Day 0752 - Doggystyle

Snoop Doggy Dogg "Doggystyle" (1993)

Snoop's debut hit the ground running, thanks to hype created by his contributions to Dr Dre's "The Chronic" album, and by the fact that Snoop himself had been arrested in connection to the murder of an associate of a rival gang.   For many it would have given that hint of authenticity to Snoop's rhymes that other 'gangsters' might have been seen to be lacking.

Other than a few of the bigger tracks I hadn't really heard this album before. Great music, some of the best basslines around, thanks to Dre and his G-Funk sound.  

Snoop's delivery has so much attitude... not so fussed on some of the more misogynist lyrics, but then 80s and early 90s hip-hop, that's unfortunately par for the course.

Day 0718 - The Chronic

Dr. Dre "The Chronic" (1992)

Dre left N.W.A. and teamed up with Suge Knight to create Death Row Records (which got off to a running start with classic albums from Dre, Snoop and eventually Tupac) and released his first solo album.

Dre's production created the genre known as 'G-Funk', slow P-Funk style grooves with deep sludgy bass and high lead-synth parts.  Dre would often re-record the source material rather than just sample the original recordings, and the lyrical approach of this new genre was confrontational and 'raw'.

I know that rap beefs are part of the fabric of the genre, but so much of that feels a bit petty and insecure, with shots being fired at some of Dre's old N.W.A. associates (Eazy E in particular).  A lot of the rest seems to focus on dicks and balls being people's mouths, or people being on said dicks and balls... to the extent that there's even a track called "Deeez nuuuts".

Whatever my feeling toward the lyrical approach, the album helped launch the production career of Dre, and the rap career of Snoop Dogg before he'd even released an album of his own - though once his debut "Doggystyle" appeared, he cemented that success.