| Product: |
Doggy Style - Snoop Dogg |
| Date: |
05/06/08 (73 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: No weak tracks
Disadvantages: Nothing specific
Released in 1993, "Doggystyle" is the debut album from the West Coast rapper known then as Snoop Doggy Dogg. It alongside Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", managed to get then then-upcoming West Coast sub-genre of G-Funk into the public eye. This style, pioneered by Dr. Dre was a type of production which could only really adapt to the gangsta style of West Coast rappers as it used funky rhythm with hard beats.
This was Snoop's most successful album, getting 4x Platinum sales, and regarded as one of the most influential rap albums in terrms of the development of Hip Hop. This is likely due to the fact that the rap game had recently settled out on the West Coast and gangsta rap was introduced, bringing Ice-T, Coolio and NWA to the forefront of rap at the time, and with this and The Chronic", a further stage of development came out as this G-Funk sound came into play.
Since it's his debut album, I feel I should give a little information on him. He is a rapper from Long Beach, California and was born Cordozar Calvin Broadus. he took on the anme Snoop Doggy Dogg as it was said that he looked like the Peanuts character Snoopy. The artwork is siginficant as it was done by Joe Cool, the artists behind the Peanuts cartoons, so what better way than to have him draw out all of the cover for the first album and the singles which went along with it.
1. Bathtub (Intro)
2. G Funk Intro (feat. Lady Of Rage, George Clinton and Dr. Dre)
I wouldn't say that this is a proper intro, as the one which proceeded this was, this is a beginners course on the sub-genre which has become to be known as G-Funk. I felt that it was an amazing track despite it's length, and it just hypes you up for what you will get to hear a lot of later, coming with some melodic synthesizer sounds based on old P-Funk grooves.
The Lady Of Rage hits us with some of the lines which made her famous (as they went on to form her only hit single "Afro Puffs" a year later), and Dre comes with a few lines which got him the fame as a solo artist, from "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang". For an introduction, it is just so exciting and gets you moving immidiately, and this is a great set up for listening to the album.
**Five Stars**
3. Gin And Juice (feat. Daz)
After such a big start, you are focred to just chill, because you cannot be on a hype throughout the record, but when you hear a classic single like this, it doesn't matter how laid-back the track is, you have to get on your feet and sway to the gangsta beat.
This was one of his greatest tracks from he album, as it broke into the US top ten, whih at the time was a big achievement for a rapper with a couple of tracks to his name. As it is so chilled it's been sampled by eveerone, including Ska Punk bands, displaying the popularity it had at the time.
**Five Stars**
4. Tha Shiznit
This is another Snoop classic, yet again calling "187 on a MFin' cop". This is all about life in the LBC for Bigg Snoop Dogg, where not a day goes by when he doesn't have to use his AK. There's a strong P-funk sample which holds it together, then Dre adds some woodwind to complete it, showing that he is inventive in creating Hip Hop beats.
This is the first indication of Snoop's '-zzle' lagnuage which he developd after thte Bay rapper E-40 pioneered it, just showing how long ago the trend was set, but then again, it went out of fashion when it became commercial early on in this decade.
**Four Stars**
5. Lodi Dodi (feat. Nanci Fletcher)
You don't get a lot of this anymore, well at all really, because this is a cover version of the classic Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh tune "Lodi Dodi", but this has been adapted by Dr. Dre into a G-Funk style as a whistling rhythm keeps it flowing on a calm beat (making a big change from Doug E.'s beatboxing).
You can't really get the full feeling of enjoyment from this track unless you have heard the original, because Snoop make slight changes to make it sound more like a story from the West rather than something The Ruler would come with, but these make all the difference when you compare the two from each other.
**Five Stars**
6. Murder Was The Case (feat. Daz)
It took me a while to get this one, but if you didn't understand the context behind this, then you won't really get it at all, and this will be why I took so long to really get into dark rhymes, which contrast from the remainder of the album.
At the beginning you are given a set up skit which kind of gives you direction as to what this is about as you hear a pair catch Snoop slippin' on the wrong turf, resulting in him getting blasted with a glock. From here Snoop gets into his raps which follow on from the events which you hear, and it's an intersting concept to work from so he paints a picture for the listener to follow his story. He is very descriptive, allowing you to really get a taste of this shooting. All is good here apart from that it sounded as though it got shot a few many times to even remember the events, nevermind live through them.
**Four Stars**
7. Serial Killa (feat. RBX, Daz, Kurupt, and the D.O.C.)
This one starts with a little Cutty Ranks cut, giving you guidance on the direction Snoop is going to take with this track as the reggae artists says "6 million ways to die. Choose one." then this is followed up by Tha Dogg Pound getting right in your face talking about how they are "Anybody Killaz" (which they recently made into a track with The Game). So you are given the impression that people out West are ruthless, and willing to do kill anyone, not just Bloods, but their own Crips too if they don't watch what they do.
The Bigg Dogg and the rest of the crew really show that they are creative with the way that they rap, because often you tend to get rappers say that they would kill for fun, but these really sound as if they would, and with their Rollin 20s (Crip) background, you don't doubt them at all, and they don't just say that they are going to blast on busters, they describe their journey after this, and without having actual expereince of this, I beleive that it would be difficult to come across as genuine.
