Rapper the Game on Thursday released a song in honor of Nate Dogg, who died two days ago following complications from multiple strokes.
The song, “All Doggs Go to Heaven (R.I.P. Nate Dogg),” chronicles the rapper’s friendship with Nate Dogg, according to MTV News. It also includes a sample of Nate Dogg’s catch phrase “Hold up!” from Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode.”
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Nate Dogg came up alongside Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, both close friends and frequent collaborators, and made his debut on Dre’s seminal 1992 album The Chronic. As a producer and rapper, he took part in one of the biggest hip-hop singles of the 1990s, “Regulate” with Warren G. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1994.
Nate (real name: Nathaniel D. Hale) suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralyzed and another the following year.
Still, Rod McGrew, his close friend and manager, told TMZ the death was unexpected and that the four-time Grammy nominee — who rose to fame in the ’90s with the Warren G track “Regulate” — had been making significant progress in his recovery. McGrew said Nate had gotten his memory back and was fully alert and aware up until his death.
Hours after his death, several members of the hip-hop community took to Twitter to pay tribute.
He was 41.
