Birth name Andre DeSean Wicker Years active 1993–present Occupation(s) Rapper, songwriter | Name Andre Wicker Role Rapper | |
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Also known as Dresta, Gangsta, Big Dre Born April 18, 1971 ( 1971 -04-18 ) Similar People BG Knocc Out, Lil Eazy‑E, Eazy‑E, King Tee, Jayo Felony Profiles | ||
[FREE] BG Knocc Out x Dresta Type Beat | Gangsta Old School Rap Beat Hip Hop Instrumental - "Killaz"
Wanya Brooks - "Walk You Home" Ft. Tone & Dresta (Original) (Audio)
Andre DeSean Wicker (born May 5, 1971), better known by his stage name Dresta, is an American rapper known for collaborating with Eazy-E on the 1993 single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's". He is also the older brother of rapper B.G. Knocc Out, who also collaborated in the song.
Contents
- FREE BG Knocc Out x Dresta Type Beat Gangsta Old School Rap Beat Hip Hop Instrumental Killaz
- Wanya Brooks Walk You Home Ft Tone Dresta Original Audio
- Early life
- Music career
- 1994 shooting
- Collaborations as featured artist
- References
Early life
Andre Wicker was born and raised in Compton, California. He and his brother Arlandis Hinton became Crips gang members. They were affiliated with Nutty Blocc Compton Crips set. He was convicted of assaulting another gang member in Compton in 1988, and was incarcerated at the California Youth Authority in Camarillo until 1993.
Music career
While Wicker was serving his five-year sentence, he started writing lyrics and rapping, gaining some notoriety. Within months of Wicker's release, he and Hinton collaborated with Eazy-E to record Real Muthaphukkin G's. Dresta (Wicker) and B.G. Knocc Out (Hinton) signed to Ruthless Records with Eazy-E. They both appeared on the Eazy's 1993 multi-platinum EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa on the single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" (which was censored to "Real Compton City G's" in order to garner MTV and radio airplay). The song itself was a response to Dr. Dre's and Snoop Dogg's various 'diss' records towards Eazy-E on The Chronic.
In 1995, Dresta and B.G. Knocc Out released their debut album Real Brothas, which remains their only album to date. At the end of the same year, they made three guest appearances in Eazy-E's posthumous album Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton.
After B.G. Knocc Out's incarceration in 1998, Dresta worked with Death Row Records. Dresta appeared on two tracks from Death Row's Too Gangsta for Radio compilation, but never actually signed to the label.
Dresta stated in an interview that he is currently working on Dirty West mixtape series and on upcoming solo album, hinting possibility of Real Brothas to get re-released. Dresta also wrote a song for Dr. Dre's album Detox, but Dre didn't want to collaborate with him. He criticized Dr. Dre for surrounding himself with mediocre artists and the numerous delays of his Detox album.
1994 shooting
On January 14, 1994, Tyrone Thomas (also known as Tony Bogard), Andre Wicker and Rodney Compton were involved in a gang confrontation in Imperial Courts housing projects. Thomas and Compton were former PeeJay Watts Crips and Thomas had helped to organize a truce between Crips and Bloods in Watts, Los Angeles in 1992.
At around 6:30 p.m., a shooting began in a parking lot in the 2200 block of East 114th Street. 25 shots were fired, six of which hit Thomas, who was said to be the prime target of the shooting. According to witnesses, Thomas was carrying a pistol and he shot back at the assailants, possibly wounding two of them.
Thomas and Wicker were subsequently hospitalized in Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center, where Thomas was pronounced dead. Wicker was in critical condition while arriving to the hospital, but received a surgery for a gunshot to his left arm and was released the same week. Compton was wounded in the arm and treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. He was later charged with the murder of Thomas, but was released from jail after pleading no contest to one count of voluntary manslaughter on May 31, 1994. Wicker was sentenced to one year probation under terms of a plea bargain.