André "Doctor Dré" Brown (born December 5, 1963) is an American rapper,

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

and former

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

VJ.

Early life

André Brown was born and raised in

Westbury, New York The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census. History The firs ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

Career

In the early 1980s, Doctor Dré was a DJ at

WBAU WBAU (90.3 FM) was the call sign of the student-operated radio station located at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, east of Midtown Manhattan. The new web-based radio station iPAWS Web Radio. History WBAU was located at 90.3 on th ...

, the radio station of

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher edu ...

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

. With three other DJs at the station, he formed the "Concept Crew", which began to create its own music. In 1986, they renamed themselves

Original Concept Original Concept was an American 1980s hip-hop group from Long Island, New York, best known for their single "Can You Feel It". They only made one album and it was notable for the absence of lyrics on many of the tracks. The group are perhaps ...

, a hip-hop group that released one album on

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

, ''Straight from the Basement of Kooley High'' in 1988, featuring the track was "Pump that Bass." In a 2018 interview, Doctor Dré described his early college work: From 1989 to 1995, Doctor Dré and

Ed Lover James Roberts (born February 12, 1963), better known as Ed Lover, is an American rapper, actor, musician, radio personality, and former MTV VJ. He hosted "The Ed Lover Show" on SiriusXM's old-school hip hop station BackSpin. As of April 12 ...

were the co-hosts of MTV's hip hop music program ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Doug ...

''. Dré teamed up with Lover in the early 1990s to co-host a morning radio show during the re-launch of radio station Hot 97 (

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared servi ...

) in New York City. The duo starred in the 1993 film ''

Who's the Man? ''Who's the Man?'' is a 1993 thriller buddy comedy film directed by Ted Demme in his feature film directing debut. The film stars '' Yo! MTV Raps'' hosts Doctor Dré and Ed Lover as its two main protagonists and features cameo appearances fro ...

'', directed by ''Yo! MTV Raps'' co-creator and co-director Ted Demme. Dré and Ed Lover also recorded an album in 1994 titled ''Back up off Me!'' that was released on

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his company, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metro New York. Relativity released music that covers a wide variety of musical genres. When it entered in ...

. Dré also served as a DJ for the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...

. Dré had his own urban clothing line called Bigga Stuff in the early 1990s, but it was never widely distributed. Dré and Ed Lover participated in the 2003 Comedy Central Roast of their ''Who's the Man?'' co-star, comedian

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...

Guest appearances on TV

He guest-starred on ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'' in the episode "Ill Will" as a figment of

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

's nightmare of bad doctors. He also appeared on an episode of ''

The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality sty ...

'' with Judge Marilyn Milian as a witness for a talent director suing former colleagues of his. They won US$1,500, the full amount requested for the gig deposit. He appeared as a guest on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

's '' The Beat with Ari Melber'' on June 1, 2018 along with ''Yo! MTV Raps'' co-host Ed Lover. During their segment they promoted the re-boot of the show.

Personal life

Doctor Dré suffers from

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...

. He had lost his vision in October 2019 and his leg in 2020 due to complications with the disease. He is married to Brigide Brown. He has two children, son Arahmus and daughter Angelique.

Discography

References

External links

* 1963 births People from Westbury, New York People from Long Island Living people African-American male actors African-American television personalities American male film actors American radio personalities Beastie Boys members VJs (media personalities) Relativity Records artists American television personalities American amputees {{US-tv-bio-stub