DJ King Assassin
Craig Venegas Alvarado (born January 15, 1971), known by his stage name DJ King Assassin, is an American disc jockey, producer, and engineer from Los Angeles, California.
DJ King Assassin | |
---|---|
Born | Craig S. Venegas Alvarado January 15, 1971 |
Other names | DJ Raleem, Assassin |
Occupation | Disc jockey, record producer, radio personality, director |
Years active | 1989 - Present |
Musical career | |
Genres | Hip hop, G-Funk |
Instruments | |
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | Official website |
Venegas became influential in the west coast hip-hop music scene after having helped pioneer records for 1990s era rap moguls such as 2Pac, Ice-T and Eazy-E.[1][2]
Venegas started producing at an early age, growing up in the California Bay Area. Starting in the 1980s, Venegas influenced the west coast hip-hop music culture by creating sounds for rappers in the Bay Area & L.A California.[3] He connected with former Ruthless Records rapper Kokane and charted on billboard with Dr Kokastien and The Legend Continues.[4]
Throughout his career, Venegas engineered over 300 titles for recording artists signed to Universal Records, EMI, Def Jam, including several of which reached the Billboard charts, respectively. In 2014, he peaked at #7 on the Billboard charts in the US following the release of a mixtape with fellow industry partner Kokane.[5] For several consecutive years, Venegas has been awarded DJ of the Year for his lengthy music contribution in the West Coast Hip Hop Awards.[6][7]
Early life
Venegas spent most of his early life in California traveling from San Jose, Vallejo, East Palo Alto and Sacramento, where he then relocated back to his native California lifestyle in the city of Los Angeles. As a kid, he won his school's spelling bee at Hillsdale Elementary and later went on to the district of Franklin Mckinley’s spelling bee. He also learned to play drums in elementary school, and in eighth grade, how to make music. From that time, he became interested in music and breakdancing, in which he won trophies at local fairs and contests throughout the state of California.
Venegas' influences include long-time friend and collaborator 2Pac and Eazy-E, as he has grown up in California.[8][9][10]
Musical career
1990s-2000s: Career beginnings
Venegas moved where originally his parents are from, in Southern California, and began his career as a record disc jockey, in which he later produced for recording artists signed to Russell Simmons record label Def Jam. In the early part of his career, Venegas produced for several projects from Eazy-E at Kitchen Sync and Echo Sound studios. It was there where, Venegas, a rising producer, teamed up with Tupac Shakur in which he later established a close relationship with the West Coast rapper.[11]
While Tupac Shakur worked on "Me Against The World", Venegas began producing music with Shakur, later witnessing the creation and scratching on original version of "Dear Mama", one of Shakur's most successful hip-hop records. Venegas, thereafter, produced, mixed and mastered an inordinate number of records for hip-hop recording artists in the west coast of the US, influencing the unique funk sound established by rappers like Eazy-E and 2Pac.[12][13]
2010-2015: The King Assassin Show & Mixtapes
Venegas started his own internet syndicated radio show, The King Assassin Show, which featured appearances from recording artists and other notable figures like Freeway Rick Ross, for example.[14] Throughout the first half of the 2010s, Venegas released numerous mixtapes, some of which featured unreleased music from Tupac Shakur, and others in collaboration with west coast rappers.[15][16]
2016—present: Original Dear Mama Recording & Makaveli Film
In May 2016, following the passing of Afeni Shakur, Tupac Shakur's birth mother, Venegas was featured on TMZ and Billboard magazine where he spoke on his affiliation and relationship with the Shakur estate and the release of the original version of Tupac Shakur's classic record "Dear Mama".[17] In 2016, Venegas announced he will be producing and directing a film loosely based on Tupac Shakur's personal life and music career. The film is expected to be shot in California, and acting cast has not been released yet.[18]
In 2016, following the passing of Tupac Shakur's mother, Alvarado released a rare recording of 'Dear Mama' in honor of her death, which was later picked up by numerous music news outlets including TMZ, XXL and Complex.[19][20]
Guinness book of world records
Assassin holds the Guinness Book Of World Records for recording the longest hip-hop song in the history followed by Rappers Delight entitled State Of Emergency which features mostly platinum and legendary artists and to be released in 2020.
