I'm in such a "Death Row" mood right now, well, early-Death Row. I watched their '95 Source Awards performance, and I've been watching the Dogg Pound footage from the DVD rerelease of the '94 hip-hop documentary The Show, plus I've pretty much worn out my Death Row Uncut dvd over the last few months.
Looking at their catalog from their first official release, The Chronic (correct me if I'm wrong), to their latest, Kurupt's Against tha Grain, there are some damn gems in there, a few jumbled "Greatest Hits", some overlooked kick-ass records, plenty of soundtrack releases, official "bootlegs" pretty much (Dogg Pound 2002, Snoop-Dead Man Walkin'), a Christmas album
) ), and a few admitted damn shitty records in there. Anyway, I think it's about time a proper poll was put up; WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE/THE BEST DEATH ROW RECORD EVER?
There's plenty of competition, but after Death Row's popularity waned, I ended up feeling like they could have done so many more killer records. What if Dre didn't leave and he put out The Chronic 2, like he was supposed to, had he stayed? What if Kurupt had put out a proper record when he was at his peak, instead of waiting until he's whatever he is now (it's sad, there's such a drastic change in Kurupt's flow and lyricism, I'm guessing he was/is drugged out like I'm pretty sure Daz is nowadays)? What if Quik had put out a proper Death Row record, had he been able to break his Profile deal? What if Nate put out a proper record instead of what kind of was put out and later jumbled up to make his G-Funk Classics 1-2 record? What if Jewell put out a proper record? What if Danny Boy put out a proper record? What if CROOKED I had put out a proper record? Damn...
Anyway, I'm not including a few records for obvious reasons; The Deep Cover soundtrack was a Solar release, DJ Quik's Safe & Sound, while exec. produced by Suge, was a Profile release, Michel'le's Hung Jury, while now DR has the rights to it, was originally a Priority release. And I'm only including 'Pac's All Eyez on Me and Makaveli in the poll, all his posthumous releases I'm pretty sure majority owned by Amaru/Interscope anyway, right? Except for his "Nu Mixx Clazzics" record, but if you voted for that, you should be drowned. No Greatest Hits records in the poll, either, but if you want to be a dick about it, I guess you can vote for whatever in the other section.
Personally, I voted for Murder Was the Case. As much as I love 'Pac, All Eyez on Me definitely could have been trimmed to one disc, The Chronic has a lot more filler than people want to admit, Dogg Food had filler, but I'm appreciating it a lot more than I used to, and Doggystyle was a close second for me. "What Would U Do", possibly the greatest Dogg Pound song ever, Dre & Ice Cube "Natural Born Killaz", two SICC as hell Snoop tracks, "21 Jumpstreet", and "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit", Quik's single greatest track, "Dollaz & Sense", two great Jewell tracks, one Dre-produced, one Quik-produced, Jodeci, Danny Boy, and Nate comin' hard, Sam Sneed, Slip Capone (& Boss Hogg) and the Young Soldierz impressing me, and really only B-Rezell's track as the one weak track. THE best soundtrack of all-time, in any genre of music, in my humble opinion.
EDIT: I put the poll up on this one, my bad. Also, I don't know if Kurupt's Against tha Grain should count, since Koch released it, and DR is pretty much disavowing it as an official release. Whatever.
Looking at their catalog from their first official release, The Chronic (correct me if I'm wrong), to their latest, Kurupt's Against tha Grain, there are some damn gems in there, a few jumbled "Greatest Hits", some overlooked kick-ass records, plenty of soundtrack releases, official "bootlegs" pretty much (Dogg Pound 2002, Snoop-Dead Man Walkin'), a Christmas album
) ), and a few admitted damn shitty records in there. Anyway, I think it's about time a proper poll was put up; WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE/THE BEST DEATH ROW RECORD EVER?There's plenty of competition, but after Death Row's popularity waned, I ended up feeling like they could have done so many more killer records. What if Dre didn't leave and he put out The Chronic 2, like he was supposed to, had he stayed? What if Kurupt had put out a proper record when he was at his peak, instead of waiting until he's whatever he is now (it's sad, there's such a drastic change in Kurupt's flow and lyricism, I'm guessing he was/is drugged out like I'm pretty sure Daz is nowadays)? What if Quik had put out a proper Death Row record, had he been able to break his Profile deal? What if Nate put out a proper record instead of what kind of was put out and later jumbled up to make his G-Funk Classics 1-2 record? What if Jewell put out a proper record? What if Danny Boy put out a proper record? What if CROOKED I had put out a proper record? Damn...
Anyway, I'm not including a few records for obvious reasons; The Deep Cover soundtrack was a Solar release, DJ Quik's Safe & Sound, while exec. produced by Suge, was a Profile release, Michel'le's Hung Jury, while now DR has the rights to it, was originally a Priority release. And I'm only including 'Pac's All Eyez on Me and Makaveli in the poll, all his posthumous releases I'm pretty sure majority owned by Amaru/Interscope anyway, right? Except for his "Nu Mixx Clazzics" record, but if you voted for that, you should be drowned. No Greatest Hits records in the poll, either, but if you want to be a dick about it, I guess you can vote for whatever in the other section.
Personally, I voted for Murder Was the Case. As much as I love 'Pac, All Eyez on Me definitely could have been trimmed to one disc, The Chronic has a lot more filler than people want to admit, Dogg Food had filler, but I'm appreciating it a lot more than I used to, and Doggystyle was a close second for me. "What Would U Do", possibly the greatest Dogg Pound song ever, Dre & Ice Cube "Natural Born Killaz", two SICC as hell Snoop tracks, "21 Jumpstreet", and "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit", Quik's single greatest track, "Dollaz & Sense", two great Jewell tracks, one Dre-produced, one Quik-produced, Jodeci, Danny Boy, and Nate comin' hard, Sam Sneed, Slip Capone (& Boss Hogg) and the Young Soldierz impressing me, and really only B-Rezell's track as the one weak track. THE best soundtrack of all-time, in any genre of music, in my humble opinion.
EDIT: I put the poll up on this one, my bad. Also, I don't know if Kurupt's Against tha Grain should count, since Koch released it, and DR is pretty much disavowing it as an official release. Whatever.
