| Dre Allen | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andre Allen |
| Also known as | Dre |
| Born | April 18, 1975 |
| Origin | Oakland, California, United States |
| Genres | Rock, Pop, R & B |
| Instruments | Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Director/Author, keyboards |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | Movemakers Entertainment |
| Associated acts | IV Xample, Big Boi, Master P, Az Yet, Stevie B, Jesse Powell, Babyface, Will Downing |
Dre Allen is a 35 year old American Actor singer-songwriter, music video director, film producer, author, and record producer. Born April 18, 1975 in Californias bay area, Dre Allen is also the founding member of Los Angeles based 1990s pop and R & B group IV Xample whose debut album For Example sold over 500,000 copies worldwide due to the success of their debut single I'd Rather Be Alone.
Allen's debut solo album was released on his independent record label Movemakers Entertainment. The album was called L.Y.F.E. and sold over 24,000 copies through online and non traditional retail outlets. His second album was called Ghetto Rockstar. This album was briefly distributed by Tommy Boy Records but was later moved over to his independent imprint. His last album Recovery from his band "The Dre Allen Project" was released in the summer of 2010 and featured production from himself, Food Mart Music, Organized Noize, & Jefferey David. The independent album sold modestly (10,000 units) in a declining music industry sales climate dominated by major releases. As of December 2010, Dre Allen has become CEO/Co Owner of The Allen/Sito Group which houses one of the nation's leading event staffing agencies Best Reps. His client roster boasts a who's who of major international brands like Grand Marnier, The Macallan Scotch Whiskey, TGI Friday's, ESPN, NASCAR, Skyy Vodka, Universal Television, USA Network, & The FIG Event Center in Dallas. He is also the owner of ASG Films which has a new film in development called "Polk & Sutter" set to shoot in Las Vegas, L.A., & San Francisco in late 2011. He also owns a custom leather jacket & clothing design brand called McNeal & Allen which has begun production for 2011. Allen was most recently nominated for a 2010 Grammy award as co writer on the heavily anticipated & critically acclaimed album from one half of the pioneering hip hop group Outkast Big Boi. The album is called Sir Lucious Leftfoot, Son of Chico Dusty.
In his career as a recording artist, Allen has been signed to many lucrative recording contracts with companies like Warner Chappel Music, MCA/Universal Records, Warner Brothers Music, ADA, Edmonds Record Group, Priority Records, No Limit Records, DV8/Polygram Records, Shankman, Deblasio, & Melina, Tommy Boy, Nicetunes UK, & Capitol Records. These deals yielded very few releases and forced Allen to concentrate his energies on behind the scenes activities like songwriting. As a writer/producer Allen has written songs for Master P, Lil Romeo, Babyface, Jaime Foxx, Az Yet, Jesse Powell, The Hav Plenty Soundtrack, Montell Jordan, The NBA Jam Session, Kenny Lattimore, Stevie B, Will Downing, Ricky Bell of New Edition, Dawn Robinson of En Vogue, Goodie Mobb and has had his songs featured on commercial campaigns for companies like DADA, THE NBA Jam Session, McDonalds, Showtime Networks, & Doritos.
In May 2010 Outkast member Big Boi left Jive Records & renamed the Dre Allen co written song Ringtone "Theme Song" & then re released it on his Island/Def Jam Recordings extended version of the album due to its popularity & receiving over 1.5 million plays on his Myspace page. The single was then used to launch Sony Music and Dada Music's online mobile content delivery venture in Canada & will now be released on the Def Jam Records label in summer 2009. The song was recently licensed in a multi million dollar deal with Doritos to brand their new Doritos late night flavors and an "augmented reality" concert experience with Big Boi & Blink 182 online. The album recently charted at #22 on the most critically acclaimed albums of all time list compiled by Metacritic.[1]