Doggystyle: Дебютный альбом Snoop Dogg'а

1993 studio album by Snoop Doggy Dogg
the Snoop Dogg album

Doggystyle is the debut studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was released on November 23, 1993, by Death Row and Interscope Records. The album was recorded and produced following Snoop Doggy Dogg's appearances on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic (1992), to which Snoop contributed significantly. The West Coast style in hip hop that he developed from Dre's first album continued on Doggystyle. Critics have praised Snoop Dogg for the lyrical "realism" that he delivers on the album and for his distinctive vocal flow. The album was certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By November 2015, the album had sold 7 million copies in the United States, and over 11 million copies worldwide.

In 1992, Snoop Dogg came to attention of the music industry through his vocal contributions on Dr. Dre's The Chronic. That album is considered to have "transformed the entire sound of West Coast rap" by its development of what later became known as the "G funk" sound. The Chronic expanded gangsta rap with profanity, anti authoritarian lyrics and multi layered samples taken from 1970's P Funk records. Describing Doggystyle in 1993, Snoop Doggy Dogg likewise points to the album's realism, and the extent to which it is based on his personal experience. He said, "I can't rap about something I don't know. You'll never hear me rapping about no bachelor's degree. It's only what I know and that's that street life. It's all everyday life, reality."

Doggystyle was recorded in early 1993 at Death Row Studios. It was produced in a style similar to The Chronic; some critics called it a "carbon copy". Death Row Records co founder Marion "Suge" Knight stated in 2013 that, "Daz pretty much did the whole album", and that credit was signed over to Dr. Dre for a fee. Snoop Doggy Dogg said Dr. Dre was capable of making beats without the help of collaborators and addressed the issues with Warren G and Daz, stating "They made beats, Dre produced that record". He discussed the track "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)", mentioning that Daz and Warren G brought Dr. Dre the beat but "Dre took that muthafucka to the next level!" Bruce Williams, closely affiliated with Dr. Dre, discussed the recording process during Dre's time at Death Row Records, stating:

blockquote|Dre's going to be the first one in the studio and the last one to leave. He'll start messing with a beat. As the beat starts pumping, the guys start filtering in. Everybody will get their little drink and smoke in. Soon enough, the beat starts to make a presence. You'll look around the room and every cat that was a rapper – from Kurupt to Daz to Snoop – will grab a pen. They would start writing while Dre is making a beat so by the time he's finished with the beat, they are ready to hit the booth and start spittin'. To see those young cats – they were all hungry and wanted to make something dope. The atmosphere that was there, you couldn't be wack. Rolling Stone writer Jonathan Gold described how Dr. Dre produced a beat from scratch to complete instrumental: "Dre may find something he likes from an old drum break, loop it and gradually replace each part with a better tom tom sound, a kick drum sound he adores, until the beat bears the same relationship to the original that the Incredible Hulk does to Bill Bixby". Gold also described how the track progressed with other musicians adding to the song, stating "A bass player wanders in, unpacks his instrument and pops a funky two note bass line over the beat, then leaves to watch CNN, though his two notes keep looping into infinity. A smiling guy in a striped jersey plays a nasty one fingered melody on an old Minimoog synthesizer that's been obsolete since 1982, and Dre scratches in a sort of surfadelic munching noise, and then from his well stocked Akai MPC60 samples comes a shriek, a spare piano chord, an ejaculation from the first Beastie's record—'Let me clear my throat'—and the many layered groove is happening, bumping, breathing, almost loud enough to see."

The album's title alludes to the doggy style sex position and is a reference to the musician's name. The artwork, which was done by artist Joe Cool, represents the themes covered in the album and the style of implementation of those ideas. Some critics believe the artwork portrays a woman merely as a hole to be filled by the man, which they believe adheres to the narcissistic and sexist lyrical themes Snoop Dogg covers. In this interpretation, the cover art and lyrics convey what they refer to as the self indulgent "gangsta" lifestyle, drugs, cars, sex, and money.

Dre's handling of the production was praised by critics. AllMusic writer Stephen Erlewine stated: "Dre realized that it wasn't time to push the limits of G funk, and instead decided to deepen it musically, creating easy rolling productions that have more layers than they appear". He added that the beats were "laid back funky, continuing to resonate after many listens". The ideas put forward through the lyrics include Snoop Doggy Dogg's adolescent urges, as he freely talks of casual sex, smoking marijuana and gunning down rival gang members. Time magazine remarked that the notions "are often unnecessarily graphic; at some points they're downright obscene" and that "the album would have been stronger if such misgivings about the criminal life, as well as Snoop's touches of introspection, had been applied to some of the cruder songs". The album also covered gun play, drug dealing and pimping. The New York Times said that the lyrical concepts were delivered in "crudest, rudest terms". Some critics said Snoop Doggy Dogg was "obsessed with being a 'G', a gangster, a lawbreaker who smokes dope and kills with impunity" and that his lyrics depict the black on black crime in the inner cities. Snoop Doggy Dogg's lyrics depict drugs, alcohol, sex, and money as methods of escape from oppression, but they also show an underside of the "gangsta" lifestyle and the results of following this lifestyle. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart and reached No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles, receiving a Gold certification from the RIAA on February 8, 1994. "Gin and Juice" was the second single released on January 18, 1994. Like the previous single, it was a hit on multiple charts. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks, No. 1 on Hot Rap Singles, and No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart. Even though the single was not officially released in the U. S., it received some radio airplay which resulted in position 19 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. An 18 minute music video was shot for the two songs, with an accompanying Murder Was the Case soundtrack. The video won the 1995 Video of the Year award at The Source Hip Hop Music Awards. "Gin and Juice" was nominated at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap Solo Performance. A bonus track, "Gz Up, Hoes Down", was included in the album's first pressing, but not in later versions because of sample clearance issues. Snoop Doggy Dogg could not gain the rights to use the beats because the record company was not willing to pay license fees for using the samples. "Gz Up, Hoes Down" was later released on the Death Row compilation "15 Years on Death Row". "Tha Next Episode" was listed on the cover, but not included in any pressing. It is considered the original material used for the 2000 Dr. Dre single "The Next Episode" but bears no resemblance to the later song. It was 4 minutes and 36 seconds (4:36) long. "Tha Next Episode" was later released on the Dr. Dre mixtape Pretox under the name "Chronic Unreleased Studio Session", but only 1:10 long. "Doggystyle" featuring George Clinton was a 5:26 long outtake from the album sessions. It is a singing melody with vocals dominating the song and it extensively samples "Oh I" by Funkadelic from their album The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Jewell & The Brides of Funkenstein are featured on the chorus. It is credited with defining West Coast hip hop; shifting the emphasis to more melodious, synth driven, and funk induced beats. About. com stated during the period the album was released, "Gangsta rap never sounded so sweet." The album is credited for further establishment of the slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence on Doggystyle and The Chronic. The problems of sexual violence and sexism are attributed to lyrics degrading women such as "bitches" and "ho's," which some believe have influenced black males. Snoop Doggy Dogg and other hip hop artists, including N. W. A, especially Eazy E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube (due to their success) and 2Pac, have been held accountable for developing the gangsta rap form; a genre which articulated the rage of the urban underclass and its sense of intense oppression and defiant rebellion,

