natedogg Nate Dogg, who transformed his Baptist family-choir upbringing into lowdown crooning hooks that were principle signatures of the Long Beach/Compton G-Funk Sound that dominated popular music in the 1990s, died Tuesday. He was 41 and had been struggling with the effects of strokes he suffered in 2007 and 2008.

Although he contributed his brushed-copper baritone to countless recordings—including pioneering cuts like Mista Grimm’s “Indo Smoke” and the song that made 50 Cent a star, “21 Questions”—Nate Dogg is probably still best-known for the story he sang alongside Warren G.’s rap on the 1994 breakthrough, “Regulate.” He first came to local prominence with a trio known as 213, whose other members were Warren G. and Snoop Dogg.

But Nate’s deep and soothing voice was sonic camouflage for personal torments that were buried even deeper within him. Although he had a warmly welcoming manner and was an engaging, honest and insightful conversationalist, Nate Dogg seemed to be constantly undermined by personal issues, even as he rose to personal fame.

The man born Nathan D. Hale to a family with roots in Mississippi was raised in central Long Beach, graduated from Poly High and learned to sing in the New Hope Baptist Church, where his relatives were a subset of the church choir known as The Smith Family. Their annual concerts were a tradition at the church.

But in the 1980’s, hip-hop’s infectious beats, deft wordplay and thrilling improvisation were stoking music’s imagination, and the schoolyard at Poly High became a local incubator for the art. Nate and schoolmates like Snoop Dogg and the late Radio created a mix of whip-smart raps, old-school songs and beat-boxing vocals that quickly set them apart.

MORE TO COME