Andre Adams
, better known by his stage name Andre Nickatina
, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He previously performed under the stage name Dre Dog
. [1]
|
ANDRE NICKATINA TICKETS
|
Music career
Adams released two albums under the stage name Dre Dog:
The New Jim Jones
in 1993 and
I Hate You With a Passion
in 1995.
I Hate You With a Passion
peaked at #79 on the
Billboard
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the
Billboard
Heatseekers chart. In 1998, Adams changed his then current stage name to Andre Nickatina, and released the albums
Cocaine Raps
and
Raven in My Eyes
, which were released independently under Dogday Records.
Unlike his albums released under the name Dre Dog,
Cocaine Raps
had deeper production values.
Raven in My Eyes
was noted for emphasizing "
sequencers and keyboards that buzz and whine" over live instrumentation, as reviewed by Todd S. Inoue of the news magazine
Metroactive
.
[2] That year, he founded his own record label, Fillmoe Coleman.
Nickatina explained in an interview with
Strivin
magazine that his name change was "for the better" and that he raps because he feels that he is talented enough to do so but not for the sake of popularity.
[3]
Soon afterwards, his following three albums,
Tears of a Clown
(1999),
Daiquiri Factory: Cocaine Raps, Vol. 2
and
These R the Tales
(both 2000) made him more well-known in the West Coast underground rap scene.
[4] Mosi Reeves of the
San Francisco Bay Guardian
noted Nickatina's popularity at a CD release party for another underground Bay Area rapper, Smoov-E; Reeves called Nickatina "a quick-witted rapper who spits as hard as
Kurupt does".
[5] A combo CD/movie project,
Conversation with a Devil
, followed in 2003.
Charlie Amter, a music critic for
SF Weekly
, regarded the film as a knockoff of the classic gangster movie
Scarface
.
Nate Denver for the
SF Bay Guardian
praised the album, though.
[6] Another album,
The Gift
followed in 2005, when the newspaper
SF Weekly
named Nickatina the "Best Local Hip Hop Legend" of that year. In 2008, he released
A Tale of Two Andres
with
Mac Dre. Although they released only two songs together, they were close friends and the album was a tribute to his memory.
[7]
Discography
As Dre Dog
| Year
| Title
| Chart Positions [8] [9]
|
| U.S. R&B
| U.S. Heat (Pacific)
|
| 1993
| The New Jim Jones
| —
| —
|
| 1995
| I Hate You With a Passion
| 79
| 7
|
As Andre Nickatina
| Year
| Title
| Peak chart position [10]
|
| U.S. Heat (Pacific)
|
| 1997
| Raven in My Eyes
| —
|
| 1998
| Cocaine Raps
| —
|
| 1999
| Tears of a Clown
| —
|
| 2000
| Daiquiri Factory: Cocaine Raps, Vol. 2
| —
|
| These R the Tales
| —
|
| 2001
| Unreleased
| —
|
| 2002
| Hell's Kitchen
| —
|
| 2003
| Conversation with a Devil
| 3
|
| 2004
| Bullets, Blunts In Ah Big Bankroll
| —
|
| 2005
| The Gift
| —
|
| 2007
| Booty Star: Glock Tawk
| —
|
| 2008
| Tale of 2 Andres
| —
|
Collaboration albums
- Midnight Machine Gun Rhymes and Alibis
(With Equipto) (2002)
- Horns and Halos
(With Equipto) (2005)
- Gun-Mouth 4 Hire: Horns and Halos 2
(With Equipto) (2005)
- Bullet Symphony: Horns and Halos 3
(with Equipto) (2006)
- A Tale of II Andre's
(with Mac Dre) (2006)
References
- Money, Power, Day Care
- Andre Nickatina - Raven in My Eyes
- Classic Interview - Andre Nickatina (formerly Dre Dog)
- Andre Nickatina - Biography
- Smoov-E CD-release party, with Andre Nickatina, First Degree the D.E., and Be Gee
- Local Grooves - Conversation with a Devil: Cocaine Raps No. 3 (Fillmoe Coleman)
- Best Local Hip Hop Legend (2005) - Andre Nickatina
- I Hate You with a Passion > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
- I Hate You With a Passion
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=300&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+Heatseekers+(Pa