Before Snoop Dogg laid his first verse. Before Tupac recorded All Eyez on Me. Before Dr. Dre built the sound that defined a decade — there was a bass player from Detroit named Tony "T Money" Green, and without him, none of it sounds the way it does.

The story starts in Detroit, 1975. L.J. Reynolds of The Dramatics spotted a young Tony Green playing at a local club. After one audition, Tony had the bass chair for over 20 years — co-writing their last top 10 hit and in 1978 co-writing "One of Those Funky Things" for Parliament, one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history. Then in 1993, he became band director at Death Row Records — powering Doggystyle, All Eyez on Me, and the Grammy-winning "Let Me Ride" remix. He was the man who walked George Clinton down the hallway and introduced him to Dr. Dre.