620 Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)

 620 Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)

Studio Album - Rap



About the Act:

Snoop Dogg, who at the time went by Snoop Doggy Dog is a west coast rapper, record producer, business-man actor and all of those sorts of things that seem to go together for successful rap artists. He has sold an incredible number of records, appeared in many films and tv shows and even a stage play. He is credited with being one of the founders of G-Funk, a west coast laid-back sub-genre of Gansgta Rap. At various times in his life he has had times in jail and brushes with the law (mostly connected with cannabis and occasionally other drugs), professed support for politicians, got behind the vegan movement, declared himself to be in The Nation of Islam, a Rastafarian and a Born Again Christian. He has also claimed to have worked as a pimp.

About the Album:

This was Snoop's first album, which was largely produced by the legendary Dr Dre. Snoop appeared heavily on Dr Dre's influential album The Chronic, not long before this album was created. It is regarded as a seminal album for rap, and G-Funk in particular. It sold very well, very quickly. It features a good old cast of guests.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Musically, this album is about as good as rap gets. There's some nice, soulful and somtimes funky samples used, the beats are good. There's some nice use of vintage-sounding synth noises. Everything's kind of cool and flows well. It appealed to my musical ear pretty well to be honest. I wish all rap albums were are nice as this.

The rapping - when people talk about rap they often use the word "flow". I find it hard to describe, but the flow here seems quite relaxed and laconic, although sometimes there's quickfire syllables. There is definitely skill here in the delivery. I can get behind that.

Lyrically, it's pretty close to being as bad as rap gets. There is a particular focus on demeaning women and glorifying borderline abusive sexual encounters, with a real bravado about not getting emotionally involved. This is coupled with glorification of other things, mainly violence and drug use. So, Snoop claims he can only rap about what he knows. This basically makes him sound like a reprehensible human being. He also recognises that he is a role model. The general consensus seems to agree with him, and also to think that as a role model his influence is largely negative. This is all a real shame for me. Without a hint of irony, the album is littered with bad words and ideas, delivered in a really attractive way. It's like putting poison in a pretty glass bottle. The smooth casualness just makes it all the more vile.

3/10, 

and that's taking into account how much I like it musically.


Spotify & Youtube: Find it yourself if you must, I'm not going to help you. 

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggystyle



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