Chronicles: Death Row Classics [PA]

Performer: Dr. Dre
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Mammothly influential producer and the Godfather of G-Funk, producer/rapper Dr. Dre's best work was on the Death Row label. It was there where he released the West Coast's greatest album, The Chronic, and where he turned a scrappy unknown named Snoop Doggy Dogg into one of the biggest hip-hop stars ever. You just can't call yourself a serious rap fan unless there's a copy of both The Chronic and Snoop's Doggystyle in your collection, and if there is, you're going to overlap this collection considerably. You're really going to get into some serious overlapping if you bought 2002's Dre collection Chronicle: Best of the Works, since the like-titled Chronicles differs by only five cuts. Still, this is amazing G-funk, and putting lesser-known nuggets like the great "Afro Puffs" by the Lady of Rage next to the big hits only makes it sweeter. The artwork here is better than the 2002 release, the liner notes are well done and informative, and if you need a portable collection of Dre's production work, then go for it. If you're keeping up your hip-hop classics, there's not a whole lot here you'll need, and through single-track downloading, you can take care of that for only a couple bucks. ~ David Jeffries

Dr. Dre has dictated the pace of change in West Coast rap more than any other single figure. As DJ/producer for N.W.A., he ushered in a whole new era in rap by adapting the raw sonics of Public Enemy & Boogie Down Productions to the ethos of L.A.'s youth gangs. After the group's split, he expanded his style to include eerie P-Funk synths on his solo releases and those of prot�g� Snoop Dogg. The resulting "G-Funk" sound influenced many other West Coast rap artists. In the late 1990s, Dre found another notable prot�g�, a promising young lyricist from Detroit named Eminem.

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