D.O.E.

Formerly known as John Doe, D.O.E.'s (Dominant Over Everyone) hardcore rhymes are often tempered by his cleverness and humor as well as the bouncy, pop-inflected beats of his main producer, Timbaland. The Queens-born rapper initially had difficulty penetrating the rap industry, and so he decided to compose his own mixtape, entitled Me Unit, parodying 50 Cent's G-Unit. The mixtape found its way into the hands of Timbaland, who loved it and signed D.O.E. to his fledgling Beat Club Records alongside rap artists Bubba Sparxxx and Attitude. Although Beat Club had to close up shop in the mid-2000s, D.O.E. kept on the mixtape grind with releases like The Black Ass Album (parodying Jay-Z's The Black Album) and The Mascarade (spoofing 50 Cent's The Massacre). Not much time after the label's dissolution, Timbaland started up another, Mosley Music Group, in 2006 and brought D.O.E. back under his auspices. D.O.E. sat on the sidelines that year, however, amid the numerous hit singles racked up by Timbaland and his imprint, especially those from Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake. He did contribute a verse to Timbaland's 2007 solo album Presents Shock Value the following year, but he spent most of that time finishing up his full-length debut. ~ Cyril Cordor, All Music Guide