Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University. Originally the "Town of A ...

, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo were first discovered by New York rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

and began their careers working in tandem to produce his albums '' Jealous Ones Still Envy'' (2001) and ''

Loyalty Loyalty is a Fixation (psychology), devotion to a country, philosophy, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another human being can be the obj ...

'' (2002). Two years later, they produced the hit song "

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

" by

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

, and "

Hate It or Love It "Hate It or Love It" is a song by American rapper the Game featuring fellow American rapper 50 Cent. It was released as the third single from the former's debut studio album ''The Documentary'' (2005). The song was produced by Cool & Dre with ...

" by the Game the following year, which peaked at numbers 27 and two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively. Cool & Dre were later credited on the ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums ''

Tha Carter III ''Tha Carter III'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown and Young Money Entertainment. It follows a string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop a ...

'' (2008), ''

Tha Carter IV ''Tha Carter IV'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on August 29, 2011, through Cash Money Records, Universal Republic Records and Young Money Entertainment. Recording sessions for the album began in late 2008, sho ...

'' (2011), and ''

Tha Carter V ''Tha Carter V'' is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on September 27, 2018, by Young Money Entertainment and Republic Records. The album's release date coincided with the day of Lil Wayne's 36th birthday. T ...

'' (2018) by

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

, as well as the collaborative album, ''

Everything Is Love ''Everything Is Love'' is the debut studio album by American musical superduo the Carters, consisting of spouses Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. It was released on June 16, 2018, by Parkwood Entertainment and Roc Nation. Be ...

'' (2018) by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

, which won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

History

The duo have also worked extensively with rappers the Game,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

Remy Ma Reminisce Kioni Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper and songwriter. Discovered by the late rapper Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad ...

, and

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, among others. Their credits include the former and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

's Grammy-nominated 2005 single, "

", Juvenile's "

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

", Ja Rule's "

", Fat Joe's Grammy-nominated 2016 hit, “ All the Way Up", and Lil Wayne's " On Fire". To date, their productions have sold over 75 million records worldwide.

Epidemic Records

Cool & Dre launched the record label Epidemic in 2004. Its first two artists,

Don Trip Christopher Wallace (born August 20, 1985), known professionally as Don Trip, is an American rapper. As a pioneer of the Memphis hip hop, Memphis sound, he has been releasing music since 2007. He is perhaps best known for his 2011 single, "Lette ...

and K-Rose, were both signed in early 2011. The label has signed Florida rapper Kent Jones, in a joint venture with

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

We the Best Music Group We the Best Music Group is an American record label founded by DJ Khaled in 2008. Namesake of one of Khaled's catchphrases, it has operated as an imprint of Def Jam Recordings since 2023. Previously, the label operated an imprint of Island Def Ja ...

and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, in 2015. Jones' first mixtape, ''Tours'', spawned the 2016 single " Don't Mind" which peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and sold over two million units. Thereafter, they signed other Florida-based rappers Eric Leon (from

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...

) and Tom G (from

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Artists

*Dre * Kent Jones *Tom G *Eric Leon

Production discography

Singles produced

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cool and Dre African-American record producers American hip-hop record producers Cash Money Records artists American hip-hop duos Musical duos from Florida Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups from Miami Record production duos Southern hip-hop groups American songwriting teams Singer-songwriters from Florida