On November 1, 2004, Hicks Was Killed By An Unknown Assailant After A Performance In Kansas City, Missouri, A Case That Remains Unsolved. ...

Andre Louis Hicks was born in Oakland, California on July 5, 1970, to Allen Hicks and Wanda Salvatto. They then lived in Marin and later moved to Vallejo, California. He would often frequent and claim the Country Club Crest neighborhood, known locally as The Crest, despite never having lived there himself. In 1989, the outgoing Hicks made waves with a cassette tape featuring the single, "Too Hard for the F—in' Radio" while still a student at Vallejo's Hogan High School. In 2013, NPR noted his sound as being "fast and confident" further writing that "he built upon the bouncy bass that had its roots in the funk era."[6] When asked about his childhood, Hicks stated that "Situations came out for the better most of them, I went through the little trials and the shit that I went through."[7] Hicks first adopted the stage name MC Dre in 1984, but altered it to Mac Dre the following year because he considered that the name sounded "too East Coast-ish".[8] Hicks recorded his first three extended play (EP) recordings as Mac Dre between 1988 and 1992.[9]

In 1992, Mac Dre recorded Back n da Hood over the phone while incarcerated in Fresno County Jail and Lompoc Prison. In 2024, Rolling Stone Australia/New Zealand stated, "The audacity of someone making records while incarcerated made national headlines and burnished the Mac Dre legend." While incarcerated, Mac Dre’s debut LP Young Black Brotha was released in 1993; produced by Khayree, it became his most commercially successful project and solidified his presence within Bay Area rap.

After his release from Lompoc Prison in 1996, Mac Dre started Romp Records which served as a platform for Mac Dre and other Bay Area artists to release music, The label also released compilations like Mac Dre Presents the Rompalation.[10]

Mac Dre’s first solo album after his release from prison, Stupid Doo Doo Dumb, was released on April 28, 1998, and debuted at No.18 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[11] He then followed it with Rapper Gone Bad in 1999, which was the final album released on Romp Records.

Mac Dre moved to the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento in 1998 in attempt to distance himself from Vallejo law enforcement. There, he founded his independent label Thizz Entertainment, which is currently managed by his mother Wanda Salvatto.[12] In the early 2000s, Dre's change in sound became influential in the hyphy movement.[12]