13 West Coast Rappers Talk About Their Favorite Song On Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle"

On the 20 year anniversary of "Doggystyle," we ask some of the West Coast's finest what they remember about Snoop's all time classic.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Today is the 20 year anniversary of Snoop Dogg's debut album, Doggystyle. Along with albums like N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton, Dr. Dre's The Chronic, and 2Pac's All Eyez On Me, it remains a West Coast classic and one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart by selling a whopping 802,858 copies in its first week and would go on to sell over five million copies. By the time the album came out, Snoop Doggy Dogg (his moniker at the time) was already a star—he had established himself as the main voice of Dre's masterpiece The Chronic the year before—but with Doggystyle Snoop was well on his way to become the legend he is today.

However, the album didn't just change Snoop's life. It changed the lives of hip-hop fans everywhere, but especially hip-hop fans on the West Coast. To celebrate the anniversary of the album, we spoke with 13 West Coast rappers—from veterans like B-Real of Cypress Hill to younger acts like Casey Veggies and Iamsu!—about what their favorite song was off the album. So light one up and pour out some gin and juice because it's a celebration bitches! G's up and—well you know the rest...

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Nipsey Hussle

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"My favorite song on the album is 'Doggy Dogg World' with The Dramatics. It was some smooth street shit, he had some classic old school legends on it. He was on some young boss player shit, but it was still gutter. It was like innovative shit because he was an artist that was street but he was rapping on some smooth, jazz, R&B type of shit.

"The day it dropped, you heard it. Snoop was already popping off of Dr. Dre's The Chronic, so Snoop was already the nigga. I never bought the album until I got older. We were so young when it came out, like six or seven, so we weren't really in the buying demographic. But I knew every song because it was everywhere, I didn't have to buy the album to hear every song. You walked outside your house, you're going to hear all these cars drive by playing the record. You go to your homie's house, he's going to have the video on TV. Somebody pick you up, they playing it in their car. Snoop was the hardest nigga in the world.



The music, the melodies, the sound—you can be casually doing something else and the music will grab you. Some songs you really got to focus on to listen to. That's the main difference between what becomes commercial versus what says niche or underground.


"I still listen to it. When I first got my deal, I went in and listened to all of The Chronic, Doggystyle, all of the classic West Coast albums for reference again to refresh my memory. I was trying to figure out why they were so big when they came out. I learned a lot from the second listen.

"What Dre did is he figured out how to make music that you don't have try to listen to to catch. The music, the melodies, the sound—you can be casually doing something else and the music will grab you. Some songs you really got to focus on to listen to. That's the main difference between what becomes commercial versus what says niche or underground. Some of that shit, you got to focus on listening to.

"Dre and them was figuring out how to make big melodies and hooks and songs where you could be shopping and that song will grab your ear. Also, there was a lot of set up records, where artists just had to fall in and be himself in-between. That's what made a lot of those early Death Row Records big, they had damn near had a commercial formula to gangsta rap."

B-Real

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YG

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"I was three-years-old when it came out, but I remember all them records growing up. I been playing a lot of them old classic albums, so I respect how they put the whole album together. They had everything on lock. I respect that because I'm an artist and I see that's how hard you got to work to get all that. They ran shit for years. He probably had a whole lot of people change their lifestyles because after they heard that album, they started doing what he was talking about. He influenced a lot of artist. Dre did this thing.



We still got our little gang bang swag, Chuck Taylors and all that. But when Snoop was cracking, it just looked perfect because they had everything together.


"The album shaped West Coast culture. You know how Miami known for cocaine? New York is known for drug dealing and rap? The West Coast, our culture, is known for gang banging. So, how they was dressing is how most people on the West Coast was dressing already because everybody was gang members. People still wear khakis and all that, but it's different right now. We still got our little gang bang swag, Chuck Taylors and all that. But when Snoop was cracking, it just looked perfect because they had everything together. It was just the right timing for everything. Shoutout to Snoop, he already know what it is. We working."

Casey Veggies

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Kreayshawn

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"'Ain't No Fun' is one of the best songs on there because it still has the sound of today, that sound has just been recreated all the time. My mom would be playing the album around the time she was playing a lot of George Clinton. It was cool to me because I knew George Clinton was old school and Snoop Dogg was newer, but they kind of had that same style—that funk sound. Funk is definitely something that's been missing in a lot of West Coast artist's music today. It would be cool if we brought back a little more funk. I know Snoop was inspired by George Clinton so its cool that I got to make that connection when I was younger.



