I was in NYC and me and my friends weren't really checking for Dre too hard. One of my boys was working at some label at the time and he used to get promos of all the new releases, he played The Chronic for me for the first time that fall/winter of 92 and I definitely wasn't feeling it. I was way way more into the more typical East Coast stuff that had come out that fall like Stunt's Blunts & Hip Hop or Reel to Reel. It took a few months of listening for The Chronic to really connect with me, and even then I think it was more because Snoop was so compelling. By the next summer we were all the way into it though, and the anticipation for Doggystyle was as big as any LP I can remember from that time period. I remember that Doggystyle finally dropped the week of Thanksgiving, and my friends and I drove our girlfriends nuts by listening to it on repeat all the way thru our Thanksgiving party and dinner, ha ha...
snoop and Dre ha a source cover and full feAture too iirc.
I have it in a box here. I'm pretty sure it came out right afte deep cover. I know snoop was lookin mad young. The cover was black and snoop had on a pendelton if I remember.
And yes, out here on the west the mere mention of a Dre solo album had people trembling with anticipation in '91.
I remember the Deep Cover being pretty popular, but really I don't really think there was a huge excitement for the Dr Dre solo. It seems like people were more interested in the rappers from NWA. Ice Cube was huge. Eazy E or MC Ren solo albums would have been at least as hyped. .
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.
I remember the Deep Cover being pretty popular, but really I don't really think there was a huge excitement for the Dr Dre solo. It seems like people were more interested in the rappers from NWA. Ice Cube was huge. Eazy E or MC Ren solo albums would have been at least as hyped. .
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.
Marley's album.
Interesting. For me, I only can remember two songs off that - "The Symphony" & "Droppin Science" - and then I draw a blank on everything else.
But my larger point is that producer-driven albums didn't really carry a big aura until later in the '90s (in no small part due to "The Chronic"). That's certainly not for shortage of talent but rather, the recording industry (and listeners) hadn't put producers on that kind of pedestal outside of a few small exceptions.
In any case, I heart this whole thread and people's contributions to it.
i can't really speak on the hype before the chronic dropped, but when nuthin but a g thang hit mtv i was 7 years old. being a white kid from the chicago suburbs, i instantly fell in love. watching that video was like visiting a different world and it was so different than the other rap being played on mtv at the time. i remember going to school and all these little white kids bugging out over the chronic, talmbout snoop this and snoop that.
the chronic had REACH.
[euromang] Did the rather strange Red Eye remix ever get listened to when the single dropped?
If the og had never existed, the Red Eye mix might have seemed quite good in a quirky, native-tongues production-style way, but I suppose it's completely redundant... never heard it mentioned anywhere, just wondered if anybody has any views on it.[/euromang]
Comments
snoop and Dre ha a source cover and full feAture too iirc.
I have it in a box here. I'm pretty sure it came out right afte deep cover. I know snoop was lookin mad young. The cover was black and snoop had on a pendelton if I remember.
And yes, out here on the west the mere mention of a Dre solo album had people trembling with anticipation in '91.
Marley's album.
Interesting. For me, I only can remember two songs off that - "The Symphony" & "Droppin Science" - and then I draw a blank on everything else.
But my larger point is that producer-driven albums didn't really carry a big aura until later in the '90s (in no small part due to "The Chronic"). That's certainly not for shortage of talent but rather, the recording industry (and listeners) hadn't put producers on that kind of pedestal outside of a few small exceptions.
In any case, I heart this whole thread and people's contributions to it.
the chronic had REACH.
One of my favourite west coast LP's, along with Low profiles debut.
:feelin_it:
No doubt. Summer 1993 will always be the summer of The Chronic.
That tape was on everywhere you went, all the time.
that summer was hot as fuck and wild as hell.
Opinions on which album to cop from them?
"I turned around and then I looked at my crew ... "
If the og had never existed, the Red Eye mix might have seemed quite good in a quirky, native-tongues production-style way, but I suppose it's completely redundant... never heard it mentioned anywhere, just wondered if anybody has any views on it.[/euromang]
From the '92 UK release
http://www.discogs.com/Dr-Dre-Nuthin-But-A-G-Thang/release/226726
IIRC, their albums after "Livin' Like Hustlers" are kind of uneven. They definitely got some jams though.
Like this one, "V.S.O.P.", from "Black Mafia Life":