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Rapper Mac Dre slain in Kansas City
Rapper Mac Dre slain in Kansas City
There had been rumors of his death -- but he was killed in a freeway shooting
There had been rumors of his death -- but he was killed in a freeway shooting
VALLEJO
Rapper Mac Dre slain in Kansas City
There had been rumors of his death -- but he was killed in a freeway shooting
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
When Wanda Salvatto heard Monday that her son was dead, she didn't trust the news. After all, Andre Hicks -- better known as Vallejo rapper Mac Dre -- had been slain three times before, according to rumors.
But at 4 p.m., Salvatto learned the latest buzz was true: Hicks, 34, was gunned down early Monday in a freeway shooting in Kansas City, Mo., where he was performing at a concert, police there said.
No motive was immediately revealed, but Hicks' death -- like his life -- seemed to befit his lyrics, as well as the rumor-filled lore of hard-core rap and the history of Vallejo's vaunted hip-hop scene. "V-Town" produced stars like E-40, Young KYOZ, Mac Mall and Coolio Da Unda Dog, but its music scene also has been linked to, and touched by, violence.
Police say Hicks was once part of Vallejo's northside Romper Room Gang, which was suspected of committing a series of bank robberies and pizza parlor stickups in the early 1990s. When his career was interrupted by a five-year prison stint for conspiring to rob a bank in Fresno, Hicks released a single he recorded on a jailhouse phone, taunting the police officers who put him behind bars.
But Salvatto said her son's story had changed after his 1996 release. He recorded album after album -- more than 20 in all -- and recently broke through on hip-hop radio stations, including KMEL, which Monday mourned Hicks by playing his tunes and airing pained calls from fans.
Hicks moved from Vallejo to Sacramento for a "fresh start" about four years ago, his mother said. He started a record label, Thizz Entertainment, and dreamed of hiring and mentoring teenagers he could steer away from the trouble he knew so well. His albums -- like this year's "Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics" -- began mining political themes.
"He wouldn't want his legacy to be that," Salvatto said of her son's legal problems. "He got through that and had been living a healthy, clean life. ... He started in the streets, and he got himself out."
"The part that hurts the most," she said, was that Hicks was killed after years of trying to reclaim his career after prison. "He was about to blow up again. It took him to this point to catch up. But he was determined."
Kansas City police officer Darin Snapp said investigators weren't sure who had killed Hicks or why. At 3:30 a.m. Monday, Hicks was the passenger in a white van heading north on Highway 71 through Kansas City when someone in a second vehicle opened fire.
"The driver said he heard shots and started ducking," Snapp said.
The van swerved across a grass median and four southbound lanes, then crashed into a ditch. The driver ran down the highway to a store to call 911, Snapp said. Paramedics found Hicks dead from a gunshot wound.
Snapp said investigators were looking into Hicks' performance schedule to find out whether he could have met his killer there. Bay Area rappers are popular in Kansas City and often perform there.
Hicks was a successful rapper while he was still in high school. He first found the radio airwaves with a song titled, ironically, "Too Hard for the Radio." It spoke of Vallejo's "Romper Room kickin' on Leonard Street/Mac Dre full of the Hennessy."
He soon lost his friend and fellow rapper Michael Robinson -- a.k.a. The Mac -- who was shot dead in Vallejo while sitting in his car with his pregnant girlfriend. Hicks' most recent album pays tribute to Robinson.
Hicks is "one of the pioneers of Bay Area rap and one of the guys who put Vallejo on the map," said Ryan Miller of Alameda, who operates rapbay.com, an online music seller that received a flurry of interest in Mac Dre on Monday.
Hicks made bigger news in 1992 when Vallejo police caught him preparing to rob a Fresno bank with two friends. Hicks had recorded a song called "Punk Police" that included rhymes like, "Man, can't even find who's been robbin' you blind."
