is a rap group featuring artists from Los Angeles and the nearby areas of Inglewood, Long Beach, and Watts. The original name of the group was Westurn Union, but was later changed to Dubb Union to avoid a lawsuit with banking compan ...

was formed. It features Soopafly, Damani and Bad Lucc. They made their first appearance on

's album ''

Tha Blue Carpet Treatment ''Tha Blue Carpet Treatment'' is the eighth studio album by West Coast hip hop recording artist Snoop Dogg. It was released on November 21, 2006, by Doggystyle Records and Geffen Records. It is also the final album to have Nate Dogg featured on ...

'' and released a street single titled "I Don't Think So", produced by

Rick Rock Ricardo Thomas, also known as Rick Rock, is an American record producer originally from Montgomery, Alabama and based in Fairfield, California. He is a founding member of the former rap group Cosmic Slop Shop and the Federation with fellow ra ...

. In April 2008, a mixtape was released titled ''House Shoe Musik, Vol. 1'' and was hosted by

DJ Crazy Toones Lamar Dupré Calhoun (November 18, 1971 – January 9, 2017), better known as DJ Crazy Toones, was an American hip hop producer and deejay. He was a member of the rap group WC and the Maad Circle and was later signed to Ice Cube's Lench Mob Reco ...

. After inking a deal with

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

and

Doggystyle Records Doggy Style Records (formerly known as Dogghouse Records) is an American record label founded by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1995. It is named after Snoop Dogg's debut album, ''Doggystyle'' (1993). History On July 6, 1995, Doggy Style Records, Inc. ...

, the official debut album Snoop Dogg Presents: Dubb Union was released on September 2, 2008. Prior to the release, the group and the labels were approached by the company

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...

, threatening legal action if the name was not changed. Though there is a difference between Westurn and Western, the labels did not want to spend money dealing with a lawsuit, the name of the group was changed to

Dubb Union Dubb Union is a rap group featuring artists from Los Angeles and the nearby areas of Inglewood, Long Beach, and Watts. The original name of the group was Westurn Union, but was later changed to Dubb Union to avoid a lawsuit with banking compan ...

Discography

;Studio albums *''

Dat Whoopty Woop ''Dat Whoopty Woop'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Soopafly. It was released on July 31, 2001, through D.P.G. Recordz. Production was handled by Daz Dillinger, who also served as executive producer, and Soopafl ...

'' (2001) *'' Bangin West Coast'' (2007) *''Best Kept Secret'' (2011)

References

{{Authority control 1972 births 20th-century American rappers 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 Gangsta rappers G-funk artists Living people Rappers from Los Angeles Record producers from California West Coast hip hop musicians