Los Angeles, CA

Soopafly began to garner a substantial name for himself as one of the West Coast's better G-funk producers of the late '90s and early 2000s by aligning himself with some of the coast's better rappers, such as Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Mack 10. Though he never played a major role in Death Row's major successes -- Dr. Dre's The Chronic, Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, 2Pac's All Eyez on Me -- Soopafly did play a minor role in the label's unimportant late-'90s era; some of his efforts appear on leftover albums such as Daz Dillinger's Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back, Snoop Dogg's Dead Man Walkin', and Suge Knight Presents: Chronic 2000. By the end of 2000, Soopafly's clout had risen though, as he was suddenly producing tracks on Xzibit's Restless ("Fuckin' You Right," "Rimz & Tires") and Snoop Dogg's Tha Last Meal ("Loosen' Control"). ~ Jason Birchmeier