They'd like you to know that although they're from different California cities, they are now together and in "full effect"
Let’s begin with a simple, known truth: I am the last person that should be writing about G-funk rap music. I grew up in the South, in the middle of the country part of the suburbs. I am fundamentally unqualified to say anything about the quality or s***ness of any rap album, much less an album that’s won multiple Grammys, been ranked #6 on the Vibe 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century, the 137th Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone or won a mother f***ing Grammy. Also, I may not have been in the right state of mind to listen to this album the 10 or 11 times that I did.* Honestly, of all the things that I’ve approached as Pop Culture Blind Spots, this one has been the most f****** daunting. There are so many potential pitfalls in reviewing something that’s so revered by so many g** d*** people. It’s definitely the biggest task that I’ve taken on since I originally declared ‘Top Gun’ a s*** movie that’s one step below porn. When ‘The Chronic’ was recorded in June of 1992, LA was just coming to grips with the 1992 LA riots that brought absolute chaos to the streets of the city of Angels. The country as a whole was still trying to process what had brought Los Angeles over the f***** edge of absolute chaos (spoiler alert: you can’t let cops beat spmeone up on video tape and then escape prosecution and expect everyone to be ok with that) and that December Dr. Dre’s ‘The Chronic’ sprung into the mainstream with a vengeance. Before we talk about the actual content of the album, I feel like I need to issue a couple of disclaimers:
- Is the album homophobic? Completely. Dre, Snoop and the others on the album constantly use implied homosexuality as a way to infer that their enemies are somehow immediately less than them. At the end of “F*** wit Dre”, Snoop actually lists out all of the people that he doesn’t like who can s*** a fat d***. I’m not in any way condoning that kind of language anymore than I’m condoning that the best way to deal with those who dis you is to shoot them in the head. Both are wrong but that’s not the point of this post.
- Does the album constantly use a word that I’m uncomfortable with? F*** yes. And it’s not the F word. I’m not even going to say which word it is because as comedian Louis C.K. points out as soon as I call it out, I’m actually forcing your brain to say the word in your head which is actually just passing the terrible swearing baton to you instead of me. Let me just say that I’m not comfortable with anyone using the word but I support Dr. Dre and the others using the word if they’re comfortable with it.
A Brief Synopsis of ‘The Chronic’: After a conflict with the other members of N.W.A. in 1991, Dr. Dre left the group and began producing his first solo album ‘The Chronic’. It’s largely considered to be the album that popularized the G-funk style of West Coast rap with it’s slowed down grooves, incorporation of P-funk (re: George Clinton) melodies and incredibly creepily off-kilter f***** synthesizers. Even now in 2011, I could play a few of the synthesizer riffs from ‘The Chronic’ and they’d be immediately recognizable as pieces of Dr. Dre hits. It’s an album that deals with everything from the party pieces of the West Coast Gangsta lifestyle. It’s an album that makes drastic swings from the comedic (on tracks like ‘ The $20 Sack Pyramid’) to the very tragic (with songs like ‘Lil’ Ghetto Boy’). It’s less a declaration of war on the status quo than a condemnation of it. The three singles ‘Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang’, ‘F*** wit Dre’ and ‘Let Me Ride’ (which all went at least Gold) speak to different aspects of life on the LA streets. One of the best descriptions of ‘The Chronic’ that I’ve read pointed out that it portrays the gangsta lifestyle as a non-stop party that’s sometimes interrupted by gunfire. There’s really no better description of what ‘The Chronic’ serves up. It’s all about the b*****s and weed until the s*** hits the fan and then somebody’s got to go all 187 on somebody else. Also, in the g** d*** middle of it all there’s more than one extended flute solo and a few comedy sketches. It’s a testament to the difficulty of life on the streets of LA at that time when everyone had to make a choice between life on the sidelines or a life that straddled the line between true honesty and crime. It’s really unlike any other album I’ve heard and that’s a very, very good thing. It’s also the album that brought the phrase “Deez Nuts” into the mainstream. So that’s gotta be worth something.
