Dr. Dre/Chronic Q for the older heads
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
My memory is now shot to pieces but am I crazy for thinking that "The Chronic" was NOT heavily anticipated on the level of other releases in 1992? I wish I had some back issues of "the Source" or "Rap Pages" from that year to consult but except for the generally positive reception that "Deep Cover" received, I don't remember thinking that a Dr. Dre solo project was on everyone's radar as potentially the-greatest-rap-album-ever.
Notably, according to Wikipedia (grain of salt alert!), the first single - "Nuthin but a G Thing" didn't drop until January of 1993 (which is kind of weird; you'd think there would have been a lead single out already but according to Billboard charts that I could find from '92, nope) which means that the album's big big big reception came *after* but not really before.
Of course, my memory is hella hazy and even the people I've asked who I thought would know were equally unsure.
Soulstrut Cloud Memory Banks - what say you? Did you spend the late fall of 1992, counting down the days until "The Chronic"?
Notably, according to Wikipedia (grain of salt alert!), the first single - "Nuthin but a G Thing" didn't drop until January of 1993 (which is kind of weird; you'd think there would have been a lead single out already but according to Billboard charts that I could find from '92, nope) which means that the album's big big big reception came *after* but not really before.
Of course, my memory is hella hazy and even the people I've asked who I thought would know were equally unsure.
Soulstrut Cloud Memory Banks - what say you? Did you spend the late fall of 1992, counting down the days until "The Chronic"?
Comments
It did but "Deep Cover" always struck me as more of an underground joint since 1) (if I recall correctly) it never received a commercial release, at least not on vinyl and 2) Snoop was a total unknown nationally prior to the song dropping - on a soundtrack no less.
I absolutely remember "Deep Cover" being some ill shit but I don't remember people talmbout, "holy shit, this upcoming Dr. Dre solo LP" is going to be game changing!" It wasn't the same hype that preceded "Doggystyle" certainly. In 1992, I remember "The Predator" being much more highly anticipated.
But like I said, my memory of that year is pretty chopped up so I can't remember what I remember.
it's true that the Chronic was out and simmering for a while before MTV broke "G Thang," isn't it?
MTV broke that shit in a huge way. It definitely feels like on the east coast the whole Compton sound was ancient history by that point, so it seemed to come out of nowhere.
:game_over:
never saw these before (didn't have BET in '92) - funny as hell in retrospect.
That's exactly how I remember it, too. Seems funny in retrospect.
I remember more people getting hyped about the Lench Mob album than about The Chronic.
That was a great time here in Austin. We had our own Ray Jackson playing for the Fab 5 up in Michigan...and through Ray we got to watch some of Austin street style catch on. A lot of dudes were dabbling in horticulture already before there were any signs that Dre had quit worrying so much about brain damage. Throw in Snoop who was pretty much immediately elevated to best in the game status...consider that G Thang has very much of a Southern feel to it...and a whole lot of synchronicity occured for a large range of dude right there.
I also recall being on the bus to a basketball game that year, and someone saying to me, "yo, you listening to the Dre album," after it had been out for a few months. My response?
"Nah, I'm on this new 2Pac album... Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z."
"2Pac? Never heard of him."
My most memorable rap moment from that year.
Ironically, Snoop's album became the MOST anticipated that I'd remembered to that point- and most delayed. First album I ever bought the day it came out.
But i dont recall a full Dre album being hyped up when "I can feel It" was on BET everyday.
Was the Chronic project launched immdiately after Deep Cover's love or was it already in the"works" previous to deep cover?
Cause Deep Cover did not seem like some calculated pre album single on a soundtrack that was meant to be a prep/promo device for the Chronic.
I dont recall dudes talbmout " yo Dre is in the studio right now gettin ready to kill shit."
I think it was in the works, regardless. "Deep Cover" was a hot song but it wouldn't have created an entire album in its wake. When Dre went solo, I'm sure he had crazy plans.
BTW: what's really interesting about those "The Chronic" pre-sale ads that I posted above? I think all of them used the beat from "Lyrical Gangbang" (the most "NY-esque" track on the whole album) rather than "Nuthin But" or "Let Me Ride" (i.e. the more G-Funky tunes)
i felt like it was all pfunk rip offs done in poor taste.
now, i celebrate those 2 lps to the fullest., but really the d.o.c. lp is a masterpiece.
ironically nobody gives a shit about detox dropping. dude took 2long.
So at least that means the song was definitely in rotation somewhere prior to it actually becoming a commercial single.
Could u be more specific, cause i dont recall 'G-Funk' being aped to that degree until after the Chronic.
