The Chronic
Dr. Dre
Death Row,
1992
Reviewed by
Dave Vrabel
Numerous are the seminal musicians and groups that paved the way for a whole
legion of artists after them. Few and far between are those who managed to pave the way
twice. Dr. Dre did just that with his profound 1992 solo debut, The Chronic.
The breakup of the gangster rap sovereigns N.W.A. in the early '90s was an ugly and
tumultuous one, but their groundbreaking 1988 release Straight Outta Compton was
a veritable gangster rap dictionary and certifiable hip-hop classic. While no one doubted
his talent in N.W.A., it came as a surprise that Dre would drop yet another classic just a
few years later, proving that not only that gangster rap was alive and well, but providing
a blueprint for the G-Funk era.
On The Chronic, Dre clearly knows that prime hip-hop is as much about the beat as
it is about the rhymes. He proves his razor-sharp lyrical skills had in no way lost their
edge from his N.W.A days, but takes a different direction production-wise. Gone were the
slamming beats like "Dopeman", which roared out of the speakers with the
authority of any heavy metal record. In came archetypal G-Funk, laid-back, head-bobbing
beats and rich, resonant keyboard loops that became the calling card for hip-hop of the
'90s. Oh yeah, he also gives significant microphone time to a then unknown Long Beach
rapper by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Before Dre's style was bitten by every Joe on the block, in 1992 it sounded completely
fresh, and still does. Over 7 years old, masterworks like "Nuthin' But A 'G'
Thang" and "Let Me Ride" still hold strong as consummate jeep beats and
house party must-haves. "G Thang," the first classic single, eased worries that
Dre may have fallen off after the breakup of his former group, with him and Snoop trading
off Compton-bred gangster boasts ("Showing much flex when it's time to wreck a mic /
Pimpin' hos and clockin' the grip like my name was Dolomite") over a stripped down,
head-nodding beat.
Of course, Dre would be remiss not to take a massive swipe at his enemies, and does so
with intimidating bravado on "Dre Day." The track, as well as the classic video
depicting Eazy-E as a dimwitted sellout and Luke Skywalker of 2 Live Crew fame getting the
baloney colonic, killed any possibility of a reconciliation, with Dre and Snoop firing off
disses like an automatic weapon. Slow and rumbling with bass, Dre had crafted the sound
that would define South Central L.A. for years to come. And now, he's been there and done
that, but without question, he did it the best.
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"Dr. Dre
stepped out from behind N.W.A.'s mixing board with The Chronic, bringing his
'g-funk' gangster-rap to the mainstream."
Jonathan Cohen
- NATN Associate Editor
Related Reviews
Dr. Dre 2001
Related Links
Dr. Dre Homepage
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