Steve 'Flash' JuonThis album may have the WORST cover art I’ve ever seen. Thankfully, the old adage that you shouldn’t “judge a book by it’s cover” has never been more true than it is here. Still, I have to wonder who comissioned that awful looking, poorly drawn, completely tasteless comic for Snoop Doggy Dogg’s solo debut. It’s so bad that on my copy of the CD I turned the insert booklet backwards and put the picture of Snoop’s head on a solid blue background in front instead.
When this CD was released in 1993, Snoop was already a household name thanks to his infamous “Deep Cover” debut and a plethora of guest verses on Dr. Dre’s seminal classic “The Chronic.” The wise decision Snoop and Dre both made here was, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” The spartan liner notes say “Produced By: Dr. Dre” and that’s it. If you’re wondering why they even bothered having liner notes after that, it’s because the rest of the pages continue the terrible comic that started with the album’s cover.
Thankfully the music on this album is everything the insipid Snoop Doggy Dogg comic strip wasn’t: funny, smooth, and a hella good groove. With a censored version of this album, a radio DJ could hardly go wrong by just selecting any track at random and pressing “play.” The hits are well known and still bump to this day: “Who Am I”, “Gin and Juice”, and “Doggy Dogg World” among them. The non-crossover tracks deserve just as much recognition though, such as the pimped out cut “The Shiznit.” Built on a trademark heavy Dre bassline, this track has the mother of all flute samples and could be called the Godfather of “Bad Intentions.” It wouldn’t be near as gangsta though without the S-N-double-O-P, whose laconic flow puts you right in the mix as he talks king pimp shit:
“I lay back in the cut retain myself
Think about the shit, and I’m thinkin wealth
How can I makes my grip
And how should I make that nigga straight slip
Set trip, gotta get him for his grip
as i dip around the corner, now I’m on a-nother
mission, wishin, upon a star
Snoop Doggy Dogg with the caviar
In the back of the limo no demo, this is the real
Breakin niggaz down like Evander Holyfield, chill
to the next Episode
I make money, and I really don’t love hoes
Tell ya the truth, I swoop in the Coupe
I used to sell loot, I used to shoot hoops
But now I, make, hits, every single day
With, that nigga, the diggy Dr. Dre
So lay back in the cut, motherfucker ‘fore you get shot
It’s 1-8-7 on a motherfuckin cop”
Not surprisingly, a rapper this smooth is the ideal choice to do a cover version of the MC Ricky D (Slick Rick) and Doug E. Fresh classic “La-Di-Da-Di.” At the time rappers doing cover versions of hits by other MC’s was unheard of, but as in many other areas Snoop was a true pioneer in hip-hop. By giving this East coast hit a West coast synth sound that Dre’s half brother Warren G coined “G-Funk,” everything old became brand new again and OH so fresh:
“Damn, now what was I to do?
She’s cryin over me and she was feelin blue
I said, ‘Um, don’t cry, dry your eye
And here comes your mother with those two little guys’
Her mean mother steps then says to me ‘Hi!!’
Decked Sally in the face and punched her in the eye
Punched her in the belly and stepped on her feet
Slammed the child on the hard concrete
The bitch was strong, the kids was gone
Somethin was wrong I said, ‘What was goin on?’
I tried to break up, I said, ‘Stop it, just leave her!’
She said, ‘If I can’t smoke none, she can’t either!'”
To this day my only regret is that Snoop never did a cover version of Big Daddy Kane’s “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.” Whatever sensation a Slick Rick cover song made though, it was nothing compared to the firestorm over “Murder Was the Case” given the fact Snoop really WAS on trial for murder when a remix of the song blew up on the soundtrack of the same name. Personally I think the original version has the darker, more ominous beat that captures the mood Snoop intended for this song’s lyrics perfectly:
“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
Dear God, I wonder can ya save me
I can’t die Boo-Boo’s bout to have my baby
I think it’s too late for prayin, hold up
A voice spoke to me and it slowly started sayin
‘Bring your lifestyle to me I’ll make it better’
How long will I live?
‘Eternal life and forever’
And will I be, the G that I was?
‘I’ll make your life better than you can imagine or even dreamed of
So relax your soul, let me take control
Close your eyes my son’
My eyes are closed”
Those who know this song already know how this story turns out, but suffice it to say if you don’t that Snoop learns you never win when you make deals with the devil. Perhaps that’s why they chose to follow this song with the all-star Death Row song “Serial Killa” where Kurupt, Daz and RBX all talk HELLA shit. RBX’s verse and his bizarre raspy start-stop flow had everyone convinced he’d be the next big thing, but a falling out with Dr. Dre sounded the death knell for his career. Here though, he’s at his trademark psychotic best:
“Deep, deep like the mind of Minolta, now picture this!
Let’s picnic inside a morgue
Not pic-a-nic baskets, pic-a-nic caskets
And I got the machine, that cracks your fuckin chest plates
open and release dem guts
Then I release def cuts
Brutal, jagged edged, totally ruffneck!!”
With so many good songs on this album it’s almost hard to pick ones to talk about, but it’s worthwhile to mention “Gz Up, Hoes Down” just because it was removed from all but the first shipment of Snoop’s CD due to an uncleared sample. Like the previously mentioned “Shiznit” the song is on some straight up pimp shit over a choice funk loop that all who heard can clearly regret wasn’t paid for, because Snoop is in top Dogg form on this track:
“Cognac is the drink that’s drank by G’s
Saggin like a motherfucker khakis to they knees
Bitch please, you know how we do the undercover
I’m Snoop Doggy Dogg not your average motherfucker see
Some of you don’t know about the G thang baby
It’s the smooth gangsta shit that be drivin ya crazy
Now as ya groove to the beat, and ya move to the sound
I’m gonna hit ya with the Pound, Gz Up, Hoes Down”
If his early work with Dr. Dre was the birth of a legend, “Doggystyle” was quintessentially the album that announced his arrival as both a rap superstar and international pop music icon. In fact, this album was so good it carried Snoop through the two slightly mediocre ones that followed until his return to form on “No Limit Top Dogg” in ’99. Songs like “For All My Niggaz & Bitches” and “Ain’t No Fun” are nearly overrun with Dogg Pound cameos, but no matter how many people come along for the ride it’s clearly Snoop’s show throughout. If you love well-produced rap starring a charismatic mack who talks so much shit you can’t help but smile and rap along, this album is the truth like Rakim on “Addictive.”