Crew Love Pt. 1

"..Ain't nothing but a G thang baby, two loc'd out niggas going crazy, and Death Row is the label that pays me.."
-Snoop Dogg, "Nothing But A G Thang"

Salutations World,

After a much needed hiatus (due to excessive amounts of schoolwork and a budding social life, lol) I am back, and ready to start a series that me and my cohort in blog have been talking about for a while. Over the next few post, we will chronicle the most successful rap crews in hip hop history. Now I know you super hip hop heads will say well what about the crews from the 80's (Boogie Down Productions, etc., etc.)? Well I say to you, did the great BDP sell 50 million albums worldwide? Or how about generate over $750 million in revenues?..

In 1991, super producer Dr. Dre and world renowned goon Suge Knight founded the hip hop heavyweight known as Death Row. And in December of 1992, Death Row released it's first classic, Dr. Dre's the Chronic. This album had hip hop classics such as "Dre Day", "Let Me Ride", and of course..



The Chronic set the mark high for Death Row, and with the signings of Snoop Dogg and ultimately Tupac Shakur, Death Row pumped out hit after hit. Relax as I take you down Death Row memory lane..

From The DogFather's 1993 "Doggystyle":


From Tupac's 1996 Double Disc "All Eyez on Me" (A Hip Hop Classic!):


And Another Shakur classic off of "The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory":


And these are just three of my favorites from Death Row. In hindsight, Death Row actually started the genre of rap that is prevalent in today's music. Yes, N.W.A. broke down the door, but Death Row (Along with Suge Knight) slapped anyone who was standing behind that door. Their smooth beats and equally smooth west coast slow flow is still a sound that is bumped at cookouts from east to west coast. Death Row set the precedent that to be successful in hip hop, you need crew love out the ass. A stable of artist behind you so that if you ever enter in beef, the crew is behind you. Need a hot single, your crew is willing to hop on the track to produce a hit. Death Row records should be embraced for helping usher hip hop into not only the 20th century but the 21st as well.

-Yeezy