90's Gangsta Rap (Why I prefer the West Coast's G-Funk over the East Coast's style)
Aug 16 '03
The Bottom Line Hope y'all appreciate my first Writer's corner topic. I'd recommend you cop the two Albums I praise at the end.
Gangsta Rap is definitely my favorite style of Rap.
Many people widely agree that Rap Music began in the South Bronx of New York City in the late 70's (and for that reason it's called "The Birthplace of Rap"). But it wasn't exclusive to that area for very long, it's popularity quickly spread into other boroughs of the City like Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn and next door in Yonkers. And as legendary Rap DJ Davey D notes, California. He says it best "What many people don't realize is that Cali was up on Rap pretty early on, Too $hort was cutting his first singles in 1982."
There were of course a few good exceptions, but most Rap songs that were commercially successful in the Late 70's/Early 80's dealt only with parties and having a good time. Which is fine, but after a while the topics du-jour were expanded a bit.
Enter Gangsta Rap, Quite honestly I'm not sure exactly where and when the style originated (I don't think many people are). Some say it started in New York, while others believe it was born and bred in California. To state Either one of these opinions would get you in a spirited debate among fans.
By far more realistic than what was popular before it, Gangsta Rap dealt with the more harsh side of living in a rough urban environment. Violence and Drugs are commonplace, and the scenery is not so glamorous. Consequently, many of the rappers living in these conditions developed a tough, menacing persona which is Akin to the Mafia of Yesteryear. Hence the term "Gangsta". I believe it's spelled that way and not the traditional "Gangster" to put a fresh stamp on the word, and to make it their's.
To use as an example, Two artists who strayed from the conventional Rap formula were Slick Rick from New York, and the Group N.W.A (stands for N*ggaz With Attitude) from California respectively. I'll be the first to admit there were probably others who were doing Gangsta Rap before these guys, but for the sake of the Uninitiated I mentioned their names because of well-known status.
In 1989, Gangsta Rap wasn't exactly marketable, a well-known case involves MTV and N.W.A. The network was extremely reluctant to play their videos, because the violent lyrics, and tales of rough street-life would be some viewers worse nightmare. I guess they eventually played the videos, because songs like "Straight outta Compton", "F*ck the Police", and "Express Yourself" rumbling in the lower halve of the BillBoard charts.
This was the Late 80's. Gangsta Rap's popularity was spreading fast to Rap fans living in Rough Neighborhoods, (like myself) but at that point the genre becoming a commercially viable entity in Suburban White America (Who were pre-occupied with Pop-Rap fare from the likes of Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer) was inconceivable, A Long shot at Best.
In my opinion the afforementioned MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice deserve credit because, along with many other before them, Helped build the solid base for Gangsta Rap's commercial dominance.
In 1991, N.W.A Member/Producer Dr. Dre severed ties with the Group. I'm not really sure why he did so, various reports range from him being fed up with their manager, Jerry Heller because it was believed he withheld money from the group to just Dre wanting to try a solo career.
Dr. Dre soon teamed up with Marion "Suge" Knight, a buisiness Savy former Rams defensive player as well as a former bodyguard for Bobby Brown. Rumors surround the man, two of which are that he showed up at the office of Jerry Heeller and Eazy E surround by guys with clubs and threatened to harm them violently if Dr. Dre wasn't freed from his contract. Another one has circulated that Suge held Vanilla Ice upside down by his ankles because Ice didn't give proper credits to the co-writer of "Ice Ice Baby".
With Dre signed to Death Row, they're aspirations were limitless. The label would be a close-knit family, in essence becoming the "Motown of the 90's".
A lucrative deal signed with Interscope Records headed by Jimmy Iovine only helped the cause. THe first musical project the newly-formed label was for the "Deep Cover" film. Dre produced the track, and via recommendation from his stepbrother Warren G, A lyrically gifted MC From Long Beach by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg. The song became a huge hit, and the rest, as they say is history.
Dr. Dre quickly headed into the studio to record his solo debut, "The Chronic". Helping him was a whole slew of talent: Our Lady Of Rage, Warren G, Daz + Kurupt (The Dogg Pound), Soulful crooner Nate Dogg, Snoop and of course Warren G.
An important precedent at least for Dre's career is that his style was style and production methods were improving.
