Daz Dillinger

Daz Dillinger (aka Dat Nigga Daz), (born Delmar Arnaud on May 25, 1973 in Long Beach, California), is an American hip hop producer and rapper mostly known for his work with Death Row Records at the height of West Coast rap's popularity.

Dillinger, like many of his peers, signed record deals with Death Row after being introduced to Dr. Dre by Warren G just as Dre began recording his seminal 1992 album, The Chronic. Dillinger contributed to The Chronic as well as his cousin Snoop Dogg's multi-platinum Doggystyle, Tupac Shakur's All Eyez on Me and the majority of the label's multi-platinum releases.

He released his first album Dogg Food with Kurupt as Tha Dogg Pound which went multi-platinum continuing Death Row's force as the most successful hiphop label. After Dr. Dre left the label, Daz became Death Row's main producer and was largely involved in Snoop's sophomore album Tha Doggfather and various compilations and soundtracks. After the death of Tupac Shakur, the departures of Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and the imprisonment of label CEO Suge Knight, Daz was the only major artist left on Death Row and mainly responsible for the work done in the label. In 1998 he released his first solo-offering, Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back, under the artist name Daz Dillinger, the name Dillinger being an homage to the 1930s outlaw John Dillinger. The reason for the change from Dat Nigga Daz to Daz Dillinger was that the former was not marketable. Even though the album reached Gold status it was considered to be a disappointment due to the high standards established by Death Row's previous releases.

Around late 1999, Daz left the crumbling Death Row Records and started his own imprint D.P.G. Recordz & Gangsta Advisory Records. In 2000, Daz put out his first independent solo record titled R.A.W.. The albums guest appearances include Tray Deee, Kurupt, Soopafly, Lil' C-Style, Slip Capone, Mac Shawn, Tha Mactress, LaToiya Williams and Mark Morrison. Although the album didn't reach the commercial success of other projects he was involved with at Death Row, the album gained cult status in the underground West Coast rap scene and had good numbers for an independent record.

In 2002, Daz and his longtime friend Kurupt parted ways when Kurupt signed a deal with Suge Knight to become the Vice President of Death Row Records. Daz along with Snoop Dogg and other D.P.G. members did not take the news lightly and decided to cut all ties with Kurupt. For almost three years Daz and Kurupt remained separate, with Daz speaking of the D.P.G. never forgiving him for what they viewed as him turning his back on the gang. It wasn't until April 1, 2005 that Kurupt reached out and sent a message to Daz and Snoop, saying he would no longer talk bad about them and that he hoped things could be resolved. Daz and Snoop and the rest of the D.P.G. accepted to take Kurupt back, and said they planned to start making music again. Tha Dogg Pound was now back together and 7 months later they released "Dillinger & Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez", as well as working on many upcoming projects to be released in late 2006. Tha Dogg Pound reuniting made Snoop Dogg call a West Coast Conference. Many rappers from the West Coast attended the meet, many came who were enemies with each other and the mission of the meet was to clear bad blood between people. Many rappers got issues resolved and this was considered a small step to gathering the West Coast in unity.