Claiming he was not guilty, Hicks released "Back N da Hood," which he said he had recorded from a Fresno jail. He rapped, "Detective Nichelman I'd like to thank you/You put me on the news and tried to spread the lie/Then record sales jumped to an all-time high."
Vallejo police Lt. Richard Nichelman said Monday that Hicks had a long criminal history but that he was saddened to hear of his death. "It's a shame another young guy lost his life," he said. "I hope he was on the right track."
E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa [at] sfchronicle.com.
Rapper Mac Dre slain in Kansas City
There had been rumors of his death -- but he was killed in a freeway shooting
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
When Wanda Salvatto heard Monday that her son was dead, she didn't trust the news. After all, Andre Hicks -- better known as Vallejo rapper Mac Dre -- had been slain three times before, according to rumors.
But at 4 p.m., Salvatto learned the latest buzz was true: Hicks, 34, was gunned down early Monday in a freeway shooting in Kansas City, Mo., where he was performing at a concert, police there said.
No motive was immediately revealed, but Hicks' death -- like his life -- seemed to befit his lyrics, as well as the rumor-filled lore of hard-core rap and the history of Vallejo's vaunted hip-hop scene. "V-Town" produced stars like E-40, Young KYOZ, Mac Mall and Coolio Da Unda Dog, but its music scene also has been linked to, and touched by, violence.
Police say Hicks was once part of Vallejo's northside Romper Room Gang, which was suspected of committing a series of bank robberies and pizza parlor stickups in the early 1990s. When his career was interrupted by a five-year prison stint for conspiring to rob a bank in Fresno, Hicks released a single he recorded on a jailhouse phone, taunting the police officers who put him behind bars.
But Salvatto said her son's story had changed after his 1996 release. He recorded album after album -- more than 20 in all -- and recently broke through on hip-hop radio stations, including KMEL, which Monday mourned Hicks by playing his tunes and airing pained calls from fans.
Hicks moved from Vallejo to Sacramento for a "fresh start" about four years ago, his mother said. He started a record label, Thizz Entertainment, and dreamed of hiring and mentoring teenagers he could steer away from the trouble he knew so well. His albums -- like this year's "Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics" -- began mining political themes.
"He wouldn't want his legacy to be that," Salvatto said of her son's legal problems. "He got through that and had been living a healthy, clean life. ... He started in the streets, and he got himself out."
"The part that hurts the most," she said, was that Hicks was killed after years of trying to reclaim his career after prison. "He was about to blow up again. It took him to this point to catch up. But he was determined."
Kansas City police officer Darin Snapp said investigators weren't sure who had killed Hicks or why. At 3:30 a.m. Monday, Hicks was the passenger in a white van heading north on Highway 71 through Kansas City when someone in a second vehicle opened fire.
"The driver said he heard shots and started ducking," Snapp said.
The van swerved across a grass median and four southbound lanes, then crashed into a ditch. The driver ran down the highway to a store to call 911, Snapp said. Paramedics found Hicks dead from a gunshot wound.
Snapp said investigators were looking into Hicks' performance schedule to find out whether he could have met his killer there. Bay Area rappers are popular in Kansas City and often perform there.
Hicks was a successful rapper while he was still in high school. He first found the radio airwaves with a song titled, ironically, "Too Hard for the Radio." It spoke of Vallejo's "Romper Room kickin' on Leonard Street/Mac Dre full of the Hennessy."
He soon lost his friend and fellow rapper Michael Robinson -- a.k.a. The Mac -- who was shot dead in Vallejo while sitting in his car with his pregnant girlfriend. Hicks' most recent album pays tribute to Robinson.
Hicks is "one of the pioneers of Bay Area rap and one of the guys who put Vallejo on the map," said Ryan Miller of Alameda, who operates rapbay.com, an online music seller that received a flurry of interest in Mac Dre on Monday.
Hicks made bigger news in 1992 when Vallejo police caught him preparing to rob a Fresno bank with two friends. Hicks had recorded a song called "Punk Police" that included rhymes like, "Man, can't even find who's been robbin' you blind."