Meeting him was definitely like meeting the man, the myth, the legend Snoop Dogg. I got to smoke with him and he definitely smokes so much weed. I remember I had to tap out at one point. I was like, 'How does he do this?'


"My mom was the one who introduced it to me because she was the one who always showed me music before I could find it on my own on the Internet. I remember I would look at the art for it. That was a big thing when I was younger, looking at the dirty cartoons. I was probably like eight when I first saw it and heard it and was able to be like, 'Oh, I know this.' I might of heard when It came out, but I definitely didn't know it was Snoop Dogg.

"Meeting him was definitely like meeting the man, the myth, the legend Snoop Dogg. I got to smoke with him and he definitely smokes so much weed. I remember I had to tap out at one point. I was like, 'How does he do this?' He's like rolling a blunt as he's sparking a blunt, at the same time. Snoop Dogg is like the most recognized person in hip-hop. If you ask someone who doesn't listen to hip-hop, like a 60 year old woman, even she would literally be like, 'That's Snoop Doggy Dogg.'"

Problem

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Sage The Gemini

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Iamsu!

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"My favorite song at the time was 'Lodi Dodi.' It was like throwback and I just liked the sound of it. I'm a huge Snoop fan, so I was already digging what Snoop did. So, I was going back listening to all the albums, even Doggfatherand all that No Limit stuff.



I didn't get to listen to it when it first came out. But I stole an iPod when I was a sophomore or junior in high school and it was on there, so that's I really got plugged in.


"I flipped 'Gin and Juice' once but it was hella wack, because someone flipped it right after me. I posted it online, which was a mistake. Next thing I know, I see it's somebody else's single and I was trying to put that on my album. I still might do it though."

"When Doggystyle came out I was like three-years-old. So, I didn't get to listen to it when it first came out. But I stole an iPod when I was a sophomore or junior in high school and it was on there, so that's I really got plugged in. It was tight how they put the story together from the bathtub intro, the skits, the interludes. It was like a movie. The production was crazy. I got a chance to perform with Snoop at the L.A. Powerhouse last year. He brought me and E-40 out and we did 'Function.' I got a chance to tell him I'm a fan, that was crazy."

Kid Ink

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Andre Nickatina

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A-Plus of Souls of Mischief

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"I cannot remember the first time I heard the album but I know it was before it came out. It was one of those industry things where some A&R or industry person I knew—most likely either Dante Ross, Sophia Chang, or my main man Domino—who had the cassette tape of the album early and I got a copy.



I'd already been drinking and smoking and experimenting with shrooms, acid, and MDMA—yes it was available then squares—but I had never had gin and juice.


"What I do remember is that 'Gin and Juice' took off on the radio either right after or just before the album released. I remember being flabbergasted that the radio people had reversed the words. I thought that it was very ridiculous to me and it hurt my ears because I was used to the album version.

"I'd already been drinking and smoking and experimenting with shrooms, acid, and MDMA—yes it was available then squares—but I had never had gin and juice. So I tried it and didn't really like it, but drank it anyway because it was 'cool' to do since Snoop said it. That's my story."

Ty Dolla $ign

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Dom Kennedy

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"My favorite song on Doggystyle is 'Ain't No Fun.' This song reminds me of growing up in L.A.and going to house parties in the mid '90s. It was my homie Phillip Johnson's (RIP) favorite song to play before we went out to a party. Didn't matter if it was World on Wheels, a house party in South Central or a school function, we played that song at least three times before we went.



Where I'm from, Snoop is bigger than Elvis.


"My first memory of listening to Doggystyle is hearing all the older people I knew that could buy parental advisory albums playing it. Everybody had this album, it was everywhere. Great artwork by Joe Cool made it easy to spot the album cover in someone's house or car. I don't remember actually owning this album till I was older. That's when I realized the genius in it, the skits, hooks, and samples on this album are flawless. The Dogg Pound at its best.

"Meeting Snoop and talking with him for the first time it makes sense—he was born to be who he is. I had him sign a vintage poster for my son because where I'm from, Snoop is bigger than Elvis."

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