Rollin' with Dre Rollin' with Dre Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account the Unauthorized Account the Unauthorized Account

by Bruce Williams, Donnell Alexander

"I'm about to blow the top off of everything I saw," writes Bruce Williams, the long-time best friend and right-hand man to Dr. Dre, and a prime mover at Aftermath, one of the most successful start-up labels in music history. In Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account, Williams, owner of a sports bar in downtown Los Angeles, gives us an unprecedented inside look at-and the up-and-down story of-two decades of hip-hop culture and "The Life."
As Dre's confidant and the problem-solver to a stable of artists and others who came to know him as "Uncle Bruce," Williams was either there when the action went down or close enough to feel the hollowpoints whiz by: Dre perfecting the gangsta era's signature sound displayed on his highly influential album The Chronic and its Snoop Dogg-helmed follow-up, Doggystyle; getting out from under Death Row Records, the label Dre co-founded with impresario Suge Knight; launching the careers of Eminem, 50 Cent, and The Game.
Williams lays it out in black and white, from dish on Tupac Shakur's chaotic rise and fall to the deadly feud between Tha Row (formerly Death Row Records) and East Coast MCs and bigshots, from Suge's legal battles to Dre’s reconciliation with Eazy-E before E’s untimely demise from AIDS, from the hard-won "overnight" successes of Snoop and Eminem to what it was like rollin' with giants and legends-in-the-making-and living the life (and bearing the burdens) as a bona-fide master of the game.
Williams takes us on a wild ride, showing us the never-before-seen side of the infamous West Coast scene. With one foot firmly planted in the Hollywood establishment and the other in the sex-and-violence-drenched netherworld of the hip-hop music industry, Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account, is the impossible-to-put-down story of music icons and the culture that created the soundtrack of a restless generation.

"From the Hardcover edition."

Genres: Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Steve Rabideau · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a fan of West Coast hip hop, specifically NWA, Dr. Dre, Death Row Records and Aftermath Records and already know a fair share of the history and background of all of those, then at 164 pages this book is a quick read and worth it for some of the insight and some of the stories. But if you don't know anything about those artists and labels, do not use this book as an introduction. As mean as it may be to say, people are reading this book to find out about Dr. Dre and his history, not the author, and at times he is forgetting that fact. There are quite a few interesting stories but the author spends too much time talking about himself and his insights, and ultimately outside of his friends and family no one probably cares to hear it. Worth the read for a hard core fan, but for the casual fan, unless someone lends it to you, I'd probably avoid it.

[Nathan Rabin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spectacularly unedifying

[Adam Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought it was interesting to learn all about the hip hop industry and the nice awesome rappers

[That kidd' DIEGO · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollin' with Dre is a book about Bruce Williams and his adventures with Dr.DRE. Bruce is Dres right hand man , he was hired to help Dre and be his body guard. Dre was the least violent rapper of death row but he did walk into some scary situation that Bruce has helped him out of. Bruce's has saved Suge Knight and Dr.Dre from being shot at club by knocking the gun out of the guys hand. Bruce was even asked to be Dr.DRE's man of honor and Bruce did the same. DRE and Bruce were best friends and to think they became friends but Bruce's one night stand.
I think this book is a really mind blowing novel because we listen to their music but we never really understand what these ex gang bangers really lived like. Dr.Dre , Tupac , million man march were very successful MC's and we see how by Bruces point of view. In this novel we see a mixture of a small country boy and big city johovahs witness boy who successfully made it through college and ex army soldier turn into a big time rappers body guard. This book changed my vision on gangsta rap and showed me what it was really like to be a rapper I the early 90's. Bruce was a witness of one of the greatest rappers to touch the mic make hit singles and one of the most successful albums :The Chronic . Rollin' wit Dre is a great books about the various experience of the rapping scenes behind the camera's. I recommend this book to any Death Row fans or DR.DRE and any rapper from the west coast fan because I garnentee this will change your perspective of a west coast rap scene.

[Jason Gusman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked parts of the book. But there were too many parts I didn't like. Too many holes in the story. Almost as if someone approached Bruce Williams with a bag of cash and a quick idea. When I read this type of book, it is to get inside scoop. No matter how much you want disguise the inside scoop, it entails the stereotypes of name drops, sexual exploits, addictive issues, and general strife. Even if Bruce's accounts were ultimately refuted by people like Dre, Suge, Snoop, etc. we should be able to read about them. In the end, I already knew everything in this book except what stories Bruce wrote about himself. In all honesty, the name of the book has Dre in it for a reason. It is called 'An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop for a reason. Bruce Williams does not fall into these. Had he shared more of the unedited things he witnessed I wouldn't mind reading about his upbringing, Vivian, or his sports bar by Staples. But now that I finished the book and the meat of the story never showed up, I feel slighted that I had to read about Bruce's life as much as I did. Take the Death Row hyperbole out of the title and my life may have more excitement in it and would probably sell more than Bruce's.

[Angel Garcia]

Page 12

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

This the most poorly written book I have ever read. I truly wonder who the target demographic is for this book.

I would give this negative stars if i could. A true waste of paper.