Claiming he was not guilty, Hicks released "Back N da Hood," which he said he had recorded from a Fresno jail. He rapped, "Detective Nichelman I'd like to thank you/You put me on the news and tried to spread the lie/Then record sales jumped to an all-time high."
Vallejo police Lt. Richard Nichelman said Monday that Hicks had a long criminal history but that he was saddened to hear of his death. "It's a shame another young guy lost his life," he said. "I hope he was on the right track."
E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa [at] sfchronicle.com.
For more information:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...
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Bay Area Rap Pioneer Mac Dre Killed in Kansas City Folks in the Bay are just getting news of this.. How sad.. Mac was a pioneer who's history is deep.. we'll update you more information as we get it....
For those unfamiliar with Mac Dre Here's a couple of articles to peep...
http://www.daveyd.com/whyrapispowerart.html
Latest update.. the passanger in the car who is now in intensive care was Bay Area rapper Dubee. Both Dre and Dubee hailed from the city of Vallejo..
California rapper killed on U.S. 71
By CHRISTINE VENDEL and JOHN SHULTZ The Kansas City Star
A Bay Area underground rap mainstay who was in Kansas City for a weekend concert was gunned down early Monday as he rode in a van on U.S. 71.
Andre Hicks, 34, better known as Mac Dre, was on the card at a Kansas City, Kan., rap concert Friday night and had stayed the weekend at a hotel on the Country Club Plaza. Police said Hicks lived in Sacramento, but he originally was from Vallejo, Calif.
He was riding with a friend early Monday when the shooting happened.
The two were in a white van northbound on U.S. 71 from 85th Street about 3:30 a.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside the driver's side of the van. An occupant of the other vehicle began shooting. That car also bumped into the van.
The van then swerved across the grassy highway median, across the southbound lanes and down a steep embankment. Hicks, who was ejected from the van, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Hicks died from injuries from the shooting.
The driver crawled from the wreckage and walked for help.
Homicide Capt. Vince Cannon said police do not think the shooting stemmed from road rage, but they still were trying to determine a motive. Cannon said police had not heard of the victim getting into an argument or disagreement with anyone.
During his career, Hicks had recorded more than a dozen albums, with the first released in 1989.
But his career quickly took a serious detour.
Police said Hicks and several associates were part of Vallejo's Romper Room Gang, suspected in a prolific string of bank and business robberies.
A wide-ranging investigation of the gang led to numerous state and federal indictments. Hicks was charged in federal court with conspiracy to commit bank robbery after police, acting on a tip, arrested him and others as they were preparing to rob a bank.
“We were on his tail for a long time,” Vallejo police Lt. Rick Nichelman said.
While the robbery spree continued, Hicks recorded raps mocking and criticizing law enforcement, in some cases slamming officers — including Nichelman, who was a lead investigator on the case — by name.
In a song titled “Back N Da Hood,” Hicks rapped about how the detective had increased Hicks' record sales. Nichelman said the lyrics reportedly were recorded over the phone while Hicks was in jail awaiting sentencing.
Hicks was released from prison in 1996.
Police want anyone with information to call the Tips hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (8477).
Bay Area rap acts have a solid following in the Kansas City area, and the rappers schedule frequent gigs here.
This is the second time this year that a California rap artist was fatally shot in Kansas City, police said.
Rapper Ramone C. Davis, 31, of San Diego, died March 22 when a man tried to rob him of 10 pounds of marijuana, police said. A 27-year-old Kansas City man was charged in the case.
According to court records in that case, witnesses said Davis and another man went to a house in the 4600 block of Tracy Avenue to sell marijuana to two other men. One of the buyers decided to rob the sellers and pulled a handgun during the transaction.
A suspect was arrested three days after the killing, and police said he had a watch belonging to Davis in his pocket.
