Released: November 23, 1993

Rating:

Genre: rap > West Coast G-Funk hip hop

Quotable: “Gangsta rap never sounded so sweet” – About.com

Album Tracks:

1. Bathtub
2. G Funk (Intro)
3. Gin & Juice
4. Tha Shiznit
5. Lodi Dodi
6. Murder Was the Case
7. Serial Killa
8. Who Am I (What’s My Name)?
9. For All My Niggaz & Bitches
10. Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)
11. Doggy Dogg World
12. GZ and Hustlas
13. Pump Pump

Sales:

6.04 million
--
--
7 million

Peak:

1 ³
38

Singles/Hit Songs:

• What’s My Name? (12/4/93) #8 US, #20 UK, #8 RB, sales: ½ million
• Gin & Juice (1/29/94) #8 US, #39 UK, #13 RB, sales: ½ million
• Lodi Dodi (2/12/94) #63a US
• Doggy Dogg World (5/7/94) #46a US, #32 UK, #25a RB
• Murder Was the Case (12/17/94) #67a US

Notes: --

Awards:

Fans “knew that the album would essentially be the de facto sequel to The Chronic, providing another round of P-Funk-inspired grooves and languid gangsta and ganja tales, just like Dre’s album. Which is exactly what Doggystyle is – a continuation of The Chronic, with the same production, same aesthetic and themes, and same reliance on guest rappers” (Erlewine).

“The miracle is, it’s as good as that record” (Erlewine). “Doggystyle and The Chronic stand proudly together as the twin pinnacles” (Erlewine) for transforming “the entire sound of West Coast rap by its development of what later became known as the ‘G-funk’ sound…[by expanding] gangsta rap with profanity, violent lyrics, basic beats, anti-authoritarian lyrics and multi-layered samples taken from 1970’s P-Funk records” (Wikipedia).

When it came to making Doggystyle, “Dre realized that it wasn’t time to push the limits of G-funk, and instead decided to deepen it musically, creating easy-rolling productions that have more layers than they appear. They’re laid-back funky, continuing to resonate after many listens, but their greatest strength is that they never overshadow the laconic drawl of Snoop, who confirms that he’s one of hip-hop’s greatest vocal stylists with this record…Snoop takes his time, playing with the flow of his words, giving his rhymes a nearly melodic eloquence. Compare his delivery to many guest rappers here: Nate Dogg, Kurupt, and Dat Nigga Daz are all good rappers, but they’re good in a conventional sense, where Snoop is something special, with unpredictable turns of phrase, evocative imagery, and a distinctive, addictive flow” (Erlewine).

Snoop raps about “adolescent urges, as he freely talks of casual sex, smoking marijuana and gunning down rival gang members” (Wikipedia). “The album also covered…drug dealing and pimping” (Wikipedia). In some circles “he was acclaimed for the realism in his rhymes and his harmonious flow” (Wikipedia), but in other arenas he was “accused of glamorizing gang violence and black-on-black crime” (Wikipedia). “Time magazine remarked that the notions ‘are often unnecessarily graphic; at some points they're downright obscene’” (Wikipedia). “Snoop Dogg…said, ‘I can’t rap about something I don't know. You’ll never hear me rapping about no bachelor’s degree. It’s only what I know and that’s that street life. It’s all everyday life, reality’” (Wikipedia).

It didn’t help that “in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed in a gang fight. According to the charges, the rapper’s bodyguard, McKinley Lee, shot Woldermarian as Snoop Dogg drove the vehicle; the rapper claimed it was self-defense, alleging the victim was stalking Snoop Dogg. He spent most of 1995 preparing the case which went to trial in late 1995. He was cleared of all charges in February 1996” (Wikipedia).

Snoop wasn’t just derided for the violence of his lyrics, but the “many derogatory terms against woman, with expressions such as ‘bitches’ and ‘ho’s’ being used throughout…In certain tracks Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound casually speak of gang rape, illustrating the demeaning of women” (Wikipedia).

There are some who say that it is precisely because of the articulation of “the rage of the urban underclass and its sense of intense oppression and defiant rebellion” (Wikipedia) that gangsta rap is an important genre. In any event, Doggystyle “is regarded by many critics as one of the most significant albums of the 1990s, and one of the most important hip hop albums released to date” (Wikipedia). “It is credited with defining West Coast hip hop; shifting the emphasis to more melodious, synth-driven, and funk-induced beats. About.com stated during the period the album was released, ‘Gangsta rap never sounded so sweet’” (Wikipedia).