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Classic Clash: Doggystyle Vs. Get Rich Or Die Trying

By shelz.

Hip-Hop is full of up-and-comers waiting for their big break.  They dream of the day some industry big wig plucks their mp3 from an email box full of submissions and says “He’s the next big thing!” That dream powers the tireless grind that comes with such lofty ambition. For most of them the dream remains just that.  However, a few have been able to turn that fantasy into their reality. 

The big name co-sign following the street level promo thrusts them into the spotlight.  Then comes the hot collabs, lots of internet interviews and talk of an album.  The buzz becomes deafening, then the journey culminates with the drop of a massively anticipated debut.

Those who have experienced this white hot ride to the top have released albums with varying degrees of quality, but two of the best have definitely been Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle and 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying

The pair had similar back stories. They were both troubled adolescents who got into the drug game as youngsters.  Both were plagued with arrests and tragedy; young lives changes by their introductions with Dr. Dre, Snoop directly while 50 was filtered through Eminem.  Ultimately, the duo were perhaps the two most anticipated releases by solo artists in Hip-Hop history, with arguably only Drakes recent foray earning that much impatience.

Doggystyle was a stylistic extension of The Chronic.  The G-Funk era, initiated by Dre’s first “solo” album took full bloom on Snoop’s debut. The tracks were ornate with samples acting as foundation for live instrumentation.  Layered vocals hovered above while deep sticky bass lines thumped at the bottom and even with the baroque style of Dre’s production, Snoop’s laid back and mellow flow featured prominently.  His buttery voice exuded the intoxication of party and bullshit, but didn’t mute the malevolence of his hardcore gangsta narratives. 

We were used to the angry gangsta rapper bellowing his criminal stories over hardcore beats. Snoop’s matter-of-fact comfort in that same realm was both enjoyable and chilling. As good as Dre and Snoop were in combining head nodding melody with the violent and misogynistic ways of the Cali streets, some feel what Dre and Em crafted on the opposite side of the country was even better.

Snoop Dogg-Doggy Dog World snoop doggy dogg – doggy dogg world

The anticipation for Get Rich Or Die Trying was monumental.  Dre’s cosign would have been enough, but he ceded association with most of 50’s hype to Eminem, choosing instead to man the boards.  The album was more musically diverse than Doggystyle, incorporating some pop construction on the hooks and top 40 friendly offerings.  That pop aesthetic, did very little to dull 50’s street-sharpened edge. 

When he wasn’t posing “21 Questions” to his beloved, he was throwing shade all over, releasing disturbingly comical shot after shot at detractors and rival Ja Rule.  50 made you laugh when you shouldn’t have.  He had you pumping your first at the worst of human behavior and he re-lit the fuses of the gangsta rap hating right and flipped them off with reckless abandon, all under the guise of industry underdog, despite the fact that he had industry heavyweights in his corner.

50 Cent- In Da Club 50 Cent – In Da Club

So who wins out? Will it be the smooth gangsta stylings of Long Beach’s finest or will South Side’s favorite son’s Pop romp through the gutter win out? You decide.

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