As mentioned two weeks ago when I covered 36 Chambers, there was a slew of albums that I looked forward to in the fall of 1993. The one I (and my brother) awaited most of all was the debut of arguably the most popular artist of that year, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Even with a total of no albums to his name, everyone knew who he was on the strength of his appearances on The Chronic. With Dr. Dre producing it and the momentum Snoop had, Doggystyle was almost a classic in our minds before we’d even heard it.
So on November 23rd (after a few delays), it finally dropped, and shit was nuts. This was the first time I recall everyone knowing what the release date was, and remembering to pick it up that day. I knew this one dude who came to school late that day, because he wanted to hit the mall and buy the tape first. It was just that big of a deal, especially since we’d been lookin’ forward to it for almost a year. I didn’t get to hear it until later that day, when my brother came home from work. As we’d usually do back then, we went in his room and put it on the big stereo. 16 years later, I’m still lovin’ that shit.
Doggystyle was the kinda album that a lot of artists try hard to make, but only a few actually do. It was something that you could play almost any song from and people knew what it was. It wasn’t one of those things that you play and they only know the singles, or only know certain tracks. Almost everyone I knew, from lil’ kids around my way to my oldest uncle, was rockin’ with that entire shit from front to back. It was like every song on there was a single, because joints like “Ain’t No Fun” were almost as popular as “Gin & Juice” was.
I never thought Snoop was the most super-lyrical MC in the world or anything like that. However, that shit only matters but so much when the songs are on the quality level of those on Doggystyle. His strengths weren’t in word-for-word lyricism. They were in his flow and making everything sound just right- something that a lot of rappers still neglect to this day. Snoop and Dre (with assists by Kurupt, Daz, Rage, Nate Dogg, Warren G, etc.) were putting together songs. At a time when artists were still conscious about not being on the pop or R&B side, they followed “pop” guidelines and made hard music with it. That combination worked more than a lotta artists probably knew it could, and it changed the game in that respect.
Doggystyle is almost perfect. The only thing that always irked me a lil’ bit was that I don’t think any album needs TWO intros. Outside of that minuscule gripe, there’s little that I could say on the negative side. I recall reading a few reviews that seemed to call it a disappointment, and one even suggested that it was more of a victory for Dre as a producer than it was for Snoop as an artist. Not sure about all that, but I’d love to hear more “disappointing” albums sound that good, and I do feel this was Dre’s best production work (followed closely by The Chronic and Niggaz4Life).
Snoop Dogg has been on and off ever since, but 1993 was his year- he had everyone checkin’ for him, he made a great album, and he was really one of the first (if not the first) to do astronomical first-week numbers with over 800,000+ sold. Even an impending murder case (which he beat in ’96) wasn’t enough to stop what was goin’ on. Snoop n’nem came correct with every beat, verse, and hook, and it paid off. Even though it was 16 years ago, and he’s managed to stay relevant in pop culture through other songs/endeavors/etc., don’t get it twisted- Doggystyle is the reason he’s here.
“Gin & Juice”
“Lodi Dodi”
“Murder Was The Case”
“Ain’t No Fun” (feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt, & Warren G)
“Doggy Dogg World” (feat. Kurupt, Daz, & The Dramatics)
“G’z Up, Hoes Down”
-D! (get ready for Da Dirty 30 on Wednesday…)
Posted by Danj! 
