Death Row / Interscope, 1993
Snoop Dogg is probably the rapper who made me dream the most in my childhood. Growing up with 50 Cent on the radio, he also rocked my teenage years, but it was when I discovered Snoop Dogg and Doggystyle that I realized that I had fallen in love with rap. As you can understand, it will be difficult for me to be objective with this album. I have many memories of listening to the CD on my brother’s stereo. This album, and no other, has literally turned my head.
Snoop is definitely one of the most famous and legendary rappers on the planet. But let’s go back a bit earlier, in 1992 where this story begins. The West Coast wasn’t really on the rap map yet, N.W.A and Ice Cube were already well established, but Los Angeles was still an outsider in the rap game, and Hip Hop was almost considered exclusively from New York. New York was relatively hostile to Los Angeles rap, so much so that New York radio stations were reluctant to play West Coast rap. Snoop’s reaction to winning the 1995 Source Awards shows this.
However, things were to change as soon as Death Row came into play. Dr. Dre found a young rapper from Long Beach, Snoop Doggy Dogg. The Chronic’s hits were already pounding national radio, Snoop became a superstar almost instantly. With the album still unfinished, the distribution company threatened Death Row with not distributing the album. In a hurry, Dr Dre finalizes the skits in 48 hours to offer us the classic album so much awaited by the fans at the end of 1993.
In spite of a taste of unfinished, the magic operates. Snoop lays down his inimitable flow, nonchalant and smooth as nobody could do it before him, nor even after him. He has this natural ease to animate with his rhymes the magic music of Dr Dre. The funky, laid-back production is tailored perfectly for his flow. And even though he’s not the most polished lyricist, his rhymes slide right into our ears and get our heads moving. The gangsta storytelling on Murder Was The Case is very well narrated and particularly inventive, with Snoop faking his own death after a neighborhood brawl. He conveys all the drama of the scene, which is magnified by the shrill whistle accompanied by the thud sound of the production for a melodramatic atmosphere. Yet, Snoop is also comical, or rather sarcastic, with subtle rhymes dictated with a laconic flow, as on Lodi Dodi, heavily inspired by Slick Rick’s La-Di-Da-Di, one of source of inspiration. Festive atmospheres also make their appearance to tell us about the life of the neighborhood Long Beach under the Californian sun, notably on Gin and Juice.
Even if Dre is credited as the only producer, the legend says that Dat Nigga Daz and Warren G would have strongly contributed to the production. Warren G had the malignant intuition that he would not reap the fruits of his work pushing him to leave Death Row for Def Jam, most artists will follow his example a little later. Anyway, the production is indeed revolutionary. G-Funk is certainly not new, The Chronic has already popularized it, but Doggystyle propels it to another level, an unequalled and unbeatable level.
Murder Was The Case
As I look up at the sky
My mind starts trippin, a tear drops my eye
My body temperature falls
I’m shakin and they breakin tryin to save the Dogg
Pumpin on my chest and I’m screamin
I stop breathin, damn I see demons
The samples of P-Funk from the 70s of Parliament-Funkadelic or Isaac Hayes will weave the whole sound canvas and the musical palette. Typical G-Funk heavy basses accompanied by melodious synth chords, whistling flutes and shrill resonances create a sunny atmosphere. And under this sun, the atmosphere is sometimes more psychedelic as on Lodi Dodi or Murder Was the Case or the whimsical Gz & Hustlaz. The enchanting flute of Tha Shiznit where Snoop reveals himself under his more pimp and mysogin character, or the melodic softness of Doggy Dogg World allow to keep lolling quietly. The variety of the atmospheres finally make it an album rather eclectic in its own style while keeping its coherence with its funky background.
Doggystyle obviously marked its time, big singles hit the radios with tracks that have remained iconic even today, including the magnificent Who Am I? or Gin and Juice. And yet we also remember the songs that were not singles. Who doesn’t remember Nate Dogg’s baritone voice and Kurupt’s sharp verse on Ain’t No Fun or the video of Murder Was The Case? All these melodies are engraved in our heads and show the power of this album.
Dr. Dre managed to perfect his recipe to make something even greater and more accomplished than The Chronic. The first album of the Long Beach Dogg is definitely a classic, a monument of rap and the greatest G-Funk album of all time.
Regulate 