Dr. Dre - The Chronic (Album Review)
What up one & all. Sky Bento here on the check-in once again. Big Bento Energy is most definitely in full effect. Hope you & yours are doing good & well.
Let’s get down to business. You know what time it is. Time for the Bento Monthly Retro Album Reivew (patent pending). So far, I’ve only covered New York albums. Now that the sun is out for good (and working overtime for the most part) the weather is perfect to visit an L.A. classic. More than that, this is a classic altogether. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this album influenced some of our greats in a major way despite the famous East Coast-West Coast beef. Chances are a few of your favorite Biggie songs got a slower, smoother feeling beat with either a sample or a high Dr. Dre-esque synth line shrieking in the background. But I digress. Fat shouts out to Rhode Island for finally legalizing weed. Roll some up and let’s dive into Dr. Dre’s seminal 1992 debut, “The Chronic”.
1. The Chronic (Intro) [feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg] - Starting off gangsta. You can’t talk about Death Row without mentioning this album, so let’s give Suge his flowers real quick. He created such a hardcore street aesthetic to back up all of Snoop’s trash-talking. That piercing synth line and that horror movie sounding bass sound like you just turned down the wrong street in the wrong color, and Snoop let’s you know he and Dre feel about all opps. Snoop’s monologue is certainly classic.
2. F**k wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’) [feat. Jewell, RBX & Snoop Doggy Dogg] - And now you get to hear what it sounds like to roll with the Dr. rather than against him. First and foremost, Dre is an architect of a producer. He really perfected the G-funk sound (along with Warren G). Dre’s slow, fat bass just feels like a cookout with the homies. His smooth delivery is perfect to cruise to, but of course the star of the show on the mic is then-newcomer Snoop Doggy Dogg. In these days, he hadn’t yet settled into the more laid-back delivery he’d adopt in his later years, which brings out the brashness of his lyrics even more. This song is the real intro to the Chronic.
3. Let Me Ride (feat. Jewell, Ruben Cruz & Snoop Doggy Dogg) - PERFECT G-FUNK. All of the samples work together like the legs of the food table to hold up and present a true classic. This one got more rattling percussion than the last joint. Dre trades in the synth bass for a bass guitar to amazing results. Whistling synth shrieks are still intact. It all comes together to create Summer in audio form. This feels like the women just got to the cookout. The breakdown before each chorus is the type of immaculate touch only a true architect like Dre was doing in these days. It’s the exact moment everybody waits for to recite before going crazy to the hook. Especially the women. I love it.
4. The Day The N*****z Took Over (feat. Daz, Snoop Doggy Dogg & RBX) - Dre brings us back to the reality rap he started with NWA in an updated, post-LA riot form. Gotta respect Dre talking about bringing Bloods & Crips together for one big riot to tear down white America. It’s a more detailed verse than we usually get from Dre, who more typically focuses on smoother subject matter between Eazy disses (in these days). Daz & RBX pull through with great features, especially RBX’s gruff delivery. He really sells the feeling of a riot.
5. Nuthin’ But A G Thang (feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg) - 1.. 2.. 3 and to the 4. Come on fam. If this don’t scream beautiful weather I don’t know what does. There’s always that one record in these retro reviews where it’s hard to say something that hasn’t already been said. You know what this record feels like. It is the perfect encapsulation of riding down Crenshaw at 11:00 AM with the top down and a fat ass joint. This song owns this sample more than the original does. But the greatest part of the whole song has got to be that synth from the chorus. Those 5 notes ARE L.A.. It’s a beautiful moment in time whenever this record drops at the cookout. The bassline makes it just funky enough for Snoop speeding his flow up to still feel slow. Snoop absolutely steals the show on this one. Not that he let Dre slip, ‘cause if he slips then he’s slipping.
6. Deeez Nuuuts (feat. Daz Dillinger, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg & Warren G) - Legendary intro. I’m so biased toward this record specifically just because of how much my father loved it growing up. He would constantly reference Deeez Nuuuts whenever he could. Which just shows the chokehold this album had on the 90’s. Them drums… AGAIN. But this is notable for being one of the earliest appearances of the legendary Nate Dogg (RIP). While he doesn’t exactly handle hook duties, his refrain at the end shows exactly why so many artists began to tap him for hooks.
7. Lil Ghetto Boy (feat. Daz Dillinger & Snoop Doggy Dogg) - “Dear God, I wonder can you save me.” Snoop Doggy Dogg was the best rapper of ‘92 and everybody knows it. He feels like a music video all over this album. You can see him waking up in his cell and rapping this. His storytelling ability has often been credited to Slick Rick, but here it is all his own. You can really feel the cold harsh reality in his every word. “Things done changed on this side. Remember they used to thump, but now they blast right.” Two samples from two of the best rappers New York has ever seen come from this same song. I think this record in particular hit the East Coast so hard because while carries the same warmth of the rest of the album, it feels cold and more harsh. It could also be the jazzy flute. This record speaks directly to the Black experience, regardless of region. The legacy of NWA’s reality rap continues.
