Ain't
Nuthin But a G Thang sound clip
Former N.W.A. producer Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young) is credited with moving away from the sampling noise and political stance of Public Enemy and the party vibes of old-school rappers such as Sugarhill Gang.
Dre got involved in hip-hop during the early 1980s, performing at house parties and clubs with the ovscure funk group World Class Wreckin' Cru. During his N.W.A days, Dre was never considered much of a rapper. His rhymes were bad and his delivery was slow and clumsy, but he had earned immence respect from critics and artists alike as a producer.
After his departure from N.W.A in 1992, Dre released his first solo single, Deep Cover. The record would be the debut of his G-Funk style, a mixture of funk classics (as in gangsta funk), and the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg.
With the first release on his Death Row Records, The Chronic (1993), this former producer could claim to have changed the face of hip-hop. Three straight Chronic hits were accompanied by Dre-directed videos evoking an idyllic gangsta lifestyle (the title is an alias for marijuana).
Death Row Records would later produce many hit albums by rappers such as Snoop and Warren G. The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996 when Dre became frustrated with his partner, Suge Knight. Dre would go on to form another label, Aftermath.
Introduced to the world with Dre's The Chronic, Snoop Doggy Dogg (b. Calvin Broadus) quickly became one of the most famous rap stars of the '90s. His arrest as an accomplice to murder only hieghtened the implications that his violent lyrics were real. He was found not guilty.
Snoop' rapped on The Chronic as much as Dre, and his drawled lyrics were as important to the album's success as Dre. While he enjoyed quick stardom and success from The Chronic, Snoop's debut solo album The Doggfather was lost on the majority of listeners as rap fans had become burned out on gangsta rap.