(Today’s Reader Review, which, yes, are still a thing that you could get in on if you’re interested, finds DJ Sakmaster tackling the third official project (but not the “third album”, per the artists involved) released from Tha Dogg Pound, 2005’s Dillinger and Young Gotti ll: Tha Saga Continuez... Leave your comments for him below.)
(Today, Sir Bonkers, of the Digging In Tha Crates blog, closes out my brief, unofficial
Death Row Records alum series with a write-up for Tha Dogg Pound's
self-released sophomore album, Dillinger & Young Gotti. If
you're wondering why the words “Tha Dogg Pound” fail to appear on
the album cover, it's explained within. Leave some comments below,
and be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom.)
In the short time that it was relevant, Death Row Records managed to release some bonafide classic records under the guidance of CEO Marion "Suge" Knight. Hip hop purists will, of course, lean toward Dr. Dre's The Chronic, one of the most influential albums of any genre, and Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle, the zenith of solo debut albums, one which aspiring rappers all still strive to be. Annoying bandwagon jumpers who are out of touch with reality will name 2Pac's All Eyez On Me without hesitation: conspiracy theorists may go with Pac's alter-ego Makaveli and his The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory for the replay value alone. Shit, even folks that dig hip hop soundtracks will name Death Row's Above The Rim and Murder Was The Case discs as examples that set new rules in quality control for projects that were usually seen as quick cash-grabs by other record labels and film studios.
I submit another Death Row project that not many people seem to be aware of today: Tha Dogg Pound's debut LP, Dogg Food.
Now, I realize that it isn't as though Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin are unheralded, starving artists: Dogg Food was released to mild critical acclaim and pretty good sales. But it's hard to be seen when you're in the shadow of the label's boss: at this point, Suge Knight had fully stepped out from behind his desk and was about to become as ubiquitous as Sean "Puffy" Combs. The project's perceived violent content even caused some mild controversy prior to its release, causing the label to have to hold the disc for three to four months, hence the Halloween release date. But my observation is that Dogg Food is all but virtually ignored whenever discussions abound regarding gangsta rap, which is a fucking shame.
Dogg Food was recorded under the guiding hand of Dr. Dre, if not by him directly: the man himself did not produce anything on the entire record, leaving Daz Dillinger to prove his mettle behind the boards, but he mixed the entire project down, making this the most spit-polished gangsta rap since his own record. Daz and Kurupt, under the wing of Snoop Doggy Dogg, were encouraged to follow in their leader's footsteps with California laid-back tales of violence, debauchery, and living a life that is actually worth living.
Not that Daz and Kurupt are motivational speakers or anything: lest we forget, they are gangsta rappers under the umbrella of one of the most successful gangsta rap labels in history. So while there are occasional positive messages sprinkled throughout, the majority of Dogg Food is about how Kurupt is a much better rapper than you, how Daz can fuck you up as needed, and how they will leave the house party with your girlfriend after smoking several bowls and pistol-whipping your ass in the driveway, leaving you laying amongst the oil stains and the urine that will inevitably puddle around you as the drunken melee continues.
Well, at least the music behind the lyrics will put you in a great mood.
1. INTRO (FEAT RICKY HARRIS)
Short and sweet.
2. DOGG POUND GANGSTAZ
On a lesser rap album, this introductory track would have been combined with the actual rap album intro. Over a banging Daz Dillinger instrumental, Kurupt tears shit the fuck up, while his rhyme partner manages to keep both himself and the listeners entertained. The WBALLS skit at the end is offensive, homophobic, and ridiculous all at once, which is quite a feat.
3. RESPECT (FEAT NANCI FLETCHER, BIG PIMPIN' DELEMOND, & PRINCE ITAL JOE)
Although he didn't produce any of the songs on Dogg Food, Dr. Dre introduces this track as a show of good faith. Daz's G-Funk hits all the right notes, and both Kurupt and Daz sound pretty fucking fantastic over this undeniably West Coast creation. The song runs on much longer than it absolutely needs to, though: if Kurupt can, as he claims, “fuck your bitch after [he kicks] just one line”, then shouldn't this have ended over five minutes ago?
4. NEW YORK, NEW YORK (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG)
Ah yes, the infamous East Coast dis track. Except that this song doesn't disrespect New York in the least fucking bit. Kurupt simply rhymes his ass off (at one point he even dictates that he will “vocally void your whole molecular structure”, which just sounds cool) in one of the finest performances he has ever committed to wax, while Snoop handles chorus duties and Dat N---a Daz runs off to get a taco from the truck in the parking lot across the street, as DJ Pooh handles the production. The video, on the other hand, is a bit iffy with the crew's intentions, as it features Snoop kicking New York skyscrapers to the ground, but that was more of a proclamation of hip hop dominance at the time, not so much a “fuck every rapper in NYC” statement, although other rappers obviously took it to that other level. (They filmed a lot of the clip in Times Square: The Notorious B.I.G. infamously told his fans to run up on the production crew while giving an interview on the radio.) Sadly, this song still played a vital role in the East Coast/West Coast feud that left two rappers dead. When taken as the piece of entertainment it was supposed to be, though, this is still pretty good today.
