Released only a month after Straight Outta Compton (1988), Eazy-Duz-It was the first N.W.A spin-off album. Review Summary: Eazy-E’s prevailing ‘hood nigga’ mentality, vulgar sense of humor, and storytelling abilities make Eazy-Duz-It a gangsta rap classic.Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs. Probably should have added something about the Dre beats somewhere in here too…huh…?Įazy-E’s (practically) patented voice and his gangsta lyrics made him a lovable figure within the scope of rap, but not so loved outside it. He and his Ruthless cohorts were hated by middle-to-upper class America for their violent, sex-craving, drug-obsessed, bleak outlook on life. ![]() But as Eazy said, “I don’t give a f*ck.” With some help from the N.W.A crew, Eazy-Duz-It is a great solo debut effort from the E.Įazy E’s whiny, nasally, teenager voice was a staple of his rapping style. This style probably helped him gravitate to his comically inclined, but gangsta lyrics – “Take out the security guard, with the strap in my hand/Yea he’s wearing a badge but he’s just an old-ass man” –as it just somehow fit the mold.Ĭombine that with his smooth, uptempo flow, his rapping style was a favorite amongst hip-hop fans. Never the lyrical wiz, Eazy-E more often than not, relied on his story-telling abilities to compensate for that. Nobody Move, Boyz-N-The-Hood (Remix), and Chapter 8 Verse 10 are all examples of this, as he tells tales of an armed robbery, life in Compton, and a driveby (respectively) full of vivid images. In addition to that, early in his career – before N.W.A broke apart – Eazy-E had lots of firepower on the boards. Dre produced the entire album (with some help from DJ Yella.) Rather than the typical, chill G-funk Dr. Dre beats, all the tracks on the album are of the same typical West coast gangsta rap format in terms of sound. However, rather than being slow-moving, they are uptempo, matching Eazy-E’s rapping style. The high speed, drum-tastic beat of 2 Hard Mutha’s and roaring bass, frequent claps and twinkly synths of Boyz-N-The-Hood (Remix) are just two examples of this.įor my conclusion, rather than giving a long, drawn out, detailed reiteration of the summary, I’m going to substitute it with the following. Dre’s last great moment with the world-conquering label he and Suge Knight co-founded. New signee 2Pac, one of hip-hop’s first great workaholics and a pioneer for rap’s “make 1,000 songs” model of studio profligacy, chafed at Dre’s perfectionist tendencies. ![]() (He also spent some time in prison on drunk-driving charges, an experience that he later said forced him to clean up his lifestyle.) Despite behind-the-scenes tensions, “California Love” immediately became the kind of party starter that, 20 years after its release, can still set a dance floor on fire.ĭre, for his part, plotted an escape from Death Row, alarmed at the label’s increasingly wayward drift. Dre ingeniously mixed Roger Troutman’s talk-box vocals with an interpolation of the well-worn B-boy break of Joe Cocker’s “Woman to Woman.” The combination gives the song a classic feel a blend of East Coast sample sensibilities and West Coast funk vibes that went unnoticed during the height of hip-hop coastal tensions. And with his deep, authoritative voice, he matches 2Pac’s more antic, fire-breathing delivery. “I’ve been in the game for 10 years making rap tunes/Ever since honeys was wearing Sassoon,” he boasts on this essential West Coast anthem.ĭre had already launched a modest comeback with his work on Snoop Dogg’s fan-favorite “B Please,” and Eminem’s multiplatinum debut, The Slim Shady LP. Yet the stakes couldn’t have been higher for the sequel to his masterpiece, The Chronic. So he recruited East Coast rap god Jay-Z to ghostwrite lyrics for the first single of what was initially known as Chronic 2000. (Counterprogramming moves by friend-turned-foe Suge Knight led Dre to change the title to Chronic 2001, and finally just 2001.) “At first, he wrote about diamonds and Bentleys,” Dre told Blaze magazine in 1999. ![]() Jigga sat for 20 minutes and came back with some hardass, around-the-way L.A. shit.” While Dre renders Jay Hova’s rhymes about hittin’ corners on Lo-Lo’s in his distinctive baritone cool, he collaborated with rising producers Scott Storch and Mel-Man to craft an easygoing stride-piano rhythm that cruises at an impressively low hum. “Guess who’s back?” Dre announces, yet he sounds like he isn’t breaking a sweat about it.Īs Eve of Destruction, Philadelphia rapper Eve Jeffers was one of the first artists signed to Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. I just wanted my album out, but I didn’t know who I was as an artist, and I think Dre works really good with artists who know their own directions,” she told XXL magazine in 2004.
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