Andres "Dres" Vargas-Titus (born March 18, 1967) is an American hip hop artist. He is known for being the lead rapper of the

alternative hip hop Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

duo

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

, before recording as a solo artist.

Career

Mista Lawnge formed Black Sheep in 1989 with Dres as the Rapper. Their first appearance together was on

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

's 1991 album ''

De La Soul Is Dead ''De La Soul Is Dead'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, released on May 13, 1991. The album was produced by Prince Paul, whose work on ''3 Feet High and Rising'' was highly praised by music critics. The album was ...

''. Dres was featured on the track "Fanatic of the B Word". Their first album, '' A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'', was released in 1991 and featured the singles "Flavor of the Month", " The Choice Is Yours", "

Strobelite Honey "Strobelite Honey" is a 1991 single by hip-hop duo, Black Sheep. The single was written by William McLean and Dres (rapper), and was the duo's third release from their A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing album. "Stobelight Honey" was the duo's second e ...

", and "Similak Child". Due to the lackluster sales of their second album, ''

Non-Fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

'', Dres and Mista Lawnge decided to take a break and started independent projects not as Black Sheep. In 1999, credited as Dres the Black Sheep, Dres released a solo album titled '' Sure Shot Redemption''. In 2000, Black Sheep reunited and recorded the EP, ''Redlight, Greenlight'', and the title track of the film ''

Once in the Life ''Once in the Life'' is a 2000 American direct-to-video crime film written, directed and starring Laurence Fishburne. He adapted the script from his own play, ''Riff Raff''. Plot Once you're in the life of Illegal drug trade, drug dealing an ...

''. In 2006, Dres released another solo album titled '' 8WM/Novakane''. In 2009, Dres released an EP titled ''From the Black Pool of Genius: the Prelude'', in preparation for his solo LP ''From the Black Pool of Genius'', which was released June 2010.

Personal life

Dres was raised in the Astoria Houses in the Astoria section of

Queens, NY Queens is the largest by area of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County to ...

, and the

Bland Houses Bland may refer to: Places Australia * Division of Bland, a former electoral division * Bland County, New South Wales * Bland Shire, a local government area in New South Wales * Bland Creek, New South Wales United States * Bland, Arkansas, an ...

(commonly known as "The Bland") in the Flushing section of Queens, NY. His family later moved to North Carolina. Dres is the father of

Honor Titus Honor Titus (born July 18, 1989) is an American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Since his first solo exhibition in 2020, he has received international recognition for his painting practice, which weaves together a surreal ...

, the singer of the punk-rock band

Cerebral Ballzy Cerebral Ballzy is an American punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. The band was formed in 2008 and released their debut, self-titled, album on 26 July 2011. The album was released in full as an online preview on the ''Revolve ...

. Dres is of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and Puerto Rican descent.

Solo discography

Albums

Featured tracks

*"Fanatic of the B Word" by

, from the 1991 album ''

''. *"Work to Do" by

Vanessa L. Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, model, producer and dancer. She gained recognition as the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She would later res ...

, from the 1991 album '' The Comfort Zone''. *"Mr. Boops" by Resident Alien, from the 1991 single "Mr. Boops". *"On the Wall" from the 1992 Trespass (soundtrack). *"Check It Out" by

Fu-Schnickens Fu-Schnickens were an American hip-hop trio from 1988 to 1995, based in Brooklyn, New York. History Fu-Schnickens was composed of Chip Fu (Roderick Roachford), Moc Fu (Joe Jones), and Pac Fu (Lennox Maturine). ''Fu'' stood for unity and ''sc ...

, from the 1992 album '' F.U. Don't Take It Personal.'' *"Let the Horns Blow" by

Chi Ali Chi-Ali Griffith (born May 27, 1976), better known by his stage name Chi-Ali, is an American rapper from The Bronx, best known for his debut album, ''The Fabulous Chi-Ali'', released in 1992, and as a member of hip-hop collective Native Tongues. ...

, from the 1992 album ''The Fabulous Chi-Ali''. *"State of Yo" by

The Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies are an English band formed in 1985, consisting of Simon Bartholomew, Andrew Levy, and Jan Kincaid. After the addition of N'Dea Davenport in 1990, the group experienced mainstream success and pioneered a new genre called a ...

, from the 1992 album '' Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1.'' *"Roll wit tha Flava" by the Flavor Unit MCs, from the 1993 album ''Roll wit tha Flava''. *"En Focus" by De La Soul, from the 1993 album ''

Buhloone Mindstate ''Buhloone Mindstate'' is the third studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul. It was released on September 21, 1993, through Tommy Boy Records, and was the group's last record to be produced with Prince Paul. Title ''Buhloone'' is a ...

''. *"Jingle Jangle" by The Legion, from their 1994 album ''Theme + Echo = Krill.'' *"React with a Mic" by

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

, from his 1994 album ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' *"We Shall Not Be Moved" by Sounds of Blackness, from the 1995 Panther (soundtrack). *"First...and Then" by

Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul ( Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted ...

, from the 2004 album ''

White People White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...

''. *"Foolin' Around" by

Rhymefest Che Armond Smith (born July 6, 1977), known professionally as Rhymefest, is an American rapper and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for his work with fellow Chicago rapper Kanye West, with writing credits on his songs includi ...

, from his 2008 mixtape ''Man in the Mirror''. *"Back on the Scene" by

Slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

, from its 2011 ''

Slaughterhouse EP ''Slaughterhouse'' is the only extended play by hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. It was released on February 8, 2011 through E1 Music.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 (in his film debut) and Ed Lover alongside Ice-T and features cameo appearan ...

'' (1993) as Malik *''

'' (2000) as Hector *"Words Up!" a

CBS Schoolbreak Special ''CBS Schoolbreak Special'' is an American anthology series for teenagers that aired on CBS from December 1978 to January 1996. The series began under the title ''CBS Afternoon Playhouse'', and was changed during the 1984–85 season A season ...

, Season 10, Episode 2 (1992) as

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

References

External links

*
Video interviewBlack Sheep official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dres African-American male actors American male film actors African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American musicians of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American rappers Five percenters Living people Tommy Boy Records artists People from Astoria, Queens Rappers from Queens, New York 1967 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians