Dogg Food

Dogg Food
Studio album by Tha Dogg Pound
Released October 31, 1995
Recorded 1994-1995
Genre West Coast hip hop, Gangsta Rap, G-Funk
Length 71:25
Label Death Row/Interscope
Producer

Dat Nigga Daz
DJ Pooh
Soopafly
Dr. Dre (exec.)

DJ Quik (uncredited)
Emanuel "Porkchop" Dean
Dave Swang
Overdose
Suge Knight (exec.)
Tha Dogg Pound chronology

Dogg Food
(1995)		 Dillinger & Young Gotti
(2001)
Singles from Dogg Food
  1. "New York, New York"
    Released: November 17, 1995
  2. "Let's Play House"
    Released: December 15, 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Entertainment Weekly A[2]
Los Angeles Times [3]
Q [4]
Sputnikmusic [5]

Dogg Food is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Tha Dogg Pound. Its controversial lyrics were the subject of shareholder protest (the album was supposed to be released in July 1995, as a result of the controversy from Time Warner, the release was delayed for three months). The album spawned two singles—"Let's Play House" and "New York, New York", featuring Nate Dogg and Snoop Doggy Dogg, respectively. It landed on the top of the Billboard 200 chart producing a first-week sales of 277,500 albums. Though it eventually sold over 2 million records (2× platinum), Dogg Food did not equal the success of preceding Death Row Records releases (The Chronic and Doggystyle). It is one of the last high-selling and critically acclaimed releases from the label, preceding only Tha Doggfather and 2Pac's albums as an anticipated album, and is the last album to be "officially" produced under the G-Funk (subgenre) era of hip-hop. Though Dr. Dre was Death Row's premier producer, the album was mostly produced by Dat Nigga Daz, Dr. Dre mixed the album; Dogg Food led the way for Daz to become the top in-house producer for Death Row until his departure in the late '90s.

In the months leading up to the album's release, Kurupt appeared on BETRapCity and announced that "Reality" (a song that features Tray Dee) would be the lead single for the album. However, this song was never released as a single for the album.

The video for the second single "New York, New York" sparked some controversy when Snoop appeared in the video kicking down buildings throughout New York. This led to a response record by Capone-N-Noreaga, Mobb Deep & Tragedy Khadafi called "L.A., L.A.", with a music video in which impersonated Dogg Pound members were thrown off the Queensboro Bridge. The trailer of the Dogg Pound was also shot at during the process of making the "New York, New York" video. The song is one of three tracks on the album not produced by Daz, as DJ Pooh provided the beat.

The songs opening track contains a line of disrespect towards rival rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, as Kurupt raps "Ain't Got No Love For No Hoes In Harmony". Picking up from where the beef had previous left off between Dogg Pound mentor Dr. Dre, and Bone mentor Eazy-E. This is consistent with most the Death Row releases up to this point, as the Chronic contains the Eazy E disses on tracks 1 and 2, Snoop's Doggystyle contains the Eazy E disses in a conversation (skit) with Daz, and the Murder Was The Case album contains a Ruthless slight in the track "What Would You Do?"

The track "I Don't Like To Dream About Gettin' Paid" is a remake of an original track recorded by 213 (Snoop, Nate, Warren G) before they were famous, and Nate Dogg appears in the chorus of the track. 213 had two underground songs "I Don't Like To Dream About Gettin' Paid" and "Long Beach is A Mutherfucka" that are still to this day rare and unreleased.

Track listing

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "Intro"  Dat Nigga Daz 0:18
2. "Dogg Pound Gangstaz"  Dat Nigga Daz 5:21
3. "Respect" (featuring Prince Ital Joe, Nancy Fletcher & Big Pimpin' Delemond)Dat Nigga Daz 5:55
4. "New York, New York" (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg)DJ Pooh 4:50
5. "Smooth" (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg & Val Young)DJ Pooh 4:35
6. "Cyco-Lic-No (Bitch Azz Niggaz)" (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg & Mr. Malik)Dat Nigga Daz 4:55
7. "Ridin', Slipin' and Slidin'" (featuring South Sentrelle)Dat Nigga Daz, Dave Swang 4:01
8. "Big Pimpin' 2" (featuring Big Pimpin' Delemond.)Dat Nigga Daz 1:35
9. "Let's Play House" (featuring Michel'le, Snoop Doggy Dogg & Nate Dogg)Dat Nigga Daz 3:24
10. "I Don't Like To Dream About Gettin' Paid" (featuring Nate Dogg)Dat Nigga Daz 5:15
11. "Do What I Feel" (featuring The Lady of Rage)Dat Nigga Daz 3:30
12. "If We All Fucc" (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg)Dat Nigga Daz 3:13
13. "Some Bomb Azz Pussy" (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg)Dat Nigga Daz 4:29
14. "A Dogg'z Day Afternoon" (featuring Nate Dogg)Dat Nigga Daz 2:45
15. "Reality" (featuring Tray Deee)Dat Nigga Daz, Emanuel "Porkchop" Dean 6:16
16. "One By One"  Dat Nigga Daz 5:09
17. "Sooo Much Style"  Kurupt 5:44

Samples

Chart positions

Album

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Tip Top Albums Top Heatseekers
1995 Dogg Food 1 1 21

Singles

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Rhythmic Top 40
1995 "Respect" - 35[A] - -
"New York, New York" - 51[A] - -
"Let's Play House" 45 21 5 30

See also

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Times review
  4. ↑ Q review
  5. ↑ Sputnikmusic review

External links

Preceded by
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
by The Smashing Pumpkins		 Billboard 200 number-one album
November 18–24, 1995 		Succeeded by
Alice in Chains by Alice in Chains