5. SMOOTH (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, RICKY HARRIS, VAL YOUNG, & KEVIN “SLO JAMMIN'” JAMES)
I have my concerns regarding Kurupt's placement in the fabled hip hop supergroup The Four Horsemen (I say fabled because they have yet to release an official album together), because Killah Priest, Canibus, and Ras Kass maintain a lyrical nutrition plan that Kurupt always seems to ignore entirely. When you hear him over this underrated DJ Pooh instrumental gem, though, you totally get it: Kurupt sounds fucking awesome on this shit. Snoop even sounds excited to be in the same recording studio as his young protegees. This song is the balls. Hard to ignore the fact that this is the second track in a row on which Daz contributed almost nothing, though.
6. CYCO-LIC-NO (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG & MR. MALIK)
We all knew the honeymoon wasn't going to last forever; I'm just surprised that we've gone through four really fucking good tracks before the first slip-up. This song, with a Snoop-performed hook that was sort of inspired by some of Dr. Dre's lines on N.W.A.'s “Parental Discretion Iz Advised”, has a decent enough instrumental to work with, but Daz and Mr. Malik (formerly of Illegal, famous for appearing on both Snoop's “Pump Pump” and Warren G.'s “What's Next”, on which Warren proved that he is incapable of hiring a spellchecker) come through with only average verses, and Kurupt, who may have been a bit winded by his previous performances, turns in a pedestrian effort. Oh well, they can't all be winners.
7. RIDIN', SLIPPIN', AND SLIDIN' (FEAT SO 'SENTRAL & KEVIN VERNADO)
This was never one of my favorite Dogg Pound tracks: back in the day, I was prone skipping ahead two tracks to “Let's Play House” (more on that later). I still don't love this, but in listening to Dogg Food today, nearly fifteen years removed from its original release date, I concede that this shit is laid back to the fullest. Daz, surprisingly, does a better job with this than Kurupt the Kingpin (the alias I will always prefer over the insipid name Kurupt Young Gotti), but that may only be due to the fact that Daz has more lines than his partner.
8. BIG PIMPIN' 2 (FEAT BIG PIMPIN' DELEMOND)
A sequel to a Dogg Pound track from the Above The Rim soundtrack, utilizing the same instrumental (which still rocks), but this time around only featuring Big Pimpin' Delemond and nobody else. This is just a glorified interlude that isn't labeled as such, and you won't need to hear it more than the once, but the music laid underneath just kicks ass.
9. LET'S PLAY HOUSE (FEAT MICHEL'LE & NATE DOGG)
The first video from Dogg Food (but not the first single; at least, around my way, “Respect” garnered radio airplay first), which I remember debuting on MTV late on a Wednesday or Thursday night. I also remember being excited, because this meant that Dogg Food was an actual album that would be released to stores. (Back then, I was naive enough to think that every song that a video was shot for would eventually make it onto an album of some sort. Boy, was I wrong.) Because of the memories of the discovery of the video, I never seemed to formulate an opinion on this actual song back then. This Death Row union (Tha Dogg Pound front and center, Snoop hovering in the background, Dr. Dre introducing everything (again), Dre's baby mama Michel'le and Nate Dogg crooning the hook) sounds better than most radio piffle today, and I remember the video being packed full of attractive women, but the song itself isn't very good. But I imagine both Daz and Kurupt knew this at the time.
10. I DON'T LIKE TO DREAM ABOUT GETTIN' PAID (FEAT NATE DOGG)
Being signed to Death Row Records meant that you got first dibs on a Nate Dogg chorus, well before the rest of the industry realized that he was terrific at them. Daz and Kurupt attempt a serious track, tackling the topic of getting paid legally versus illegally, and while the end result sounds alright, I cannot remember any of it.
11. DO WHAT I FEEL (FEAT THE LADY OF RAGE)
The radio stations around my way actually played this album track (albeit in a heavily censored form) often, a testament to how popular Death Row Records was back in 1995. Kurupt, Daz, and The Lady of Rage, who was probably just thankful that she had nothing to do with “Let's Play House”, all hold a lyrical clinic over a simple instrumental that keeps shit moving. And yes, I said “lyrical clinic”: even Daz sounds like one of the best rappers ever on this barely-concealed freestyle session. Kurupt quickly justifies his solo career with his two verses, and Rage proves that there was a reason that Dr. Dre sought her out for the label.