**Five Stars**
8. Who Am I? (feat. Dr. Dre and Jewell)
In my opinion, this is the best song from the album as it is an anthem for so many different things: The West Coast, Summer, or just Hip Hop in general, and there's no arguing with it really, because although it just broke into the top ten in the US, it has remained a favourite amongst all Hip hop fans to this day, and if a compilation of works was put together without this in, then it simply would have no idea of the significance of this single.
This along with Dre's "Nuttin' But A 'G' Thang" and Warren G's "Regulators" have to be everone's favourite G-Funk tracks of all-time, of course if you enjoy this type of music. I doubt that if you've heard one of these, that you haven't hear the rest, and so if you aren't really a Hip Hop fan and you only happened to hear a couple, then I suggest that you complete the trio, because they are simply amazing. It's hard to describe why they are so good too, you really have to have heard it from its orginal release to fully enjoy it.
**Five Stars**
9. For All My N****z And B*****s (feat. Daz, Kurupt, and Lady of Rage)
This one sounds quite different to a lot of the other tracks, and this is likely to be because Dre wasn't the only person on production here, Daz Dillinger was having a go alongside him to see if he could match Dre's amazing beats, but I didn't think that he had the style as well as the originator did, it wasn't as funky as most of the other material, and it seemed as though Daz just wanted to go for the proper West Coast gangsta style, no samples, no funk, just pure hard beats to match the rhymes from Tha Dogg Pound and Lady of Rage.
Young Ghotti (Kurupt) really rips through this track with his rhymes with fellow Dogg Pound member Daz, and I was quite impressed with what the Lady of Rage brought too, so all of the featured guests performed well, but you can't have expected Snoop to slip here. As always he kept up the qulaity rhymes and didn't allow the momentum to drop, as he still had a lot more to offer.
**Four Stars**
10. Ain't No Fun (feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Warren G)
The chorus sings" It ain't no fun, if the homies can't have none." and if you don't understand Nate Dogg's words, then you don't need to know.This is one of my old favourites which was really underestimated by many, simply because it wasn't released as a single, but this was probably best as you couldn't com e up with a clean version out of this material, unless you completely change the subject of it, but how can you mess with Snoop's material like that.
The beat for this one was sampled from an old funk cut, and this version went on to feature as part of the remix to Mariah carey' "Heartbreaker" and Celly Cel's "What Can I Do", displaying that Dre really made a smasher if others wanted to use it on their own material . It really is one of th ebest grooves I've heard and Snoop with his crew make it work for them without much effort.
**Five Stars**
11. Doggy Dogg World (feat. Kurupt, Daz and The Dramatics)
Tha Dogg Pound (Kurupt and Daz) team up with Snoop to form tha Dogg Pound Gangsta Clicc, a super-group who tend to come together now and again when Snoop decides he wants to get all gangsta again. The '70s funk group, The Dramatics, also appear on here singing "It's a Doggy Dogg World" for the chorus.
When you look back on this now, especially after the release of "Ego Trippin'", you can see Snoop's love for the '70s funk grooves shine through as this was like the first version of "Sensual Seduction", "Cool" or even "Signs", where he takes on a persona from that era. He raps it, but with a R&B style as he sings lines when he sees appropriate.
**Five Stars**
12. Gz And Hustlas
**Five Stars**
13. Pump Pump (feat. Mr. Malik)
In this one you see a little more variety as to where his influennces have come from as he choose to come wih a Jamaican patois style for a few lines. I always find it funny to hear Americans attempt a Jamaican accent, because it doesn't matter how much exposure they've had to the patois of the Caribbean, they just can't do it properly, (KRS-One is the worst) or as well as the ones in the UK, and I just don't get why.
Regardless of this little picky note, this is a really fun track as you hear Snoopy just come with an amazing flow which just seems to be unstoppable, even as we are closing down the album, he just doesn't want to slow down, and I prefer it like this when you just get the same quality throughuot the LP, and it doesn't seem to be losing steam towards the end.
**Five Stars**
In my own opinion, I believe that this was the best Snoop Dogg record he ever released as he didn't stay as pure as this album with the LPs which followed it, but recently, although he changed up his style quite a bit, I felt that I enjoyed his later work more than the albums just after this debut. Although many didn't see it as good as I did, "Ego Trippin'" was my second favourite album he did, but it doesn't compare to this one as he stays consistantly within his set plan of action, to bring the South Central lifestyle to audiences around the world, but not how it was done in the late 80s and turn of the decade that followed it, but by introducing some funk into this gangsta stuff.
I have to say that this is essential for all Hip Hop fans, and on of a few albums I would suggest non-Hip hop fans to pick up, because it along with a few others at the time manged to alter society in a way which is only apparent now, when you look back at how far we have progressed over about the last 20 years due to the inclusion of gangsta rap being one of the most popular music genres, but this hasn't all been negative, and you may work some things out from listening to a classic like this.
Summary: Snoo Doggy Dogg's debut album
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