I’m sad to see that Nathaniel D. Hale, AKA Nate Dogg died. He wasn’t really a rapper, but he sung these simple, catchy, narrative hooks that suggested he was actually just forced into hip-hop because he was born into the wrong decade (via PostBourgie).

He also had one of the best sleepy-eyed ice grills of all time. One of the few hip-hop artists who could really give the impression that making prolonged eye contact with him would be a bad idea.

Adam Serwer is a writing fellow at The American Prospect and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also blogs at Jack and Jill Politics and has written for The Village Voice, The Washington Post, The Root, and the Daily News. Follow @adamserwer