Andre DeSean Wicker (born April 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Dresta (sometimes Gangsta Dresta), is an American rapper. He is best known for collaborating with

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...

on the 1993 single "

Real Muthaphuckkin G's "Real Muthaphuckkin G's," or "Real Compton City G's" in its radio edit, is a song released in August 1993 by American rapper Eazy-E with guest rappers Gangsta Dresta and BG Knocc Out. Peaking at #42 on ''Billboards Hot 100, and the most su ...

". He is the older brother of rapper B.G. Knocc Out, who is also featured on the song. Together, they released their only studio album ''

Real Brothas ''Real Brothas'' is the debut album of rappers B.G. Knocc Out and Dresta, released in 1995. The album includes the minor hits "D.P.G./K", "Jealousy" and the Eazy-E-dedicated song " 50/50 Luv". "D.P.G./K" was a diss track towards Death Row artists ...

'', in August 1995, which peaked at #128 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 1996, the pair appeared on the remixed version of the

South Central Cartel South Central Cartel is an American West Coast hip hop/gangsta rap group based in Los Angeles, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a to ...

song, "Knock on Wood".

Early life

Andre Wicker was born and raised in Nutty Blocc in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

.BG Knocc Out & Dresta
''Rap Pages''. Retrieved on 2009-07-27 He and his brother Arlandis Hinton, also known as B.G. Knocc Out, became Nutty Blocc Compton

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

.Interview: West Coast Legend Dre'sta!
(HTML) Raptalk.net. Retrieved on 2008-10-19 He was convicted of

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

ing another gang member in Compton in 1988, and was incarcerated at the

California Youth Authority The California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), previously known as the California Youth Authority (CYA), is a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that provides education, training, and treatment services fo ...

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

until 1993.

Music career

While Dresta was serving his five-year sentence, he started writing lyrics and rapping, gaining some notoriety. Within months of Dresta's release, he and B.G. Knocc Out signed to

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the la ...

and made their debut on Eazy's 1993 multi-platinum EP '' It's On (~~Dr. Dre~~) 187^um Killa'' on the single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" (which was censored to "Real Compton City G's" in order to garner

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 ...

and radio airplay).B.G. Knocc Out Interview
(HTML) Dubcnn. Retrieved on 2008-10-12 The song itself was a response to

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 w ...

and

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, " ...

's various 'diss' records towards Eazy-E on Dr. Dre's debut album, ''

The Chronic ''The Chronic'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records and distributed by Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place in ...

''. In 1995, Dresta and B.G. Knocc Out released their debut studio album ''

'', which remains their only album to date. At the end of the same year, they made three guest appearances in Eazy-E's posthumous album ''

Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton ''Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton'' is the second and final studio album by American hip hop recording artist Eazy-E. It was released posthumously by Ruthless Records and Relativity Records on January 30, 1996, ten months after Eazy- ...

''. After B.G. Knocc Out's incarceration in 1998, Dresta worked with

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 ...

and appeared on two tracks from Death Row's ''

Too Gangsta for Radio ''Too Gangsta for Radio'' is a compilation album by Death Row Records, released on September 26, 2000. Production was handled by Cold 187um, Break Bread Productions, Kenny McCloud, Myrion, Quincy Jones III, VMF, Ant Banks, Big Hollis, Blaqthoven, ...

'' compilation, but never actually signed to the record label. Dresta stated in an interview that he is currently working on ''Dirty West''

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

series and on upcoming solo album, hinting possibility of ''Real Brothas'' to get re-released. Dresta also wrote a song for Dr. Dre's album ''

Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

'', but Dre didn't want to collaborate with him. He criticized Dr. Dre for surrounding himself with mediocre artists and the numerous delays of his ''Detox'' album.

Personal life

1994 shooting

On January 14, 1994, Tyrone Thomas (also known as Tony Bogard), Andre Wicker and Rodney Compton were involved in a gang confrontation in

Imperial Courts Imperial Courts is a public housing project located in Watts, Los Angeles, California. It is located at 11541 Croesus Avenue on Imperial Highway, between Grape Street and Mona Boulevard, near I-105 Freeway. The federally subsidized project of ...

housing projects. Thomas and Compton were former PeeJay Watts Crips and Thomas had helped to organize a truce between Crips and Bloods in

Watts, Los Angeles Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated co ...

in 1992. At around 6:30 p.m., a shooting began in a parking lot in the 2200 block of East 114th Street. 25 shots were fired, six of which hit Thomas, who was said to be the prime target of the shooting. According to witnesses, Thomas was carrying a pistol and he shot back at the assailants, possibly wounding two of them. Thomas and Wicker were subsequently hospitalized in

Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center The Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center, formerly known as Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center, Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center (King/Drew), and later Martin Luther King Jr.–Harbor Hospital (MLK–Harbor ...

, where Thomas was pronounced dead. Wicker was in critical condition while arriving to the hospital, but received a surgery for a gunshot to his left arm and was released the same week. Compton was wounded in the arm and treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. He was later charged with the murder of Thomas, but was released from jail after pleading

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant ne ...

to one count of

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they canno ...

on May 31, 1994. Wicker was sentenced to one year probation under terms of a plea bargain.

Discography

Collaboration albums

*''

'' with B.G. Knocc Out (1995)

Guest appearances

References

External links

Discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

2008 interview
of Dresta {{Authority control 1971 births Living people African-American male rappers American people convicted of assault American shooting survivors Crips Def Jam Recordings artists G-funk artists Gangsta rappers Musicians from Compton, California Rappers from Los Angeles Ruthless Records artists Underground rappers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people