''Dogg Food'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American hip hop duo

Tha Dogg Pound Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip hop duo made up of rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were signed to Death Row Records in their early careers and were key to the label's success. Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting i ...

, released on Halloween 1995. Its controversial lyrics were the subject of

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal ow ...

protest. The album was supposed to be released in July 1995, but as a result of the controversy from

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, the release was delayed by three months. Two singles were released from the album: "

Let's Play House "Let's Play House" is a song by hip hop duo Tha Dogg Pound featuring Michel'le. The song is the second single released from their debut album ''Dogg Food''. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Michel'le make appearances in both the song and the video. The ...

" (featuring

Michel'le Michel'le Denise Toussant (born December 5, 1970), also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s. Her highest charting song is the top ten US Hot 100 hit "No More Lies". Between 2013 and 20 ...

and

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

) and "

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

" (featuring

Snoop Doggy Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...

). It peaked at #1 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of arti ...

chart on November 18, 1995. The album sold 278,000 copies in its first week. It is one of the last high-selling and critically acclaimed releases from the label, preceding only ''

Tha Doggfather ''Tha Doggfather'' is the second studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released on November 12, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records. After the success of his debut album ''Doggystyle'' (1993), Snoop was arrested and charged wit ...

'' and

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

's releases as an anticipated album, and is the last to be "officially" produced under the

G-funk G-funk, short for gangsta funk, is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the late 1980s. The genre is heavily influenced by 1970s psychedelic funk (P-funk) sound of artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic. Character ...

era of hip-hop, with

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre ( ...

' future releases diverging from the style. Though Dr. Dre was Death Row's top producer, the album was mostly produced by

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger (formerly Dat Nigga Daz and commonly Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. In the 1990s at Death Row Records, aided the catapult of West Coast rap and gan ...

, while Dre mixed the album. ''Dogg Food'' led the way for Daz to become the top in-house producer for Death Row until his departure in the late 1990s. The video for the first single, "New York, New York", caused some controversy when Snoop appeared in it kicking down buildings throughout New York. The trailer of Tha Dogg Pound was shot at during the process of making the "New York, New York" video although no one was injured. The song is one of three tracks on the album not produced by Daz, as DJ Pooh provided the beat.

Critical reception

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Know ...

'' wrote that the album "revealed a comparative deftness of touch and a penchant for self-parody largely lacking in he group'smore esteemed colleagues." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' opined that Tha Dogg Pound's "variation on what has become a stale formula is less sample-driven than most gangsta funk; instead, it focuses on the formidable verbal flow and rhyme skills of Daz and Kurupt." ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' wrote that "the music here sounds wonderfully fresh, from the growling synth-bass of 'Smooth' to the dreamy, slightly tropical pulse of 'Big Pimpin' 2'." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference t ...

'' called the album "a low-key, unambitious and only mildly imaginative replay of ''Doggystyle'', rolling over familiar G-funk terrain with the same minimum of venom and violence."

Track listing

Notes *"Dogg Pound Gangstaz" features vocals by Snoop Dogg and Big Pimpin *"Respect" features vocals by Nancy Fletcher, Big Pimpin, and

Prince Ital Joe Joe Paquette (May 5, 1963 – May 16, 2001), better known by his stage name Prince Ital Joe, was a Dominican rapper of reggae and ragga best known for his collaborations with Marky Mark and Death Row Records artists. Prince Ital Joe also did som ...

with additional vocals by Dr. Dre *"New York, New York" features vocals by Snoop Dogg *"Smooth" features vocals by Val Young, Kevin 'Slow Jammin' James, and

Ricky Harris Richard George Harris II (October 5, 1965 – December 26, 2016) was an American producer, actor, and comedian. He was known for his role as Malvo in the UPN/The CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris''. Life and career Harris played his first movi ...

*"Cyco-Lic-No (Bitch Azz Niggaz)" features vocals by Snoop Dogg *"Ridin', Slipin' and Slidin" features vocals by Mz. South 'Sentral and background vocals by Kevin 'K.V.' Varnado *"Big Pimpin 2" features vocals by Big Pimpin and additional vocals by Dr. Dre *"Let's Play House" features vocals by Nate Dogg and additional vocals by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg *"I Don't Like to Dream About Gettin Paid" features additional vocals by Stacey Smallie and Rochelle Wright *"If We All Fucc" features vocals by Snoop Dogg *"Some Bomb Azz Pussy" features vocals by Snoop Dogg, Big C-Style, and Joe Cool *"A Doggz Day Afternoon" features vocals by Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg ;Sample credits *"Intro" samples "The Shalimar" by

The Last Poets The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who be ...

*"Dogg Pound Gangstaz" samples "No Where 2 Hide" by DJ Pooh feat. Threat & Val Young *"Respect" interpolates "

Afro Puffs "Afro Puffs" is the first single released by the Lady of Rage in 1994 from the Death Row labeled ''Above the Rim: The Soundtrack''. The extended, video, and instrumental version on the single samples "Superman Lover" (Intro) by Johnny "Guitar" W ...

(extended remix)" by The Lady of Rage feat. Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg and " Flash Light" by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

*"New York, New York" samples "You're a Customer" by

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. E ...

, " I Can't Dance" by Genesis and interpolates "New York, New York" by

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...

*"Smooth" samples "Batterram" by Toddy Tee, "Tha Shiznit" by Snoop Dogg, and interpolates "

La Di Da Di "La Di Da Di" is a song performed by Doug E. Fresh, who provides the beatboxed instrumental, and MC Ricky D (later known as Slick Rick), who performs the vocals. It was originally released in 1985 as the B-side to " The Show". The song has since ...

" by

Doug E. Fresh Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...

and

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

*"Cyco-Lic-No (Bitch Azz Niggaz)" interpolates " Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)" by Parliament *"Big Pimpin' 2" samples "Big Pimpin'" by Tha Dogg Pound *"I Don't Like to Dream About Gettin' Paid" samples "Love Will Find a Way" by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and record ...

and interpolates Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

br>MusicMatchMusic Video Database
{{Authority control 1995 debut albums Tha Dogg Pound albums Death Row Records albums Albums produced by DJ Pooh Albums produced by Daz Dillinger Gangsta rap albums by American artists G-funk albums