Doggystyle Review

The performance is the whole argument. He raps behind the beat, drags syllables like a man being pulled away from a conversation he is enjoying, and never once raises his voice, which makes the violence in the lyrics land stranger and colder than shouting ever could. Gin and Juice is the perfect distillation of that, a party song sung by someone half asleep, and it has not aged a day.

Who Am I is the introduction done as a cartoon, Murder Was the Case is the concept piece that proves he can carry a story, and Lodi Dodi is a cover that improves on a classic through sheer charm. The Dre production is the 1992 sound extended and warmed, more live bass and more space, and the two of them together is one of the great pairings. The misogyny is constant and it costs the record. The ease has never been matched.