Last October, rappers, including at least one thought to be a Bay Area performer, were shot at while they were driving from radio station KKFI in Westport after an interview.
Two gunmen in a pickup truck shot at the group's vehicle as it traveled south on Main Street. One artist, a 22-year-old man, was wounded.
Kansas City homicide detectives investigating the Hicks case could not be reached Monday evening.
To reach Christine Vendel,
police reporter, call
(816) 234-4438 or send
e-mail to cvendel [at] kcstar.com.
--------------------------------------
KCTV5's Cynne' Simpson reported live from U.S. Highway 71 near 75th Street.
Authorities still had the southbound lanes of the highway closed just before 9 a.m. while firefighters used a ladder and harnesses to try and get a closer look at the crashed vehicle at the bottom of a steep hill.
Police gave the following account of the incident.
Just after 3:30 a.m., a white van was northbound on the highway. Another vehicle pulled up to the driver's side of the van and started shooting and ramming the van. The van swerved across a median and into the southbound lanes of traffic, slid down the steep hill and crashed into some brush, Cynne' reported.
The passenger died. The driver managed to climb out of the wreckage and get help, Cynne' said.
For those unfamiliar with Mac Dre Here's a couple of articles to peep...
http://www.daveyd.com/whyrapispowerart.html
Latest update.. the passanger in the car who is now in intensive care was Bay Area rapper Dubee. Both Dre and Dubee hailed from the city of Vallejo..
California rapper killed on U.S. 71
By CHRISTINE VENDEL and JOHN SHULTZ The Kansas City Star
A Bay Area underground rap mainstay who was in Kansas City for a weekend concert was gunned down early Monday as he rode in a van on U.S. 71.
Andre Hicks, 34, better known as Mac Dre, was on the card at a Kansas City, Kan., rap concert Friday night and had stayed the weekend at a hotel on the Country Club Plaza. Police said Hicks lived in Sacramento, but he originally was from Vallejo, Calif.
He was riding with a friend early Monday when the shooting happened.
The two were in a white van northbound on U.S. 71 from 85th Street about 3:30 a.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside the driver's side of the van. An occupant of the other vehicle began shooting. That car also bumped into the van.
The van then swerved across the grassy highway median, across the southbound lanes and down a steep embankment. Hicks, who was ejected from the van, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Hicks died from injuries from the shooting.
The driver crawled from the wreckage and walked for help.
Homicide Capt. Vince Cannon said police do not think the shooting stemmed from road rage, but they still were trying to determine a motive. Cannon said police had not heard of the victim getting into an argument or disagreement with anyone.
During his career, Hicks had recorded more than a dozen albums, with the first released in 1989.
But his career quickly took a serious detour.
Police said Hicks and several associates were part of Vallejo's Romper Room Gang, suspected in a prolific string of bank and business robberies.
A wide-ranging investigation of the gang led to numerous state and federal indictments. Hicks was charged in federal court with conspiracy to commit bank robbery after police, acting on a tip, arrested him and others as they were preparing to rob a bank.
“We were on his tail for a long time,” Vallejo police Lt. Rick Nichelman said.
While the robbery spree continued, Hicks recorded raps mocking and criticizing law enforcement, in some cases slamming officers — including Nichelman, who was a lead investigator on the case — by name.
In a song titled “Back N Da Hood,” Hicks rapped about how the detective had increased Hicks' record sales. Nichelman said the lyrics reportedly were recorded over the phone while Hicks was in jail awaiting sentencing.
Hicks was released from prison in 1996.
Police want anyone with information to call the Tips hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (8477).
Bay Area rap acts have a solid following in the Kansas City area, and the rappers schedule frequent gigs here.
This is the second time this year that a California rap artist was fatally shot in Kansas City, police said.
Rapper Ramone C. Davis, 31, of San Diego, died March 22 when a man tried to rob him of 10 pounds of marijuana, police said. A 27-year-old Kansas City man was charged in the case.
