- Not to be confused with Dogg, a biker from The Lost and Damned.
Madd Dogg is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Description
Madd Dogg is a rich and famous gangsta rapper from Los Santos. His name resembles the famous, real life rapper, Snoop Dogg and the late G-funk/R&B singer and rapper Nate Dogg. He is based on Ice-T (who voiced the character) as well as Dr. Dre and Ice Cube of N.W.A. (whose music make up over half the Radio Los Santos soundtrack) and Snoop Dogg, who has similar writing on his logo. He was romantically involved with female rapper and R&B musician, Rochell'le.
Breakthrough (1988-1991)
Forgotten Legends explains that Madd Dogg first gained extreme popularity as a rapper, without any full albums, in the late 1980s. He quickly earned enough money to buy his trademark mansion, pictured on his first two albums. The home resembles the "Hammertime" mansion in Fremont, California once owned by MC Hammer, as well as styling cues from homes owned by Ice-T.
In 1990 he released Hustlin' Like Gangstaz (parody of Above The Law's Livin Like Hustlers, produced by Dr. Dre and featured on Radio Los Santos) and Still Madd (parody of Ice-T's OG: Original Gangster, complete with a song "2:30 in the Afternoon" to parody "6 in the Morning").
During 1990, he also began a relationship with Rochell'le, a bubbly, innocent female singer and labelmate on Jimmy Silverman's Blastin' Fools Records. A rumor exists that he was her ghostwriter for some of the more rap-oriented songs she released.
Mainstream status and downfall (1991-1992)
In 1991, he released 24 Carat Dogg. The name might suggest that he had moved on from violent music to more radio-friendly songs in which he bragged about his lifestyle, like many rappers, but in 1992 it seems that he still has plenty of street credibility.
At the beginning of GTA: SA, Madd Dogg was very popular and exploring merchandise such as a clothing label "Madd Tagg" - later in the game, the player can buy one of the shirts for $30 at Victim. Russell Simmons was the first person in hip-hop to have his own clothing line in 1992, called Phat Farm.
Madd Dogg began to sink into a depression after his rhyme book went missing and his manager was killed (all secret efforts by CJ - ironically, his future manager - to jumpstart rival OG Loc's music career). Outside of these attacks, he also struggled with "alcoholism and egomania" (as told by Lianne Forget), drug abuse, massive financial debt, as well as breakups with Rochell'le and his rap group "Doggy Boyz".
Billboard for "Still Madd", found at the back of the Portland Safehouse in GTA Liberty City Stories.
Comeback and retirement (1992-1994)
Later that year, he was forced to give his mansion to a Vagos drug lord, and was supposed to give a concert in Las Venturas before he went missing. When Carl Johnson finds him, he had a room at the Royale Casino, and after he had gotten drunk and gambled away his fortune, threatens suicide before CJ saved him and sent him to rehab. Madd Dogg then hires CJ as his new manager, unaware that CJ ruined his career in the first place and rescued him out of guilt.
As manager, CJ begins by taking back his mansion and directs Madd Dogg to record a new album, also taking back the original rhyme book from OG Loc. At the end of the game, possibly in early 1993, Forty Dogg is released and quickly goes gold.
In 1994, he released "the less-than-stellar" N.L.A.D.B. (Never Leave A Dog Behind), which would become his last album and direct him to retire. As of 1998 and 2003, his albums Still Madd and Forty Dogg were digitally remastered.
In 2013, Franklin Clinton owns a poster featuring him that says "MADD". Located in both his safehouse in Strawberry and in Vinewood Hills.
Mission appearences
- GTA San Andreas
- Madd Dogg (Boss)
- A Home In The Hills (Boss)
- Vertical Bird
- Cut Throat Business (Boss)
- Riot
- End of the Line
Trivia
- When bumped into, a pedestrian that wanders around Ganton can be heard saying "You Madd Dogging me, man!"
- Madd Dogg cannot swim and drowns if you drive the car into water in the mission Cut Throat Business.
- GTAV's Franklin has a poster of Madd Dogg in his wardrobe in the style of Shepard Fairey's famous "Hope" poster of Barack Obama.
- The name Madd Dogg comes from the term "Mad Dog" which means "To stare someone down in response to an initial provocation or to start a fight with another."
- Madd Dogg is one of the featured celebrities on the Vinewood Walk of Fame in GTA V.