Instead of Rapping about only the Negative Aspects of life in the 'Hood, He developed a style that celebrated the Sleazy, Hedonistic Lifestyle of Being a G, or a Gangsta.
It wasn't a terribly dire life altogether in Compton, you had Barbecues, Swap Meets, and warm Summer Nights.
"The Chronic" was released in 1992. A few of the tracks had Loud, Hard Back beats, but the strongest moments incorporated Whiny Synthesizers, Creative Samples, and smooth backing music, often times with great female backing vocals. Yep you know what I'm talking about here, this style of Rap would become known as Ghetto Funk, or G-Funk for short, this is my favorite Rap type of all time.
Also "The Chronic" Album was a monumental landmark for Rap.
It began a 4 Year Span of the West Coast Rap Scene totally dominating, wiping the floor with the East Coast (Rap's hallowed Birth Ground). The West Coast triumphed during this time both creatively and Commercially (Record Sales).
It was almost a sweet revenge because Some folks back East disrespected The Cali Rap Scene.
Secondly, "The Chronic" was the first time Gangsta Rap totally struck a chord with...Gasp...White America! At some point they tired of Pop-Rap and embraced the Hardness of this music, which to this day I still scratch my head at the prospect. It sent many a chill down Parents spines and after a while Conservative Watch Dog Groups would Jump into the fray. With the help of White America, everything associated with "Gangsta" became mainstream, and the sales of "The Chronic" propelled to the Multi-Platinum Plateau. It also spun off three hit singles "Dre Day", "Let Me Ride", and "Nuthin but a G Thang" the latter nearly topping the charts, peaking at number 2.
"Nuthin but a G Thang" is perhaps one of the of the most well known songs in history, and it made Both Dre and Snoop Household names. It also perfectly encapsulates the G-Funk feel, that opening Bass line makes your head nod without thinking. And the Synthesizers enhance that sweet sound.
Instantaneouly the G-Funk sound was copied by so many others, although the sound wasn't patented, some have argued to me that Dr. Dre did it the best, a statement I actually disagree with.
After hearing so much of him the public's interest in Snoop Doggy Dogg increased, and him, Dre, and "The Chronic's" supporting cast went back to work. In what is still the most anticipated Rap Album in history (With all due respect to Nas, before his folow-up to "Illmatic", "It was Written" dropped he was nowhere near the Megastar that Snoop was). The Recording sessions were a bit lengthy, nothing short of perfect was expected for Snoop, and the crew's rowdy behavior got them booted out of a few Recording studios.
When Snoop's debut "Doggystyle" was released, to me it possesed an Epic-Ness that had never before been heard on a Rap album, maybe that's one of the reasons it debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard album charts, the first time a Rap LP had done that feat.
Some critics complained that "Doggystyle" was basically "The Chronic" Part II I must disagree. The G-Funk on "Doggystyle" was Grander and actually a Step-Above it's predecessor, infusing elements of George Clinton, P Funk Samples, Laid-Back tones, and even more live instrumentation. The moodier tracks were improved. "The Shiznit" was an atmospheric masterpiece that has a goosebump quality to it. And listen to the Guitar on G's And Hustlaz". You hear near-Power Chords!
And 6 months later in late May '94 Warren G released what in my opinoin is the single greatest Rap achievement of all time, "Regulate...G-Funk Era". Now Warren G had seen the success of Snoop and Dre and was hungry for fame. He was actually a member of the Rap Group 213 along with Snoop and Nate Dogg. He was arguably more of an architect for the G-Funk sound than Dre was, who seems to get all the credit, I guess it's an older brother Stigma.
On his debut album G-Funk puts on a spectacle never heard before or since, even Warren himself has been unable to top it.
Two smash singles "Regulate" from the "Above the Rim" soundtrack, which features back and forth verses by Warren and Nate Dogg over a sampled Michael MacDonald song. Sheer Excellence. I still remember where I was when I first heard this song. 5th Gradee. It was free time and we had the radio tuned on. Also notable was "This D.J" which was EVERYWHERE in the Summer of '94. I went over my Grandmother's house in the Suburbs and I heard it playing there on a Top-40 Station! The song begins with a swooning keyboard effect, And immediately captivates you. The Chorus is amazing, with a backing "I like it" being spoken by the G-Child.
