Dr. Dre
The Chronic
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NATN Recommended
Dr. Dre
The Chronic
Death Row, 1992
RiYL: NWA, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Ice Cube, Dogg Pound, Warren G |
The breakup of the gangster rap sovereigns N.W.A. in the early '90s was an ugly and tumultuous one, but their groundbreaking 1988 release Straight Outta Compton was a veritable gangster rap dictionary and certifiable hip-hop classic. While no one doubted his talent in N.W.A., it came as a surprise that Dre would drop yet another classic just a few years later, proving that not only that gangster rap was alive and well, but providing a blueprint for the G-Funk era.
On The Chronic, Dre clearly knows that prime hip-hop is as much about the beat as it is about the rhymes. He proves his razor-sharp lyrical skills had in no way lost their edge from his N.W.A days, but takes a different direction production-wise. Gone were the slamming beats like "Dopeman", which roared out of the speakers with the authority of any heavy metal record. In came archetypal G-Funk, laid-back, head-bobbing beats and rich, resonant keyboard loops that became the calling card for hip-hop of the '90s. Oh yeah, he also gives significant microphone time to a then unknown Long Beach rapper by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Before Dre's style was bitten by every Joe on the block, in 1992 it sounded completely fresh, and still does. Over seven years old, masterworks like "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang" and "Let Me Ride" still hold strong as consummate jeep beats and house party must-haves. "G Thang," the first classic single, eased worries that Dre may have fallen off after the breakup of his former group, with him and Snoop trading off Compton-bred gangster boasts ("Showing much flex when it's time to wreck a mic / Pimpin' hos and clockin' the grip like my name was Dolomite") over a stripped down, head-nodding beat.
Of course, Dre would be remiss not to take a massive swipe at his enemies, and does so with intimidating bravado on "Dre Day." The track, as well as the classic video depicting Eazy-E as a dimwitted sellout and Luke Skywalker of 2 Live Crew fame getting the baloney colonic, killed any possibility of a reconciliation, with Dre and Snoop firing off disses like an automatic weapon. Slow and rumbling with bass, Dre had crafted the sound that would define South Central L.A. for years to come. And now, he's been there and done that, but without question, he did it the best.
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