This rugged West Coast rapper played a significant role on Dr. Dre's mammoth 2001 album, even though he was a relatively unproven rapper at the time. Though his performance didn't parallel that of Snoop Dogg's on The Chronic, it was similar in scope, and, like Snoop Dogg, Hitman was instantly dubbed Dre's new protege with talk of a solo album in the works. Yet by the end of 2000, Hitman's career wasn't looking too promising; he wasn't part of the ambitious (and commercially successful) Up in Smoke tour led by Dre that swept across America during summer 2000, and it suddenly seemed as if Xzibit was Dre's new protege rapper instead. ~ Jason Birchmeier