On this day in Hip Hop history one of rap musics most iconic and recognizable figures, Snoop Doggy Dogg, began his illustrious career releasing his debut LP Doggystyle. With his only prior features coming on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Doggystyle gave a full introduction to an already well liked and familiar character.
Produced exclusively by Dr. Dre, this album solidified the dawn of the G-Funk era. It served as a stark contrast to gangsta rap that was saturating the West Coast at the time. The kush-induced, mellow undertones of this album helped to perpetuate the mood set by The Chronic. As a result, the Californian rap dynasty, Death Row Records, began to rise to power much like it’s east coast rival Bad Boy Entertainment. The album itself is filled with skits that give it a cinematic quality akin to that of Boyz in the Hood. The subject matter and themes throughout give the listener an inside look into Snoop’s life as a young gang-banging rapper from Long Beach, CA. Without losing any credibility, this album helped gangsta rap transition from the gospel of the streets of SoCal to an genre acceptable to play at a house party all across the country.
Commercially, this album was literally the fastest selling debut of all-time (that is until Eminem‘s, an artist also discovered by Dr. Dre, debut the Marshall Mathers LP). It debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart and made appearances on the charts of 10 independent countries, selling 806,858 copies in the first week. In the end the album earned rank of quadruple platinum in the US with millions more copies sold worldwide. The album also spawned two #1 singles, “Gin and Juice” and “Who Am I (What’s My Name)”, both of which are Hip Hop classics.
