That it ended up on a Money Supermarket advert tells you a lot about Snoop and DreвЂ™s journey from folk devils to beloved institution. An imperious updating of the cluttered sound of P-Funk, Who Am I?вЂ™s sound is thick with George Clinton samples, its bassline elastic and supremely funky, its grinding, squealing synths adding a hint of unease. Snoop Doggy Dogg вЂ“ Who Am I? (WhatвЂ™s My Name) (1993)ДЄll the singles taken from Doggystyle are brilliant: the first might be the best.

NWAвЂ™s 1991 album Efil4zaggin is so unremittingly unpleasant that its actual sound gets overlooked: what price skilful beats next to lyrics as foul as those on One Less Bitch? Nevertheless, the beats are a quantum leap on from Straight Outta Compton, as shown on its opening track: a vast, potent patchwork of samples, including a fabulous hook snatched from white funk-rockers Rare Earth.Д¤. Big PunвЂ™s 1998 version of the same rhythm, Twinz, might be even better. As a rapper, heвЂ™s upstaged by Snoop, but itвЂ™s all about the beat, which turns a sample from Sly and the Family StoneвЂ™s joyous Sing a Simple Song into something ominous, overlaid with a double bass and off-key horns. Dr Dre ft Snoop Doggy Dogg вЂ“ Deep Cover (1992)ДreвЂ™s post-NWA solo debut was a ferocious statement of intent. In contrast to G-funkвЂ™s slickness, it sounds slightly ungainly, jerky and off-kilter even вЂ“ as Dre suggested вЂ“ вЂњannoyingвЂќ: the perfect backdrop for Eminem to introduce his disturbing Slim Shady character. ItвЂ™s de rigueur to point out that the sample on My Name Is was played by Chas and Dave more important is how brilliantly Dre uses it. Photograph: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 7. In place of NWAвЂ™s furious screw-you nihilism, it feels equivocal, thoughtful, even troubled by the cycle of street life it depicts, a mood embodied by the mournful Donny Hathaway sample that provides its chorus.

Dr Dre вЂ“ LilвЂ™ Ghetto Boy (1992)Д®asily overlooked amid The ChronicвЂ™s bigger hits, LilвЂ™ Ghetto Boy is the albumвЂ™s emotional centre. The beat could have been on that album, EveвЂ™s rap is suitably tough, but Gwen StefaniвЂ™s chorus is the perfect sweetener: it became a global smash. Eve ft Gwen Stefani вЂ“ Let Me Blow Ya Mind (2001)Дespite DreвЂ™s protestations, Let Me Blow Ya Mind demonstrated how adaptable to pop 2001вЂ™s sound was. If so, itвЂ™s a great soundtrack to the end credits: flurries of strings sampled from FranГ§ois de RoubaixвЂ™s Dernier Domicile Connu (also the source for, of all things, Robbie WilliamsвЂ™s Supreme) and live horns, including an exquisite jazzy solo. The closing track of DreвЂ™s 2015 album Compton sounded remarkably like Dre bidding farewell to his career as a rapper. In Da Club is as about as bleak and omnious-sounding a party-starting banger as it is possible to imagine. That said, 50 Cent sold millions, and at their best his collaborations with Dre have a creepy power. 50 Cent вЂ“ In Da Club (2003)ДЄfter the dazzling invention and technical brilliance of Eminem, DreвЂ™s next superstar protege was a backwards step, with tired gangsta cliches exploiting a lurid backstory. He is effortlessly out-rapped by Eminem вЂ“ whose spectacular guest appearance was later lauded by Kendrick Lamar as the best verse on DreвЂ™s album 2001 вЂ“ but the producerвЂ™s bullish recounting of his achievements is lent weight by how good the music is: the perfect expression of 2001вЂ™s chilly, bare post-G-funk sound. But Fast Lane is amazing: the Curtis Mayfield-esque vocal and lush harmonies crashing against a sinister Dre beat, decorated with an eerie, shimmering organ and crawling analogue synth. In the aftermath of EminemвЂ™s vast success, Bilal made for an unlikely Dr Dre collaborator: a вЂњconsciousвЂќ neo-soul artist, affiliated to QuestloveвЂ™s Soulquarians collective.

He also paid homage to funk pioneer Roger Troutman, whose talk box provides the hook. Like BlackstreetвЂ™s No Diggity, which Dre worked on incognito, California Love is powered by a piano riff вЂ“ this one sampled from Joe CockerвЂ™s 1972 track Woman to Woman. In 1996 Dre wisely fled Death Row, a label about to go horrifyingly out of control, but not before producing one final anthem. How We DoвЂ™s success rests on DreвЂ™s spare, gripping production: a spindly hook endlessly repeated over old-school 808 beats. There was a marked decline in the quality of MCs Dre worked with in the early 00s: 50 Cent wasnвЂ™t anything like as talented as Eminem, and the Game wasnвЂ™t anything like as talented as 50 Cent. Express YourselfвЂ™s use of the bouncy Charles Wright original was a masterstroke, both commercially minded and at odds with NWAвЂ™s relentlessly grim subject matter: even the relatively benign lyrics here are filled with violence. NWA вЂ“ Express Yourself (1988)ДreвЂ™s handful of mid-80s productions for the World Class Wreckin Cru showed promise, but NWAвЂ™s Straight Outta Compton was something else. (from left) DJ Yella, MC Ren, Eazy-E and Dr Dre in 1991.

Dr dre albums 2020