Thomas Galindo

This past summer, seasoned Los Angeles rapper Jay Rock, whose legal name is Johnny Reed McKinzie, celebrated the fifth anniversary of his third studio album, Redemption, a widely-recognized magnum opus performance. Consisting of club bangers like “Tap Out” (feat. Jeremih) and its lead single “WIN,” as well as bread-and-butter storytelling cuts like “ES Tales” and “OSOM” (feat. J. Cole), Redemption’s conciseness and broad appeal equated to the most commercial success McKinzie had ever received.

Though Kanye West used songs like “Power,” “Runaway,” and “Monster” as pre-released singles for his now-iconic 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, “All of the Lights” was a track that immediately stole the show upon the LP’s official release. Produced by West and Jeff Bhasker, the song peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, not only because of its epic choruses and brash verses, but also the many superstar artists that lended their vocals to the recording.

Throughout the decades as both a producer and a rapper, Dr. Dre established a handful of working relationships that were more meaningful than the rest. It feels like with each new era he embarked on, Dre had a companion artist to share ideas and songs with, adding to his own legacy while helping to build up theirs as well. Below, we’ve compiled five of the artists who have benefitted the most from having a close friendship with Dre. Check out the list below.