Tag: West Coast Hip Hop
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G Perico ‘Crip James’ (2024)
Crip James is a sharp album filled with West Coast cool and 70’s funk, basically a mix of Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle and Rick James Street Songs. It’s got the G-funk bounce, a helluva lot of swaggy funk, and a minimalist soulful backbone that makes it a fun ass listen. But what stands out most is…
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Coolio ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ (1996)
“Gangsta’s Paradise” is an absolutely iconic hip hop song for about a million reasons. The stark social commentary. The cinematic production. The haunting orchestral sample from Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise.” The chorus hook delivered by singer LV (whose unforgettable, gospel-tinged hook gives the song a massive spiritual weight). All of the elements for greatness are…
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Dr. Dre ‘2001’ (1999)
Everyone (and I mean everyone) in my age group got a massive hit of nostalgia as soon as they saw this album cover come across their internet browser. To say 2001 was a formative album for anyone in their mid-30’s to their late-40’s is an understatement. This was the album that served as a soundtrack…
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Snoop Dogg ‘Doggystyle’ (1993)
Snoop Dogg’s transition from gangsta rap icon to mainstream celebrity is remarkable. Originating as Calvin Broadus, his partnership with longtime friend Dr. Dre, culminated in the success of his debut album Doggystyle in 1993.
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Dr. Dre ‘The Chronic’ (1992)
The Chronic revolutionized hip-hop and established the G-Funk sound as a defining genre of the West Coast rap scene. Following his tumultuous departure from N.W.A. (which is detailed rather extensively throughout the entire album), Dre sought to carve out his own identity, blending smooth funk samples with hard-hitting beats. The album’s lush production, characterized by…
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Ice Cube ‘AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’ (1990)
Fresh off an acrimonious split with his prior group N.W.A. and riding the wave of massive superstardom that came along with their 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, Ice Cube hit the studio to record his debut solo album. What he delivered in the face of those expectations is largely considered a hip-hop classic. It’s pretty…
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N.W.A. ‘Straight Outta Compton’ (1988)
From the first spoken words of Straight Outta Compton (“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge”) the tone is set. And as the bars unwind, starting with Ice Cube’s iconic opening line (“Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube / From the gang called N**** with attitudes”), to MC Ren’s…
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ScHoolboy Q ‘Oxymoron’ (2014)
When ScHoolboy Q set out to release his first major label record distributed to music retailers (his first two albums were digital only) he had a clear vision of what he was looking to accomplish– a true gangsta rap album in the vein of late 90’s greats like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg that represented…
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2Pac ‘All Eyez on Me’ (1996)
Generation-defining artists like Tupac Shakur naturally get the benefit of contemporary listeners seeing their material with rose-tinted glasses on their material as the years go by. That benefit certainly applies to the final album released during their lifetime as well– that final release is typically put on a bit of a pedestal, even if the…
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Andre Nickatina ‘Conversation With A Devil’ (2003)
Yesterday we discussed Mac Dre’s massive influence on putting Bay Area Hyphy music on the map. In re-listening to that album it brought back a ton of memories surrounding Bay Area hip hop during high school and sent me off on a quest to find a lesser-known rapper I couldn’t immediately place but knew was…
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