In terms of expanding his fan base further than it previously been, I'd have to agree with those who cited THIZZELLE WASHINGTON--and that's mainly because "The Thizzelle Dance" got a lot of attention (i.e. some radio play, etc.) for that CD, whereas I seem to remember that the few CDs that came before that (IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, MAC DRE'S THE NAME, HEART OF GANGSTA...) didn't make much of a buzz apart from MD's normal fanbase picking them up (although all three of them had songs that COULD have become radio hits, IMHO). Just my opinion, though.
R.I.P. Mac Dre
PEACE!