And on "Regulate...G Funk Era" a new clique is introduced to us, the tandem of Dion + Dwayne aka The Twinz, Superb Female MC Jah Skills, The Tough voice of OGLB, and the Dove Shack a group which consists of Bo-Rocc, C-Knight (a crooner along the lines of Nate Dogg) and 2 Scoops. They had a slight hit with "Summertime in the LBC" which was on "The Show" Soundtrack, but they never achieved real success, tis a shame all these artists I mentioned should've.
Like I've said before "Regulate...G-Funk era" was THE Album at school, and anyone worth a dime had it playing in their Walkman. Some kids had G-Funk Baseball Caps which were aLso nice.
The Late-Great 2Pac Shakur would continue G-Funk's winning streak, most notably on his album "All Eyez on me" which I regard as his best work. It's an epic, sprawling double album that out-does even Snoop's "Doggystyle".
Unfortunately all good things must come to pass and the West Coast's Reign over the Rap world was no exception, Dr. Dre left Death Row and declared Gangsta Rap "Dead". Suge Knight violated his parole and was sent back to the pokey (jail) and on the night that happened, 2Pac Amaru Shakur was severely wounded by Gunshots while Driving along the Vegas strip with Suge. He died 6 Days later.
On a random note "We Roll Deep" was another great G-Funk song, but it's formula differs slightly, in that it was called "Trunk Funk", because it was from Oakland. This Female Duo had heaps of talent. The afforementioned song consists of a few sections of Up-Beat organs, and I have a good memory, on the May 14, 1994 (Day after Friday the 13th spooky) edition of the Top Ten Rap-Down on Bet's Rap City, the video for the song was pick of the week, right before Snoop's number one and right after the number two slot, Nas with "It ain't hard to tell". As with all pick of the weeks (remember this?) they only show about two minutes of the clip before sedgeqwaying into the number one vid. And the info for each video was very basic, only showing the Artist, Song and Record Label, strangely I liked this better than BET's new format.
Sorry for the Rambling. Not to be outdone, the East Coast also churned out a good amount of Gangsta Rap. As an example I'll mention Mobb Deep, they took a very minimalist approach to their production, with loud-thud drums and scratchy samples, which is a far cry from G-Funk.
It's Gangsta Rap, so themes of violence are to be expected, but Mobb Deep do so in such a Sad, Gloomy way that Doesn't appeal to me as much. I guess it's an acquired taste.
G-Funk is perfect for Summer time cruising around the beach, boom the bass and soulful Rhythms. But if I played "Shook Ones Part 2" in those circumstances it might depress me. Don't get me wrong there's a few Mobb Deep tracks I like, just not the ones in the vein of what I mentioned
Also, West Coast Gangstas display much variety in their Rhymes, they also talk about Partying and having a Good Time, they even crack a smile and laugh while on the mic, not to criticize, but I don't hear that on Mobb Deep's first three albums.
The West Coasts G-Funk was smooth and melodic, while retaining that Gangsta edge, I seldom hear the "Smooth and Melodic" trait in East Coast Gangsta Rap, save for a few exceptions in Biggie's Music.
Some recommended West Coast Gangsta albums (instead of the usual Chronic, Doggystyle etc. here's a few picks:)
Too $hort - "Get in where you Fit In" $hort Dog doesn't actually get enough credit for his creative use of Parliment samples which were a clear influence on Dre and Warren G and paved the way for what followed. Though he's made other great albums, this one captures him at the peak of his Gangsta Rap phase. Employing producer Ant Banks, the whole album's a funk fest. He drops some tougher verses on posse cut "The Dangerous Crew". On the Cover $hort Dog is standing in front of a city's waterside, though I'm not sure which one. The album title is in purple letters. Nice.
The Dove Shack - "This is the Shack". These guys had talent, and the Album covers one of my alltime favorites, they're all chilling on the roof. The rhymes they drop are extremely humorous while they discuss the Gangsta topics Du Jour.
P.S This is the first Write-Up I did that wasn't a direct album review. I'm sorry If UI might've gone overboard and typed too much, again this is my first review, I'm still unsure how to do them. I hope I don't get any "Off Topic" Votes because I think I petrtained to what my title says.
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stretch_nutz69
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Location: Boston, MA
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