Madd Dogg


 * Not to be confused with Dogg, a biker from The Lost and Damned.

Madd Dogg is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Description
Madd Dogg is a rich and famous gangsta rapper from Los Santos. His name is similar to the famous, real life rapper, Snoop Dogg, and the late G-funk/R&B singer and rapper Nate Dogg. He is based on Ice-T, (who voiced the character) as well as Dr. Dre and Ice Cube of N.W.A. (whose music make up over half the Radio Los Santos soundtrack). He was romantically involved with female rapper and R&B musician, Rochell'le.

Early Life
Madd Dogg was born and raised in Idlewood and grew up in the crime-ridden Crystal Gardens housing project. Madd Dogg started rapping at a young age and got his big break when he performed at the Los Santos Forum in 1988. Jimmy Silverman Whitnessed the performence and signed Madd Dogg to Blastin' Fools Records. Alan Crawford Madd Dogg's Childhood Friend became his manger and the both began working on his debut album.

Breakthrough (1989-1991)
Forgotten Legends explains that Madd Dogg first gained extreme popularity as a rapper, without any full albums, in the late 1980's. He quickly earned enough money to buy his trademark mansion, pictured on his first two albums.

In 1990, he released his debut album Hustlin' Like Gangstaz (parody of Above The Law's Livin Like Hustlers, produced by Dr. Dre and featured on Radio Los Santos) and Still Madd (parody of Ice-T's OG: Original Gangster, complete with a song "2:30 in the Afternoon" to parody "6 in the Morning").

During 1990, he also began a relationship with Rochell'le, a bubbly, innocent female singer and label-mate on Jimmy Silverman's Blastin' Fools Records. A rumor exists that he was her ghostwriter for some of the more rap-oriented songs she released.

Mainstream Status and Downfall (1991-1992)
In 1991, he released 24 Carat Dogg. The name might suggest that he had moved on from violent music to more radio-friendly songs in which he bragged about his lifestyle, like many rappers, but in 1992 it seems that he still has plenty of street credibility.

At the beginning of GTA: SA, Madd Dogg was very popular and exploring merchandise such as a clothing label "Madd Tagg" - later in the game, the player can buy one of the shirts for $30 at Victim. Russell Simmons was the first person in hip-hop to have his own clothing line in 1992, called Phat Farm.

Madd Dogg began to sink into a depression after his rhyme book went missing and his manager was killed (all secret efforts by CJ - ironically, his future manager - to jump-start rival OG Loc's music career). Outside of these attacks, he also struggled with "alcoholism and egomania" (as told by Lianne Forget), drug abuse, massive financial debt, as well as breakups with Rochell'le and his rap group "Doggy Boyz."



Comeback and Retirement (1992-1994)
Later that year, he was forced to give his mansion to a Vagos drug lord, and was supposed to give a concert in Las Venturas before he went missing. When Carl Johnson discovers him, he had a room at the Royale Casino, and after he had gotten drunk and gambled away his fortune, threatens suicide before CJ saved him and sent him to rehab. Madd Dogg then hires CJ as his new manager, unaware that CJ ruined his career in the first place and rescued him out of guilt.

As his manager, CJ begins by taking back his mansion and directing Madd Dogg to record a new album. He also takes back the original rhyme book from OG Loc. At the end of the game, possibly in early 1993, Forty Dogg is released and quickly goes "gold."

In 1994, he released "the less-than-stellar" N.L.A.D.B. (Never Leave A Dog Behind), which would become his last album and direct him to retire. As of 1998 and 2003, his albums Still Madd and Forty Dogg were digitally remastered.

In 2013, Franklin Clinton owned a poster featuring him, that states, "MADD." This is located in both of his safe-houses in Strawberry and in Vinewood Hills.

Mission Appearances

 * GTA San Andreas
 * Madd Dogg (Boss)
 * A Home In The Hills (Boss)
 * Vertical Bird
 * Cut Throat Business (Boss)
 * Riot
 * End of the Line

Trivia

 * The name Madd Dogg comes from the term "mad dog," which means "to stare someone down in response to an initial provocation or to start a fight with another."
 * Madd Dogg cannot swim, and drowns if you drive the car into water in the mission Cut Throat Business.
 * GTA V's Franklin Clinton has a Madd Dogg poster (in the style of Shepard Fairey's famous "Hope" poster of Barack Obama) hanging next to the wardrobe at his aunt's house; later, he has the poster framed and moved into his Vinewood Hills home.
 * Madd Dogg is one of the featured celebrities on the Vinewood Walk of Fame in GTA V.
 * Madd Dogg's "Forty Dogg" album resembles that of Tha Dogg Pound's real life album Dogg Food. Their song "What Would You Do" is featured on West Coast Classics.

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