213

The 213 is a hip hop collective from Long Beach, California, which began the careers of Nate Dogg, Warren G (stepbrother of superstar producer Dr. Dre), a

The 213 is a hip hop collective from Long Beach, California, which began the careers of Nate Dogg, Warren G (stepbrother of superstar producer Dr. Dre), and Snoop Dogg (Nate Dogg's uncle); in the early stages Nate's cousin Lil' 1/2 Dead was also part of the group. At formation, Warren G generally took up the production duties with Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg primarily serving as MCs. The band name comes from the 213 area code, which had been the area code for Long Beach, California but is now the area code for downtown Los Angeles. Their first song was called "Long Beach Is A Muthafucka" a 14 second long snippet of the song was leaked on the internet.

Utilizing Warren G's connections, a tape made its way to Dr. Dre who was especially impressed by Snoop Dogg's style and delivery, leading to Snoop's breakthrough with an appearance on Dre's The Chronic, launching his rap career and simultaneously bringing West Coast rap to fame.