Why is it a PCBS? Really? You’re reading this f***** blog and you’ve never f***** heard of ‘The Chronic’? Outside of the accolades detailed above, ‘The Chronic’ was named one of the Top 10 Rap Albums of All Time by Vibe, one of the top 100 rap albums of all time by Spin and the third greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV. Outside of establishing Dr. Dre as a solo artist it also launched the careers of Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G among others. ‘Nuthin but a “G” Thang” is still considered one of the greatest hip hop songs of all time and has been ruined more than a few times by g** d*** idiots at karaoke bars all across the world. Outside of all of these culturally important reasons that it’s a PCBS, there’s a few more personal reasons that this album falls into the PCBS wheel house. When I think back to music videos that hypnotized me in the summer of 1993, I’m able to remember the video Dr. Dre’s ‘Nuthin But a “G” Thang’. Harken back to those glory days of MTV when they showed videos and felt the need to blur out corporate logos that might appear in them. ‘Nuthin but a “G” Thang’ is one of those videos that you just never f***** forget. From the haunting synth at the beginning of the track to the crazy house party atmosphere that leads Snoop to declare that “it’s like this and like that and like this and uh”, it’s one of those tracks that stays with you forever.
How does it look in the rear view mirror? Honestly, it all looks a bit odd. Since they burst onto the scene in ‘The Chronic’, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg have steadily become less social rebels and more and more mainstream. Snoop Dogg will basically guest on anyone’s track for the right price these days (e.g. Pussy Cat Dolls) and he and Dr. Dre have both become spokesmen for high end products from Pepsi Max to Dre’s own line of premium mother f****** headphones. Listening to these corporate pitchmen rap about how hard life is on the streets is a little hollow but you have to remember that it was recorded almost 20 years ago. The world has changed and Dre and Snoop have managed to successfully changed with it. Ignoring all of that, it’s hard to deny that ‘The Chronic’ wasn’t a f***** blueprint for rap for most of the 90’s and early 2000’s. Since then Dre, Snoop, Warren G and and Nate Dogg have all had success on their own and the roots of rap in 2011 can mostly be traced back to the West Coast movement started by Dr. Dre and ‘The Chronic’. There’s something more interesting that’s come up while listening to ‘The Chronic’ and that’s the idea of an f***** album as a form of protest. In my mind, the greatest example of an album created simply to give someone the finger is Marvin Gaye’s ‘Here, My Dear’ created in response to his wife’s court win requiring him to pay her the residuals from his next album. It’s an album that is soaked in a mix of remorse and disdain. It’s very clear from the beginning that it’s clearly aimed to make someone uncomfortable while also selling albums. To me, that’s the way ‘The Chronic’ feels. It’s an album that’s as much a rebellion against N.W.A. (and specifically Easy E) as it is a chance to showcase the Death Row Records funky a** artists.
Final Thoughts: When it’s all said and done, it would have been much easier for me to say that I didn’t like ‘The Chronic’. But with catchy hooks, a strong social message about the state of LA in 1992 and the seeds for all of the hardcore rap that I’ve loved in the ensuing two decades, it would be a bit disingenuous for me to say that I’m not a huge fan of ‘The Chronic’. A few weeks ago, on my other blog, I wrote about the comfort of continuity and how a continuing story makes every individual episode that much more enjoyable. For me, listening to ‘The Chronic’ is like reading the prequel to the 90’s and early 2000’s. ‘The Chronic’ laid the groundwork for everything from Warren G’s ‘Regulate’ to Chris Rock’s ‘Roll With the New’. Do I approve of all the imagery that Dr. Dre and his friends use on the album? No. Do I think they’re a bit homophobic and misogynistic? Of course. But at the end of the day, they do make me put my hands in the air and wave them around as if I just don’t care. Plus, Snoop is credited with the creation of the word “bootylicious” on this album (although he uses it as a slur against another rapper) and that leads to an awesome Destiny’s Child single years later so you have to support that. Word to the mother f***** streets.
*meaning I was not super, duper high when listening to ‘The Chronic’. Seriously, there’s a part of me that thinks this album would BLOW MY MIND if I were super, crunk ass high when listening to it but let’s face it: I’m 30 years old and that’s just g** d*** f***** irresponsible, you stupid b****.