List of albums, with selected chart positions and sales figures
Title | Billboard Charting History | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
Spotify + Web [21] |
Heatseekers [22] [23] | ||
Dr. Kokastien Hosted By Dj King Assassin] | Billboard Charts Number 1
|
1 | 1 |
DJ King Assassin | Billboard & Spotify
|
7 | -- |
Chart (1995) | Weekly production charts Peak positions |
||
Australia (ARIA)[24] | 37 | 37 | |
Germany (Official German Charts)[25] | 81 | 81 | |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] | 31 | 31 | |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[27] | 4 | 4 | |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[28] | 43 | 43 | |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] | 43 | 43 | |
UK Singles (OCC)[30] | 84 | 84 | |
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[31] | 1 | 1 | |
US Billboard Hot 100[32] | 9 | 9 | |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[33] | 3 | 3 | |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard)[34] | 7 | ||
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[35] | 1 | 1 | |
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[36] | 16 | 16 | |
International | |||
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
||
UK Singles (OCC)[30] | 27 | 27[37] |
List of entire singles and albums Discography
2005: Tupac: The Way He Wanted It Vol. 1 2006: Tupac: The Way He Wanted It Vol. 2
Year | Title | Note |
---|---|---|
12inch singles | ||
1990 | Lyrical Prophecy - You can't swing this | Featured and Production as DJ Raleem |
1990 | Charizma And Peanut Butter Wolf Circa 1990 -1993 | Featured Adlibs |
1992 | Cisco The Frisco Mc - Audi 5000 | Featured and Production |
1992 | Various What A Remix Assassin Bring The Drums | Featured and Production |
1998 | 17 Reasons Various Cisco - Take Me Higher | Featured and Production |
1993 | Ghetto Politics - Ghetto Life E.P | Featured and Production |
1995 | Juvenile Style - The Cavi | Production |
1996 | Assassin Featuring Tupac - Real Bad Boyz | Featured and Production |
2002 | Assassin - Out Of Custody E.P | Solo Album and Production |
Cassette | ||
1994 | Various Strictly For The Streets A Compilation about the game | Official LP Features and Production |
1994 | Assassin - Hitworks Original Cassette release | |
1996 | Assassin - Hitworks | |
1997 | Assassin - Born And Raised In The Bay | |
1998 | Assassin - Armed N Dangerouz | |
1999 | Assassin - Worldwide Game | |
1999 | Assassin - Soldierz At War | |
Compact disk | ||
1994 | Assassin & Tupac's Thuglife - Strictly For The Streets A Compilation about the game | |
1996 | Assassin - Hitworks | |
1997 | Assassin - Born And Raised In The Bay | |
1998 | Assassin - Armed N Dangerouz | |
1999 | Assassin - Worldwide Game | |
1999 | Assassin - Soldierz At War | |
1999 | Assassin - City Of Dope | |
2000 | Assassin - Revelation 2000 | |
2001 | Assassin - Anthology | |
2002 | Assassin - Out Of Custody | |
2003 | Assassin - Hitman For Hire | |
2004 | Assassin - JT The Bigga Figga Fillmoe 2 San Jo | |
2006 | Assassin - San Quinn - Fillmoe 2 San Jo 2 | |
2007 | Assassin - Mopreme Shakur Black And Brown Pride | |
2008 | Assassin - United Playaz Of The Bay | |
2008 | Assassin - High-Fee Movement | |
2011 | Assassin - West Turf Compilation Kings | |
Mixtapes | ||
| ||
Filmography
Television & Major Motion Pictures
Title | Year | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
The King Assassin Show | 2014 | Host | Starring Role |
Savoy Films
Directors: George Tillman Jr. Robert Teitel |
1995 |
Soundtrack Featuring Tupac Shakur
Real Bad Boys |
Joshua Dreams Films
Producer Soundtrack |
Oprah Winfrey Show | 2015 | Special Guest | Live television |
TMZ Live[38] | 2016 | Special Guest | Live television |
Radio
Title | Year | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
The King Assassin Show | 2014 | Host | Web syndicated |
98.2 The Beat | 2016 | DJ | Web syndicated |
References
- Mench, Chris (2016-05-05). "West Coast Legend DJ King Assassin Releases Original "Dear Mama" Record". Complex.
