Gin and Juice

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“Gin and Juice”
“Gin and Juice” cover
Single by Snoop Doggy Dogg featuring Daz Dillinger
from the album Doggystyle
Released January 15, 1994 (1994-01-15)
Format 12-inch single
Recorded 1993
Genre Gangsta rap, G-Funk
Length 3:31
Label Death Row
95951
Writer(s) Harry Wayne "K.C." Casey
Andre Young
Richard Finch
Calvin Broadus
Producer Dr. Dre
Certification Gold
Snoop Doggy Dogg featuring Daz Dillinger singles chronology
"Who Am I (What's My Name)?"
(1993)
"Gin and Juice"
(1994)
"Doggy Dogg World"
(1994)

"Gin and Juice" is the second single by rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, from his debut album Doggystyle. A Top 10 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, peaking at #8, "Gin and Juice" was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance, and voted #69 in the 100 Greatest Rap Songs.

Produced by Dr. Dre, "Gin and Juice" contains an interpolation of Slave's "Watching You" (the chorus) and a sample of George McCrae's "I Get Lifted" (bassline). Additional vocalists on the song include Dat Nigga Daz, Jewell, Heney Loc, and Sean "Barney" Thomas. Unusual for a hip-hop song, "Gin and Juice" has been covered by other groups, including alternative country group The Gourds in 1996, lounge singer Richard Cheese in 2004, in 1997 ska band The Berlin Project, and comedians Naked Trucker and T-Bones in 2007.

Contents

[edit] Music Video

The song's music video, directed by Dr. Dre, Calvin Caday and Surafel, also producers of Tupac Shakur's Dear Mama, features a simple concept: teenager Snoop throws a wild house party after his parents leave the house. Ricky Harris plays Snoop's father, and Dr. Dre, Warren G, Nate Dogg and Daz Dillinger make cameo appearances. Eleven-year-old rapper Lil Bow Wow plays Snoop's little brother who is jumping on the couch in the intro.

In a scene at the beginning of the video, before cutting to the kids jumping on the couch, Snoop's mother yells at him trying to get him out of bed. This scene was deleted after only a few airings on MTV.

The small-budget idea was later re-purposed in videos such as J-Kwon's "Tipsy" and Oowee's "Why Cry", which features Snoop and is a shot-by-shot remake of the "Gin and Juice" video. The music video was parodied in the video for "DPGK", where Snoop, carried on the front of a bicycle, gets hit by a car driven by B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta, two of Eazy-E's protégés with whom Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre had conflicts at that time.

In April 2005 the video was fourth on MTV2 and XXL's list of the 25 Greatest West Coast Videos.

Before the sports jersey craze hit rappers, Snoop Dogg wears hockey jerseys of the now-defunct Springfield (MA) Indians of the American Hockey League and Pittsburgh Penguins (with the name and number Snoop Dogg 94 on the back) in the video.

[edit] Covers/Alternate Versions

  • The most popular cover of the song is a country rendition (with a decidedly bluegrass sound) The Gourds originally released on their 1998 Gogitchyershinebox EP. It was re-released March 14, 2007 on the full album shinebox. This is often misattributed to Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney and & Garth brooks on the internet
  • A Ska Punk cover was not done by NOFX. It was done by The Berlin Project and released on the album 'Running For The Boarder', released to Compact Disc in 1997 to a limited 2000 pressings. This later went on to do over a million downloads through the start of the mp3 era.
  • Lil' Mo sampled the song in her single "Gansta (Love 4 The Streets)". The B-side of the CD contains a remix with new verses done by Snoop Dogg.
  • Fellow rapper 50 Cent has referenced this song on numerous occasions. In the single "Outta Control" he claims to have people "sippin' on that juice and gin". He quotes the line "We don't love them hoes" in the song "Patiently Waiting" and also mentions that "Snoop said this in '94"
  • The rap group The Coup released an album titled Genocide & Juice, a title which parodies "Gin and Juice".
  • Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered the track in their trademark lounge jazz style on their third album I'd Like a Virgin
  • DJ Felli Fel's "Get Buck In Here" has Ludacris mentions "like Juice and Gin".
  • American Indie Pop band Sissy Bar cover the song on their CD Statutory Grape.
  • Hayseed Dixe have done a Southern Rock cover of Gin and Juice
  • Hot Rod Circuit did a cover of this song for the CD "Punk Goes Crunk."
  • Prince Fatty released a reggae-inspired cover of the song as a bonus track on the 2008 album "Survival of the Fattest."

[edit] Charts performance

Chart Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #8
Hot Rap Singles #1
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks #13
Hottest Gay Love Chart #3
Rhythmic Top 40 #5
Niggaz Beta Then White Charts #3
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales #1
UK singles chart #39
Billboard consolidated all-time Snoop singles #2

[edit] Sources