According to court records in that case, witnesses said Davis and another man went to a house in the 4600 block of Tracy Avenue to sell marijuana to two other men. One of the buyers decided to rob the sellers and pulled a handgun during the transaction.
A suspect was arrested three days after the killing, and police said he had a watch belonging to Davis in his pocket.
Last October, rappers, including at least one thought to be a Bay Area performer, were shot at while they were driving from radio station KKFI in Westport after an interview.
Two gunmen in a pickup truck shot at the group's vehicle as it traveled south on Main Street. One artist, a 22-year-old man, was wounded.
Kansas City homicide detectives investigating the Hicks case could not be reached Monday evening.
To reach Christine Vendel,
police reporter, call
(816) 234-4438 or send
e-mail to cvendel [at] kcstar.com.
--------------------------------------
KCTV5's Cynne' Simpson reported live from U.S. Highway 71 near 75th Street.
Authorities still had the southbound lanes of the highway closed just before 9 a.m. while firefighters used a ladder and harnesses to try and get a closer look at the crashed vehicle at the bottom of a steep hill.
Police gave the following account of the incident.
Just after 3:30 a.m., a white van was northbound on the highway. Another vehicle pulled up to the driver's side of the van and started shooting and ramming the van. The van swerved across a median and into the southbound lanes of traffic, slid down the steep hill and crashed into some brush, Cynne' reported.
The passenger died. The driver managed to climb out of the wreckage and get help, Cynne' said.
For more information:
http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefr...
This goes out to Mac dre he was a hard core rapper who had a hard up bringing. Mac Dre was just trying to get his head on straight then sombody comes around and fucks it up so FUCK WHO EVER KILLED HIM.
Can Britney, Christina and J. Lo be far behind?
They're still trying to confuse you about even so petty a thing as who wrote what? What fools they must take you for. It's sad, really. But, oh well. What else can you expect from such notorious liars?
I THINK ITS SAD WHAT HAPPEN AND THAT THE KILLING WAS WRONG AND THAT I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BRAME KC BECAUSE OF IT CAUSE IT WAS NOT ARE FOUT IT COD OF BEEN A BAY RAPPER BUT I THINK THE BAY SHOULD NOT BLAME KC YOU KNOW WE LOVE YOUL BAY RAPPERS BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY IAM SORRY AND I SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPEN BECAUSE WE LOST A RAPPER AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE FAT TONE WOULD NOT FOR GET HIM I KNOW I WOULD MISS HIM. R.I.P. FAT TONE AND R.I.P. MAC DRE
Man.. I knew both Dre & Ramone. That was a major loss to the California rap game. K.C., Vallejo & San Diego all have deep rooted hood histories, and all three were connected through their music. That connection could have grown into a beautiful thing. It would of been unstoppable. But the fools that can't grow past the bullshit mentality always end up ruining it for everybody else, including themselves. It's especially hard when you hustle more than the haters, cause the fakers always hate the creators, and petty ass takers will never learn to be makers. It's a vicious circle.
And while we're out here fighting and killing each over a petty cash & weed, Big-Pharma CEO's are making 90,000 to 400,000 a day, with bonuses & golden parachutes, not a day of jail time. And to change things would require a real revolution, which we can't have if all the real soldiers dead & gone.. So I guess were just forever stuck.
RIP to all the fallen.... those who can't get their shit together will see you soon. make room homies!
And while we're out here fighting and killing each over a petty cash & weed, Big-Pharma CEO's are making 90,000 to 400,000 a day, with bonuses & golden parachutes, not a day of jail time. And to change things would require a real revolution, which we can't have if all the real soldiers dead & gone.. So I guess were just forever stuck.
RIP to all the fallen.... those who can't get their shit together will see you soon. make room homies!
BABY MIC LOC WAS A REAL RIDAH NIGGA DAYGO R40NHC IF IT AINT RICH IT AINT ROLLIN CUHZZ 2 FINGAZ N THUMB
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