- Ivey, Justin (2016-05-05). "DJ King Assassin: Tupac's Original "Dear Mama" ft. Yo-Yo". XXL Mag.
- Wilson, Scooby (2015-02-04). "DJ King Assassin Presents: "What Would Pac Do" Ft. Kokane, Joe Young, Big Hutch (Above The Law) & Tupac". AllHipHop.
- Sikorski, David (2016-05-15). "DJ King Assassin unveils original release of Tupac's "Dear Mama"". Earmilk.
- "Billboard Chart History - DJ King Assassin". Billboard. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- "DJ KING ASSASSIN, KOKANE, ICE CUBE, ABOVE THE LAW - West Coast Hip Hop Awards". West Coast Hip Hop Awards. 2014-08-14.
- Rohn, Jake (2016-12-15). "Listen To Previously Unheard 2Pac Verse From "How Long Will They Mourn Me?"". HipHopDX.
- Young, Joe (2016-12-21). "DJ King Assassin Presents 2Pac featuring Kokane". Hip Hop Weekly.
- Constantinou, Anton (2015-09-13). "SLEPT-ON SUNDAYS: DJ KING ASSASSIN – THE MAN BEHIND THE BEST OF THE WEST". HLN.
- "Billboard Magazine: January 2011 Print Issue". Billboard. 2011-01-07.
- "Meet Tupac's OG Producer: DJ King Assassin". ThisIs50. 2009-04-06. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
- Brow, Jason (2016-05-06). "Tupac's Original Version Of 'Dear Mama' Surfaces Days After Mother's Death". Hollywood Life.
- "DJ King Assassin - Original Version Of Tupac's 'Dear Mama' Surfaces". iHeartRadio. 2016-05-08. Archived from the original on 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
- "The King Assassin Show – Jake Rohn, Darius McCrary, Donovan Wonder, and Freeway Rick Ross". Tradio. 2014-08-12. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- Constantinou, Anton (2015-09-13). "SLEPT-ON SUNDAYS: DJ KING ASSASSIN – THE MAN BEHIND THE BEST OF THE WEST". HLN.
- "Dame Grease & DJ King Assassin Ft. Sheek Louch, Pusha T & Freeway – "My Style"". 98.3 Vibe. 2016-06-19.
- Stutz, Collin (2016-05-05). "Tupac's Original Version of 'Dear Mama' Surfaces". Billboard.
- "Makaveli The Movie - Trailer". IMDb. 2016-08-16.
- Wicks, Amanda (2016-05-06). "Listen to the Original Demo Version of Tupac's 'Dear Mama' By DJ King Assassin". Radio.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
- Johnson, Cherise (2016-12-17). "Hip Hop Week In Review: J. Cole, Kanye West, DJ King Assassin & Soulja Boy". HipHopDX.
- "Spotify-Web - Billboard US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- "US Chart History - Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- "Kokane [https://www.billboard.com/music/kokane Dr. Kokastien Hosted By DJ King Assassin] [https://www.billboard.com/charts/heatseekers-albums/2012-08-11 Chart History #1]". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-03-08. External link in
|title=
(help) - "Australian-charts.com – 2Pac – Dear Mama". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – 2Pac – Dear Mama". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – 2Pac – Dear Mama" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Charts.nz – 2Pac – Dear Mama". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Swedishcharts.com – 2Pac – Dear Mama". Singles Top 100. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Swisscharts.com – 2Pac – Dear Mama". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "2Pac Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- "Dear Mama", Wikipedia, 2019-02-26, retrieved 2019-03-08
- "TMZ Live: DJ King Assassin Speaks On Tupac Shakur's Death and Career". TMZ. 2016-05-04.