Samuel D. Anderson (born February 29, 1968), known professionally as Sam Sneed, is an American record producer and rapper. He originally got his start working as a producer for
K-Solo and the
Hit Squad
The Hit Squad is an American hip hop collective of East Coast hip hop artists. Originally formed in the 1990s by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith of the rap group EPMD, the group included rap artists such as K-Solo, Redman, Das EFX, Top ...
.
Biography
Early years
In 1993, he was signed to
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. D ...
, releasing only one single, "
U Better Recognize" featuring
Dr. Dre
Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...
in 1994. The single appeared on the ''
Murder Was the Case
''Murder Was the Case'' is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring and performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection ...
'' soundtrack, and peaked at #16 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling Dance music, dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles ...
chart, #18 on the
Hot Rap Tracks
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...
chart and #48 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart. He became well known for his
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
, "My name is Sam Sneed, you better recognize!" which he famously repeated on the intro to "Pump Pump", the eighteenth track from
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
's debut album, ''
Doggystyle
''Doggystyle'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop Doggy Dogg's appearances on Dr. Dre's ...
''. He also appeared in the Death Row movie, ''
Murder Was the Case
''Murder Was the Case'' is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring and performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection ...
''.
Sam Sneed also co-produced the hit songs "
Keep Their Heads Ringin'" and "
Natural Born Killaz" with Dr. Dre. "Natural Born Killaz" was originally supposed to be a Sam Sneed and
J-Flexx song called "The Heist"; this version, featuring a verse from Sam Sneed was released on the ''Ultimate Death Row Collection'' on November 24, 2009. He recorded an album on Death Row Records with his group ''Street Scholars'' in 1996 which included J-Flexx,
Dr.Dre ,
Mel-Man,
Bud'da, Sharief (now known as Killer Ben) & Drauma (now known as Stocks McGuire) which remains unreleased.
Sneed was diagnosed with a
brain tumor
A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
in 1999, which put a temporary halt to his career, but has since recovered and is once again an active hip hop producer. He has since produced songs for the likes of
G-Unit
G-Unit (short for Guerilla-Unit). was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released ...
,
Scarface,
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 many others, Sam went to work with Dr. Dre in 2007 again, but nothing manifested. He has since started a new company with his business partner Craig "Stretch" Mason, Nustarz Entertainment. The label features new artists managed by Sam such as The Boy Goldy, Money Ink and British rapper, producer and songwriter
Nat Powers.
Destinations Magazine
December 2011
In 2010, Death Row/WIDEawake Entertainment announced the release date of January 25, 2011 for Sam Sneed's album ''Street Scholars'', which contained four unreleased songs from Sneed's time at Death Row, along with 10 newly recorded tracks.
Discography
* ''Street Scholars'' (2011)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneed, Sam
1968 births
Living people
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American rappers
African-American male rappers
20th-century American male rappers
Rappers from Pennsylvania
African-American record producers
American hip-hop record producers
Death Row Records artists
West Coast hip-hop musicians
People from McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Record producers from Pennsylvania