Priest Joseph Brooks, (born December 8, 1972), known professionally as Soopafly is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

producer and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

from

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He is a member of the DPGC.

Early life

The oldest of three children, Brooks grew up in Long Beach. He was given a keyboard by his father after being inspired by the piano players he saw in church.

Early career

During his teenage years, Brooks met rappers

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Proving himself with his keyboard skills, Soopafly was assigned his first piece of work for

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 ...

on the soundtrack ''

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 ...

''. He played keyboards for Dr. Dre and

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

on the track " Natural Born Killaz" and for

Jodeci Jodeci ( ) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Dalvin DeGrate, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci, and K-Ci & JoJo, JoJo. Formed in 1988 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci began as a duo of DeVanté Swing and JoJo ...

on the track "Come Up To My Room", as well as his first production credit with "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit" featuring Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound. In 1995, he produced "Sooo Much Style" for

Tha Dogg Pound Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip-hop duo composed of West Coast rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were among the first acts to sign to Death Row Records in 1992. Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting in 1998; they left th ...

on their debut album "

Dogg Food ''Dogg Food'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Tha Dogg Pound, released on October 31, 1995, by Death Row Records, Interscope Records and Priority Records. The album features guest appearances from Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate D ...

". He also played the keyboards on eight other songs throughout. Then in 1996, he was featured on the soundtrack to the movie ''

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate ''A Thin Line Between Love and Hate'' is a 1996 American comedy thriller film starring and directed by Martin Lawrence in his feature film directorial debut. It tells the story of Darnell Wright (Lawrence), a ladies' man who finds himself st ...

'' on the song "I Don't Hang." A remix would later follow. Soopafly was further introduced to mainstream listeners on Snoop Dogg's second studio album ''

Tha Doggfather ''Tha Doggfather'' is the second studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was released on November 12, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records. After the success of his debut album '' Doggystyle'' (1993), Snoop was arrested and cha ...

''. He produced the songs "Freestyle Conversation" and "You Thought", appearing alongside veteran rapper

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

. Since then, he has been featured primarily on albums by local artists such as

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

, RBX, Bad Azz and

Tha Eastsidaz Tha Eastsidaz is a hip hop duo consisting of Tray Deee and Goldie Loc put together by Snoop Dogg, who often featured on their songs. Their first appearance was on Tommy Boy Records ''Ride'' soundtrack with Crooked Eye Q on a Battlecat-produce ...

. To date, he has released three solo albums.

Westurn Union

In July 2006, the rap group called Westurn Union was formed. It features Soopafly, Damani and Bad Lucc. They made their first appearance on

's album '' Tha Blue Carpet Treatment'' and released a street single titled "I Don't Think So", produced by Rick Rock. In April 2008, a mixtape was released titled ''House Shoe Musik, Vol. 1'' and was hosted by DJ Crazy Toones. After inking a deal with Koch Records and

Doggystyle Records Doggy Style Records (formerly known as Dogghouse Records) is an American record label founded by the rapper Snoop Dogg in 1995. It is named after Snoop Dogg's debut album, ''Doggystyle'' (1993). The record label started out as a subsidiary of D ...

, the official debut album Snoop Dogg Presents: Dubb Union was released on September 2, 2008. Prior to the release, the group and the labels were approached by the company

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

, threatening legal action if the name was not changed. Though there is a difference between Westurn and Western, the labels did not want to spend money dealing with a lawsuit, the name of the group was changed to

Dubb Union Dubb Union is a hip hop group featuring artists from Los Angeles and the nearby areas of Inglewood, Long Beach, and Watts. The original name of the group was Westurn Union, but was later changed to Dubb Union to avoid a lawsuit with banking ...

Discography

Studio albums *'' Dat Whoopty Woop'' (2001) *'' Bangin West Coast'' (2007) *''Best Kept Secret'' (2011)

References

{{Authority control 1972 births 20th-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers African-American record producers American hip-hop record producers Death Row Records artists Gangsta rappers G-funk artists Living people Rappers from Los Angeles Record producers from California West Coast hip-hop musicians