8. A N****a witta Gun (feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg) - You can tell the love for the other coast goes both ways at this point. Dre is really flowing like a New York MC on this if you pay attention. The drum break and scratches hit like 80’s New York rap. You can see why Snoop was mad that it seemed like the East Coast had no love for them at the Source Awards. The bassline even feels like Dre’s take on A Tribe Called Quest with the way it appears to circle around the listener. Despite that, it still feels very uniquely Dr. Dre. The shrieking synth is still there too, although it doesn’t hit a melody like usual.
9. Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat (feat. RBX & Snoop Doggy Dogg) - I wonder what a full Dre beat with that Willie Hutch sample from the intro would sound like. That guitar is just so smooth and calming. But it quickly switches over to a slower old school beat with a chord progression that never really resolves. The bassline leaves you wanting more and some unsettling sampling and poetry slam-esque percussion bring this one all together to lean back into that hardcore gangsta vibe the intro set.
10. The $20 Sack Pyramid (feat. Big Tittie Nickie, Snoop Doggy Dogg & The D.O.C.) - This album has some of the most memorable skits of all time. This likely being the highlight. Smoking one to this album for the first time back in 1992 must’ve been a crazy experience. Every time this dude gets an answer right I lose my mind. All for a $20 sack too. Major Tyrone Biggums vibes. Hilarious through and through.
11. Lyrical Gangbang (feat. Kurupt, Lady of Rage & RBX) - “If you think you’re swift with the gift, Merry Christmas” Please give the Lady of Rage her flowers. This record feels exactly as the title says. Real cypher vibes on this joint. Another high synth to remind us where the f*** we at. Without that (and the accents), you really might think this was New York rap record. The respect Dre had for the East Coast is so obvious, and it’s wild the impact this album would go on to have on the sound of New York in the 90’s. Once again, RBX kills it for me. Especially since the beat drops out when he comes in with his first bar. But dude’s voice sounds right at home on this beat.
12. High Powered (feat. Daz Dillinger, The Lady of Rage & RBX) - I’ve talked a lot about how this project influenced and was influenced by the East Coast… but this reminds me of an old Pimp C monologue on a UGK record. He said hip-hop started in the East Coast, got made a little bit better by the West Coast, and now the South was taking it even further. I say all that to say, this beat feels like a UGK beat. Also, where would hip-hop honestly be without this album. And yet for some reason, RBX doesn’t get his flowers for his contributions. I hear Lady of Rage’s name more than RBX’s when we talk about West Coast rap. But RBX absolutely holds his own or murders every track he appears on. So much so that this track is basically just him, and exactly as Dre describes it: some gangsta ass s*** that you could just kick back and smoke a fat ass joint to. He’s high powered.
13. The Doctor’s Office (feat. Jewell & The Lady of Rage) - “Dr. Dre is with another patient” Another hilarious skit. They really was just putting porn on rap albums as skits back in the day.
14. Stranded On Death Row (feat. Bushwick Bill, Kurupt, The Lady of Rage, RBX & Snoop Doggy Dogg) - R.I.P. Bushwick Bill. The Texas-California connection is strong. Kurupt kills it. Another strong showing from RBX. The Lady of Rage is back. Who could be mad? Well just in case you are, Snoop’s back after taking a few tracks off. You got to retroactively miss him. He may be the most L.A. rapper of all time, but he sounds very good on more East Coast-styled production. Come to think of it, we’ve barely heard Dre’s voice on the last few records. This just shows how much of an architect he is. That or he was really getting busy in his office.
15. The Roach (The Chronic Outro) [feat. Daz Dillinger, Emmage, Jewell, The Lady of Rage, RBX & Ruben Cruz] - And we’re back to the smooth sounds that made Dr. Dre such a household name. Real G-Funk. This is basically another skit, there’s no rapping on it. There is an interpolated Parliament chorus on it, but otherwise it’s just RBX cutting up with the perfect reminder to spark up what’s left of the joint you smoked at the beginning of the album.
16. B*****s Ain’t S*** (feat. Tha Dogg Pound, Jewell, Snoop Doggy Dogg) - The last song had outro in the title, but you cannot call this a bonus track. The album goes out on a high note with one of Snoop’s most legendary hooks ever. Dre returns with a verse finally, but is immediately followed by Daz rapping his ass off. I honestly forget Dre is even on this song. Kurupt snaps. Snoop Eastwood of course kills it. My one gripe is that this legendary record doesn’t have Nate Dogg on it like I always thought it did. That’s the Mandela effect for you I guess. Instead, we have Jewell hitting them notes to close out the album… just kidding, she gets off a quick 8 bars agreeing with Snoop’s original sentiment. Now it has a sense of finality.
Funk really is perfect cookout vibes, so of course Dr. Dre’s gangsta rap flip on the genre hits that same sweet spot. You can play this album from front to back at a cookout (with the homies of course because you might not want your momma to hear the Doctor’s Office skit). You can play this album from front to back in a smoking session. You can play this album from front to back while you’re cruising. No matter what you’re doing, it’s gonna make you feel like L.A. county. This album just makes you see the breeze flowing through palm trees while you palm trees, you feel me? A real deal-Holyfield classic. Thank you for riding through these L.A. streets with me. Hit me on Twitter @plzsaythebento to let me know what classic I should review next or in the future. I’m out. Peace.
