Doggystyle

Coming fast on the heels of Dr. Dre’s seminal solo debut, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle plays like the sonic equivalent of the night of partying that must inevitably follow The Chronic’s long lazy afternoon of Crenshaw cruising. The Chronic ended on a slightly dark note, with the low-rolling menace and unbelievably casual misogyny of “Bitches Ain’t Shit”, and Snoop Dogg’s debut is shot through with that track’s debauched undercurrent. Though tracks like the unforgettable “Gin & Juice” and “Doggy Dogg World” provide moments of gleeful levity to rival the sun saturated joy of “Nuthin’ But A G’ Thang”, Doggystyle often sounds weary and dopesick where The Chronic was celebratory. Case in point is the epic “Murder Was The Case” which features an uncharacteristically baroque production from Dr. Dre and a relentlessly ferocious rap from Snoop, that finds the normally laid back MC mimicking Scarface’s cold-blooded delivery. Doggystyle’s occasionally gloom-laden atmosphere makes it at least as compelling as The Chronic, and helps to distinguish it from the glut of malt-liquor soaked West Coast party rap that began to appear on the charts in the wake of Death Row’s unexpected commercial ascendance.