It's around that time of year again. July is about to turn into August and for sports fans there's not a whole hell of a lot going on. Baseball is starting to heat up, but there's still a lot of games to be played. I hope the Dodgers get Roy Oswalt, but I don't really see it happening. They need to acquire some sort of starting pitcher(s).
NBA summer league wrapped up over the weekend. I saw way more games this year than I ever have. I obviously have a better opinion of Luke Harangody now. I do think he will have a somewhat solid future in Boston. I think my original assessment of the Minnesota Timberwolves is correct. This team is going to be terrible this year. If Kevin Love and Michael Beasley are your best options, you have problems. Chase Budinger started has career off for me as one of those Brian Scalabrinesque punching bag players. I realized quickly however that he does have a great game and his athletic abilities give him tremendous upside going forward. He should show even more improvement in his second season. Is Eddy Curry's NBA career finally over? Unfortunately, it looks like Michael Redd's is. Bummer about Epke Udoh and David Lee, looks like the Warriors are going to be using a lot of D League Select players again this season. Did John Wall really already win rookie of the year? This Chris Paul mess is kind of ridiculous to me. I think he will be a Knick before the season starts though. I hope he doesn't go to the Lakers. Speaking of which, the Lakers have quietly assembled a team this offseason that might just be better than the Heat. And that is without Chris Paul. They have already added Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Theo Ratliff this offseason. Finally, a Lebron vs. Kobe showdown in the finals? Check out the Nets roster next time you have a second, not exactly the Blueprint for success. Tracy McGrady to the Bulls?
7.23.2010
G-Funk Era
I was flipping through the channels last night and I happened upon the "Welcome to Death Row" documentary on the Fuse network. Whenever I get the chance to I always check stuff like this out. Like a lot of people born in the early 80s, I grew up listening to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. You could say that these were my favorite rappers in sixth grade. Being so young, I don't think I realized how influential and important these musicians were going to be for hip-hop. I don't think very many people at all could have realized how tremendous of an impact this sound was going to have on the music industry as a whole.
1992 was around the time everything really got going. In early 1992, Dr. Dre introduced Snoop Doggy Dogg in the "Deep Cover" video, from the soundtrack to the film of the same name. That movie is worth checking out if you haven't seen it by the way. Anyway, this song basically introduced us all of things to come over the next few years from Dre and Snoop.
Later that year, Dr. Dre released the much anticipated Chronic album. Again, at the time I don't think very many people realized exactly how classic of an experience was going on right in front of them. As a child, I didn't really understand anything beyond the music. I didn't know who Suge Knight was, nor did I really care very much for that matter. I saw and heard things Eazy E said about getting royalties from The Chronic, but I didn't really understand what all of that meant at the time. By the time the winter of 1992 rolled around, I was in sixth grade, playing as much basketball as possible at the Monroe YMCA. By now rap music was providing my everyday soundtrack. When I couldn't get them myself, I would dub a lot of tapes from friends. I remember getting a lot of cassingles back then, too. One of them being Nuthin But A G Thang. Most of the videos released are similar on this record, simple shots of Dre and Snoop creating some sort of mischief throughout Los Angeles. While these videos introduced the world to Snoop and Dre, everyone who bought the Chronic was also introduced to Lady of Rage, Daz, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg.
There were several other great musical releases during the G-Funk Era, but only The Chronic is a perfect record. Eighteen years later, all of the music on here still sounds fresh to me. All of the artists mentioned in this post have gone on to do their own separate things in the music and entertainment industry. Snoop has released several albums and has become somewhat of an actor, most notably appearing in Half Baked, Training Day and Starsky and Hutch. The Lady of Rage unfortunately only released one album. She has done a handful of acting roles since then and recently was featured on the Eternia and Moss album "At Last." I hope that her run on Rock The Bells this summer will make her release another album. Kurupt and Daz remain active, although their relationship in Tha Dogg Pound seems to have soured (and desoured) over the years. Nate Dogg has obviously had his share of recent health problems. He has become one of the more respected voices in hip hop over the years, being featured on just about every release imaginable over the last two decades. I haven't heard anything noteworthy from Warren G since Regulate. I did walk across the street from him after he played here in 2000 though.
At some point, Detox is going to come out. I wouldn't be all that suprised to see most of the supporting cast from the Chronic feature on there at some point. While I do want to hear this record as much as the next hip hop fan, I am not really as excited about it as I was five years ago. Nothing will ever be on the level of the Chronic again, not from Dre or anyone.