12. IF WE ALL FUC (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG)
I've always wondered if Rage was happy that her verse on “Do What I Feel” led directly into a goofy interlude-slash-song that focuses solely on fucking random promiscuous women in group-sex situations. This isn't the best track in the world (hell, this isn't even the best track written about fucking random promiscuous women in group-sex situations), but Daz checks in with a free-form style behind the boards, and the interplay between Snoop, Daz. And Kurupt is entertaining, even if half of the world's population will be incredibly offended by the song. I could have done without the visual of Snoop actually having sex at the end of the track, leading into...
13. SOME BOMB AZZ PUSSY (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, JOE COOL, & BIG C-STYLE)
...one of the goofiest moments ever captured on compact disc: Snoop faking an orgasm. (I have to give him credit for committing to the bit, though.) True story: I once dubbed a copy of Dogg Food onto cassette tape for my younger brother, and at the behest of my parents, I left off the two song “sex suite” better known as “If We All Fuc” and “Some Bomb Azz Pussy”, and I always felt bad about it, not because of the censorship (he was only eleven at the time, he probably didn't really need to hear these songs), but because “Some Bomb Azz Pussy” contains what will ultimately become Dat N---a Daz's finest instrumental ever, as it lends a hallucinatory vibe to the the rote concept of fucking on a gangsta rap record. No, seriously: the beat is that good. The lyrics are all terrible: no, I have never wanted to scream “Dogg Pound” after fucking, and I would bet money that none of you two have, either. But the beat trumps everything else on here, hands down.
14. A DOGG'Z DAY AFTERNOON (FEAT NATE DOGG)
Had “Dogg Pound Gangstas” never been recorded, this would have been a perfect replacement as the introductory track. This track, with a title hijacked from Dog Day Afternoon, an Al Pacino flick that's really fucking good, consists of straight spittin', with Kurupt ruling the roost once again, while Daz resorts to diversionary tactics such as sing-songy lyrics and misdirection, but they work together very well. That's kind of the story behind the entirety of Dogg Food, if you think about it.
15. REALITY (FEAT TRAY DEEE)
Over a beat that comes across as a West Coast approximation of what they thought East Coast rappers should be rhyming over, Daz and Kurupt rip shit, and then graciously pass the mic to Tray Deee, one of Snoop's boys who, sadly, had a falling out with him recently. But when Dogg Food was released, it was all love, and Tray kicks an impressive-as-hell verse. They let the instrumental run on well after they've all left the booth, though, which makes this still-really-good track longer than it needs to be.
16. ONE BY ONE
This was boring as shit. That's all I got.
17. SOOO MUCH STYLE
Eschewing the example provided by Dre and Snoop (ending their albums with a harsh, banging beat, such as “Bitches Ain't Shit” and “Pump Pump”, respectively), Tha Dogg Pound stitch up a smooth instrumental to cap off the evening. In the span of this one track, Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin manage to evoke the feel of a time when Death Row Records was just the hottest hip hop record label out, not one that was in danger of imploding because of the interference of the CEO: in hearing this today, I almost wish that the label didn't disband, even though I admit that would be a fucked-up way of treating the original lineup of artists. Runs a bit too long, but this was still an excellent way to end things.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food is an unheralded gem, buried in a discarded Converse shoebox in the backyard of the West Coast. Since labelmates Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg were fielding all of the attention, Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin weren't pressured into keeping up with the Joneses, and as a result, they did so anyway. Unencumbered by Dre's perfectionist ways, Daz handles the majority of the production with a steady hand, bringing listeners his interpretation of G-Funk, one which fits Tha Dogg Pound like a glove, specifically Kurupt, who lyrically shines on Dogg Food like the reflective surface on the mirror that you snort your lines off of. Listening to Dogg Food will allow you to revisit a simpler time in hip hop, before two of the major players were murdered and everything went to hell in a handbasket (whatever the hell that expression means). It isn't a perfect album, and a few of the tracks (especially the two-song “sex suite”) are incredibly difficult to listen to with a straight face, but, at least for this one album, Tha Dogg Pound got it right.
BUY OR BURN? If you're a fan of gangsta rap that actually contains a heavy dose of lyricism, then you should buy this shit. If you're a hip hop historian tracing the careers of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and their extended family, then you should buy this shit. If you're at the grocery store picking up some milk and tampons, then you should buy this shit.
BEST TRACKS: “Reality”; “Dogg Pound Gangstaz”; “New York, New York”; “Smooth”; “Respect”; “Do What I Feel”; “Sooo Much Style”; “A Dogg'z Day Afternoon”; “Some Bomb Azz Pussy” (instrumental only, let's be honest)
-Max
