Songoftheday 9/26/18 - Gimme the microphone first so I can bust like a bubble, Compton and Long Beach together now you know you in trouble...
from the album The Chronic (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 24
Today's song of the day comes from producer/rapper Dr. Dre, aka Andre Young, who grew up in the suburbs around Los Angeles like Compton, notorious for its gang violence and poor economic standing. Shuttling around between schools before dropping out, Dre got his first big break as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Kru, a breakdance-style troupe which also included friend DJ Yella and future steady Michel'le. With them they scored a moderate hit on the R&B chart in 1988 with "Turn Off The Lights" which peaked at #30 R&B and #84 pop. But by the time this record was peaking, Dre and Yella had already moved on, hooking up with rapper Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and MC Ren to form the seminal gangsta-rap group N.W.A. (N****z with Attitude), which changed forever the sound, look, and geography of the hip-hop culture. Although the group only released two full-length albums during their five years, their influence and importance is immeasurable. Their second album, Efli4zaggin, was the first hip-hop album to top Billboard's album chart, even though their highest-charting single, "Express Yourself", only made it to #45 on the R&B chart. (Mind you, on that single Dre raps how he doesn't smoke weed - important later.) The group did make the pop top-40 in 1990, but as part of the anti-gang violence track "We're All In The Same Gang", which hit #35 and featured many of the California rap stars of the time. He also built up a reputation as a producer, helming successful records from Michel'le, female rap trio J.J. Fad, and solo work from ex-NWA'ers Eazy-E and the D.O.C.
In 1991, after leaving the group to be signed by the new label started by his bodyguard Suge Knight, Dre recorded the title track for the Laurence Fishburne/Jeff Goldblum cop movie Deep Cover. This would pair him with an up and coming rapper, Calvin Broadus, otherwise known as Snoop Dogg, and it went to #46 on the R&B chart. The buzz from that underground burner set both of them for Dre's upcoming solo debut record, The Chronic. (oh yeah, guess the weed thing is gone.) Released in 1992, it's still considered one of the best and biggest debut album from a hip-hop act. The first single from the record was "Nuthin' But A "G" Thang", which pulled no punches in its depiction of life in the ghetto, and even getting Snoop to lead off the verses. With major promotion and an embrace of the song from all kinds of people, it became the first mega-success of the gangsta-rap business, without sacrificing a thing. The main sample on the record was from Leon Haywood's "I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky To You", which hit #15 on the pop chart and #7 on the R&B list in 1975...
"Nuthin' But A "G" Thang" became Dre's first pop hit, reaching the runner-up spot on the American pop chart in March of 1993. The single spent two weeks at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart, while the remixes on the 12" single helped it climb to #22 on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the song was a top ten hit in the UK (#31) and New Zealand (#39). In 1994, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Duo/Group Performance, losing out to the Digable Planets for "Rebirth Of Slick".
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Dre and Snoop performing live in concert...
And next up, the pair on the Soul Train Music Awards in 1994, performing "G" Thang and Snoop's own "What's My Name"...
and lastly, one more concert shot...
By the way, this is one of those cases where you can stream the song on iTunes, but not on Amazon or Spotify. The streaming-only business model is a creative failure in this aspect.
New York girl provide "the sound of a new Britain" producers their last hurrah in the States.
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