Btwn Deep Cover and Chronic were there any artists Smoothin Out Gangsta shit like that?
As much as i love The DOC, i feel like the better precusor to The Chronic's sound(Dre context/Yella) was Above The Law's first joint.
Where does Quik/Eiht factor into the G-Funk Era? Post or Pre Chronic?
i think Dre's R&B background is what really tipped the scales in terms of production vs the other West Coast dudes makin Gangsta Shit. It was a cleaner production and the party vibe re-found.
Blah blah
The ATL album was much more on some "Lyrical Gangbang" or "Escape From Death Row" tip than "Let Me Ride" or any of the synth-based tracks on "The Chronic." I don't see either DOC or ATL's albums as "precursors." In contrast, "Efil4zaggin" had that synth treatment over quite a few songs even though the "feel" of G-Funk - languid, flowing - wasn't as obvious on that album. But peep what I'm talking about:
As for Quik - "Quik Is the Name" (1991) was on a pre-Chronic West Coast gangsta tip. Can't remember what the next album sounded like but from my recollection, "The Chronic" was a major shift in sound that wasn't heavily predicted by much prior. I mean, straight up, what really sounded like "Nuthin But a G Thing" or "Let Me Ride" pre-93?
I also remember when "Nuthin' But A G Thang" dropped some of my friends called it West coast gangsta garbage and all sorts of things but I could tell it was gonna be huge.
For real - prior to "The Chronic," name one producer-lead album that anyone really gave a f--- about? "In Control Vol 1"? "45 King Presents the Flavor Unit"? Saying.
November 1992, "Nothin but a G Thang" video premiered on BET and changed everything
..i was back and forth from Atlanta and L.A around this time and needless to say shit was HUGE in both places
So, to answer the question...Nobody was anxious about Dre's solo album after "Deep Cover" but after "G Thang" it was a totally different story.... ...i don't even think most people thought Dre was serious about a solo album until that video......
crazy how times have changed....."The Chronic" was released a month later.....today they would have milked that single for fuckin ever
who was "anticipating" the release of this?
My bad. Above The Law was a bad call.
If i recall correctly there was a full page adverstisemnet for the Chronic in the Source. I dont know if it was after Deep Cover, after G Thang, or at the same time it dropped. Im gonna look in the batstash and see what old Sources i held onto.
and i recall a big Snoop interview. But that might have been post Chronic - pre Doggystyle. He might have been on the cover. I recall some photos of dude in the driveway kneeling next to some blue car.
November 1992
So anyway, back to the point, I remember seeing the Source cover and I think maybe a "new shit to check for"-type blurb before that, and wondering about it... then "G Thing" hit. NUTS. I still remember the first time I heard it, at a pep rally early 1993 and the entire damn auditorium just wilding. Shit had already hit the streets, that was just the first time I heard it. Of course, what happened after that is history.
We houser types were generally "over" the gangster shit and already dissing it on tapes but nobody, I mean NOBODY hated on The Chronic. Pretty much everyone jammed that shit.
in 1992, the white suburban mall record store in Auckland, NZ that i worked in was selling Deep Cover like fuckin hotcakes, Yeah we were all hyped for Predator, still listening to NWA, we knew Dre was about to come with the Chronic, we were interested, there was a buzz, but not as big as the Cube buzz.
i remember putting the cd on in the store, we had only ordered something like 100 tapes and 30 cds for the first week, (it was a small store, i had to fight the cocksmoking manager to put that order in too) i started playing it at 1, schools let out at 3 and by 4:30 we were sold out, kids were already 'dubbing' copies at home and selling them in the carpark.
The impact that album had WORLDWIDE was fuckin insane, there we were in NEW fucking ZEALAND, miles away from America, pre internet, disconnected in every way, and that album blew us all away.
soundtrack to one hell of a summer.
Some candidates...
Spice 1 - Spice 1 (1991)
Comptons Most Wanted - Music to Driveby (1992)
UGK - Too Hard to Swallow (1992)
and a bunch of pre-Chronic Houston ish should be considered including Geto Boys, South Park Coaltion, Terrorists, Convicts, Street Military, OG Style, Raheem, etc.
Rap-A-Lot was all over that g-funk sound immediately. Suave House and No LImit were to follow. But yes, even if there were a few random hints at the g-funk sound pre-Dre, the Chronic drove it all home like a mug. It's the undisputed king...."hitting 16 switches like Dre, 'cause where I'm from that's what everybody play"...Pimp C certified.
Mecca and the Soul Brother.
That probably isn't what you mean though. Not enough rappers on it.