Soopafly
Birth name	Priest Josef Brooks
Born	December 8, 1972 (1972-12-08) (age 36)
Origin	Long Beach, California, U.S.
Genres	West Coast hip hop
Occupations	producer, rapper, vocalist
Instruments	Keyboards, sampler
Years active	1993-present
Labels	Death Row DPG Recordz Doggystyle Gangsta Advisory E1 Music
Associated acts	Snoop Dogg Daz Dillinger Kurupt Nate Dogg Dubb Union
Website	soopafly.net

Priest Josef Brooks, better know by his stage name Soopafly, is a hip hop producer and rapper from Long Beach, California.

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 Early career 1.2 Westurn Union 2 Discography 2.1 Solo albums 2.2 Group albums 3 References

[edit] Early life

The oldest of three children, Brooks grew up in Long Beach. He was given a keyboard by his father after being inspired by the piano players he saw in church.^[1]

[edit] Early career

During his teenage years, Brooks met rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Proving himself with his keyboard skills, Soopafly was assigned his first piece of work for Death Row Records on the soundtrack Murder Was The Case.^[1] He played keyboards for Dr. Dre and Ice Cube on the track "Natural Born Killaz", as well as his first production credit with "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit" featuring the Dogg Pound and company. In 1995, he produced "Sooo Much Style" for Tha Dogg Pound on their debut album "Dogg Food". He also played the keyboards on eight other songs throughout. Then in 1996, he was featured on the soundtrack to the movie A Thin Line Between Love and Hate on the song "I Don't Hang", a remix would later follow.

Soopafly was further introduced to mainstream listeners on Snoop Dogg's second studio album Tha Doggfather. He produced the song "Freestyle Conversation" and "You Thought", appearing alongside veteran rapper Too Short. Since then, he has been featured primarily on albums by local artists such as Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Warren G, Bad Azz, Tha Eastsidaz and RBX.^[2] To date, he has released two solo albums.

He has three children named Devione, Donjrael, and Priest Jr. Brooks, as well as a stepdaughter, Savae Harper.

[edit] Westurn Union

In July 2006, the rap group called Westurn Union was formed. It features Soopafly, Damani and Bad Lucc. They made their first appearance on Snoop Dogg's album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment and released a street single titled "I Don't Think So",^[3] produced by Rick Rock. In April 2008, a mixtape was released titled House Shoe Musik, Vol. 1 and was hosted by DJ Crazy Toones. After inking a deal with Koch Records and Doggystyle Records, the official debut album Snoop Dogg Presents: Dubb Union was released on September 2, 2008. Prior to the release, the group and the labels were approached by the company Western Union, threatening legal action if the name was not changed. Though there is a difference between Westurn and Western, the labels did not want to spend money dealing with a lawsuit, the name of the group was changed to Dubb Union.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo albums

• Dat Whoopty Woop (2001)
• Bangin Westcoast (2007)

[edit] Group albums

• Snoop Dogg Presents: Dubb Union (2008)

[edit] References

v • d • e Death Row Records Founders Dr. Dre · Suge Knight Former artists 2nd II None · Above the Law · Crooked I · Daz Dillinger · Danny Boy · Dr. Dre · The D.O.C. · Gina Longo · Hammer · J-Flexx · Jewell · Kurupt · The Lady of Rage · LBC Crew · Lil' C-Style · Lisa Lopes · Michel'le · Nate Dogg · Outlawz · Petey Pablo · Prince Ital Joe · RBX · Sam Sneed · Soopafly · Snoop Doggy Dogg · Swoop G · Tha Dogg Pound · Tha Realest · Top Dogg · Tray Deee · Tupac Shakur · Young Soldierz Albums 15 Years on Death Row · Above the Rim · Christmas on Death Row · Chronic 2000 · Death Row Greatest Hits · Death Row: The Singles Collection · Dysfunktional Family · Gang Related · Gridlock'd · The Very Best of Death Row · Too Gangsta for Radio