Andre Adams, better known by his stage name Andre Nickatina, is an American MC and producer from San Francisco, California. He previously performed under the stage name Dre Dog.
Adams released two albums under the stage name Dre Dog: The New Jim Jones in 1993 and I Hate You With a Passion in 1995. I Hate You With a Passion peaked at #79 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. In 1998, Adams changed his then current stage name to Andre Nickatina, and released the albums Cocaine Raps and Raven in My Eyes, which were released independently under Dogday Records. Unlike his albums released under the name Dre Dog, Cocaine Raps had deeper production values. Raven in My Eyes was noted for emphasizing “sequencers and keyboards that buzz and whine” over live instrumentation, as reviewed by Todd S. Inoue of the news magazine Metroactive. That year, he founded his own record label, Fillmoe Coleman. Nickatina explained in an interview with Strivin magazine that his name change was “for the better” and that he raps because he feels that he is talented enough to do so but not for the sake of popularity.