Doggystyle is generally considered Snoop Dogg's best album, in addition to being his highest charting and best selling album as his later albums were certified double Platinum, Platinum or Gold although Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told was certified double Platinum making it his second best selling album and also his only other one to be certified multi Platinum. It differs from following albums as his later work featured production from multiple individuals, such as The Neptunes, Timbaland and Daz Dillinger, with reduced input from Dr. Dre, which shows a shift from G funk production. These releases included three hit singles, "Beautiful", "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Signs". Snoop Dogg was credited for returning to his G funk roots in 2006, which was established with his eighth studio album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006). In October 2022, Snoop announced a spiritual sequel of the album, Missionary, also produced by Dr. Dre. The album is going be released by Death Row Records and Dr. Dre's label, Aftermath. On March 10, 2023, Doggystyle and many other Death Row releases were brought back to streaming services.

Doggystyle was released to widespread critical acclaim. Rolling Stone writer Touré mentioned "Doggystyle is filled with verbal and vocal feats that meet its high expectations. It speeds through 55 minutes of constant talk as if on a suicide hot line". Vibe magazine expressed that "Snoop is no ordinary gangsta; that's impossible for an artist this playful. On his debut, with Dre riding shotgun anthems abound as often as gin soaked debauchery". The Source magazine gave the album a 4/5 mic rating. It said Snoop Doggy Dogg emerged as a rapper who lived up to all the advance hype which came from his work on The Chronic, and discussed songs on the record, stating "If 'Murder Was The Case' is a stroke of near genius, then 'Lodi Dodi' is an example of total genius." The album also received some negative criticism. Erlewine mentioned the album did not "surprise or offer anything that wasn't already on The Chronic". which signifies "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought. At the upper level it may merely be overrated, disappointing, or dull. Down below it may be contemptible." Q Danny Kelly observed: "Snoop Doggy Dogg's record is more or less a 19 track homage to/gleeful rip off of George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog'  It's inclined to become a touch unimaginative; a tad, let's be honest, dull  And the sleeve competes with The Waterboys' Dream Harder and Billy Joel's River of Dreams as the worst attached to a recent release." Despite the initial mixed criticism, critical perception of the album later improved, as Doggystyle has earned several accolades and rankings on critics' "best album" lists. A review of the album's reissue upped Q rating from three to four stars out of five. "A modern classic," observed reviewer Tom Doyle. The Source magazine later gave the album a classic five mic rating. In 2020, "Doggystyle" placed 340 in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time.

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank About. comUnited States 10 Essential Hip Hop Albums 2020340 Rolling Stone (Chris Rock)U. S. Top 25 Hip Hop Albums Ever 20052 StylusU. S. Top 200 Albums of All time 2004115 The SourceU. S. The 100 Best Rap Albums 1998* The New Nation United Kingdom Top 100 Albums by Black Artists 30 Robert Dimery 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2005** denotes an unranked list

Doggystyle debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, powered by spectacular first week sales of 806,000 copies. In the second week Doggystyle remained at the top of the Billboard 200, selling 378,000 copies. In the third week the album dropped to number 2 on the chart, selling 259,000. In the fourth week the album dropped to number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 297,000 copies. In the fifth week the album remained number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 407,000 copies. In the sixth week the album returned to the top of the Billboard 200, selling 270,000 copies, marking Doggystyle's last week at the top of the chart to date. Doggystyle topped the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart for five weeks. Doggystyle first appeared on music charts in 1993, peaking on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums at No. 1. The record was mildly successful in Europe, reaching No. 18 in Sweden, No. 21 in Germany and No. 35 in Austria. It also peaked at No. 25 on the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand album chart. It re entered the charts in 2003, peaking on the Ireland Albums Top 75 at No. 70.

All songs produced by Dr. Dre.

Region Date Format(s) Label Ref. United States November 10, 1993 cassette Atlantic November 23, 1993 Compact disc, CD, LP record, LP Death Row Records, Death Row, Interscope Records, Interscope