While the production on The Chronic is on its own level, there are a couple other sadly overlooked groups from this era and more specifically from the very same region. The first group, Above the Law actually had some of their early work produced by Dr. Dre. I remember seeing their tapes around back in the day and skipping right past them. Groups like this are influential to the G-Funk sound in the same way that groups like Outburst and Absolution were important to the NYHC. They might not be the first groups people mention, but that doesn't mean they don't have a catalog full of bangers.
Another good west group from this period that probably wasn't quite as overlooked is Compton's Most Wanted. What is interesting about CMW is that they were mainly around at the same exact time as NWA. They fell off around the time The Chronic was released, as MC Eiht pursued a solo career as a rapper and an actor (Menace II Society). CMW has however released a few releases over the last fifteen years. None are as good as their first two records though.
Finally, I think it is great to leave you with a video from one of the great ghost writers of the G Funk Era. If he hadn't had vocal cord troubles, he would be one of the great MCs rather than ghost writer extraordinaire. Anyway, I'm not sure how many of you knew where "Y'all ready for this" came from either, so if you've read this all the way through, you now have received a small reward.
1992 was around the time everything really got going. In early 1992, Dr. Dre introduced Snoop Doggy Dogg in the "Deep Cover" video, from the soundtrack to the film of the same name. That movie is worth checking out if you haven't seen it by the way. Anyway, this song basically introduced us all of things to come over the next few years from Dre and Snoop.
Later that year, Dr. Dre released the much anticipated Chronic album. Again, at the time I don't think very many people realized exactly how classic of an experience was going on right in front of them. As a child, I didn't really understand anything beyond the music. I didn't know who Suge Knight was, nor did I really care very much for that matter. I saw and heard things Eazy E said about getting royalties from The Chronic, but I didn't really understand what all of that meant at the time. By the time the winter of 1992 rolled around, I was in sixth grade, playing as much basketball as possible at the Monroe YMCA. By now rap music was providing my everyday soundtrack. When I couldn't get them myself, I would dub a lot of tapes from friends. I remember getting a lot of cassingles back then, too. One of them being Nuthin But A G Thang. Most of the videos released are similar on this record, simple shots of Dre and Snoop creating some sort of mischief throughout Los Angeles. While these videos introduced the world to Snoop and Dre, everyone who bought the Chronic was also introduced to Lady of Rage, Daz, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg.
There were several other great musical releases during the G-Funk Era, but only The Chronic is a perfect record. Eighteen years later, all of the music on here still sounds fresh to me. All of the artists mentioned in this post have gone on to do their own separate things in the music and entertainment industry. Snoop has released several albums and has become somewhat of an actor, most notably appearing in Half Baked, Training Day and Starsky and Hutch. The Lady of Rage unfortunately only released one album. She has done a handful of acting roles since then and recently was featured on the Eternia and Moss album "At Last." I hope that her run on Rock The Bells this summer will make her release another album. Kurupt and Daz remain active, although their relationship in Tha Dogg Pound seems to have soured (and desoured) over the years. Nate Dogg has obviously had his share of recent health problems. He has become one of the more respected voices in hip hop over the years, being featured on just about every release imaginable over the last two decades. I haven't heard anything noteworthy from Warren G since Regulate. I did walk across the street from him after he played here in 2000 though.
At some point, Detox is going to come out. I wouldn't be all that suprised to see most of the supporting cast from the Chronic feature on there at some point. While I do want to hear this record as much as the next hip hop fan, I am not really as excited about it as I was five years ago. Nothing will ever be on the level of the Chronic again, not from Dre or anyone.
While the production on The Chronic is on its own level, there are a couple other sadly overlooked groups from this era and more specifically from the very same region. The first group, Above the Law actually had some of their early work produced by Dr. Dre. I remember seeing their tapes around back in the day and skipping right past them. Groups like this are influential to the G-Funk sound in the same way that groups like Outburst and Absolution were important to the NYHC. They might not be the first groups people mention, but that doesn't mean they don't have a catalog full of bangers.
Another good west group from this period that probably wasn't quite as overlooked is Compton's Most Wanted. What is interesting about CMW is that they were mainly around at the same exact time as NWA. They fell off around the time The Chronic was released, as MC Eiht pursued a solo career as a rapper and an actor (Menace II Society). CMW has however released a few releases over the last fifteen years. None are as good as their first two records though.
Finally, I think it is great to leave you with a video from one of the great ghost writers of the G Funk Era. If he hadn't had vocal cord troubles, he would be one of the great MCs rather than ghost writer extraordinaire. Anyway, I'm not sure how many of you knew where "Y'all ready for this" came from either, so if you've read this all the way through, you now have received a small reward.
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