The Lady Of Rage

Long before issuing a full-length project of her own in 1997, the Lady of Rage had already contributed to more than a dozen soundtrack cuts and recordings by fellow Death Row Records artists. Born in Farmville, Virginia, she came to the attention of Dr. Dre, who signed her to the label and enlisted her for multiple tracks on the L.A. Posse’s 1991 release They Come in All Colors. In 1994 she issued the Death Row single “Afro Puffs,” taken from the Above the Rim soundtrack; the track, produced by Dre and featuring backing vocals from Snoop Dogg, registered on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Hot 100 charts. Additional appearances followed on various Death Row projects, among them Snoop’s Tha Doggfather. When her debut album Necessary Roughness arrived in June 1997, it entered the Top 40. Over the ensuing years she continued to make guest recordings and pursue acting roles while preparing a second solo album, Queen Kong.