''The Chronic'' is the debut studio album by the American
hip hop producer and rapper
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label
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 ...
and distributed by
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner ...
. Recording sessions took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
and at
Bernie Grundman Mastering
Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer.
He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...
in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
.
''The Chronic'' was Dr. Dre's first solo album after he departed the hip hop group
N.W.A
N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
and its label
Ruthless Records
Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the la ...
over a financial dispute. It includes insults towards Ruthless and its owner, the former N.W.A member
Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...
. It features many appearances by then-emerging American rapper
Snoop 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, " ...
, who used the album as a launch pad for his own solo career. The title derives from a slang term for high-grade
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
, and its cover is an homage to
Zig-Zag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
rolling papers.
''The Chronic'' reached number three on the
''Billboard'' 200 and has been certified
triple platinum with sales of three million copies in the United States,
making Dre one of the top ten best-selling American performing artists of 1993.
[Stephen Holden (January 12, 1994)]
The Pop Life
. ''The New York Times''. Accessed March 24, 2008. ''The Chronic'' spent eight months in the Billboard Top 10.
The album's three singles became top ten ''
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 adverti ...
'' singles.
"
Nuthin' but a ‘G’ Thang" reached number two on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the
Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...
and
Hot R&B Singles
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
charts.
Dr. Dre's production popularized 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.
Charac ...
subgenre within
gangsta rap
Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
. ''The Chronic'' has been widely regarded as one of the most important and influential albums of the 1990s and one of the best-produced hip hop albums.
[Dr. Dre The Chronic Album Info](_blank)
. RapCentral. Accessed March 5, 2008.[Timeline: 25 years of rap records](_blank)
BBC News (October 11, 2004). Accessed April 8, 2008. In 2019, the album was selected by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
for preservation in the
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...
as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Music
Production
The production on ''The Chronic'' was seen as innovative and ground-breaking, and received universal acclaim from critics.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
commented on Dr. Dre's efforts, "Here, Dre established his patented G-funk sound: fat, blunted
Parliament-Funkadelic beats, soulful backing vocals, and live instruments in the rolling basslines and whiny synths"
and that "For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some way by Dre and his patented G-funk."
[ Unlike other hip hop acts (such as ]The Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad were an American hip hop production team known for its work with hip hop group Public Enemy.
The Bomb Squad is noted for its dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. The ...
) that sampled heavily, Dr. Dre only utilized one or few samples per song. In ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
s ''The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time'', where Dr. Dre was listed at number 56, Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
wrote on the album's production quality: "''The Chronic'' is still the hip-hop equivalent to Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
's '' Songs in the Key of Life''. It's the benchmark you measure your album against if you're serious."[Kanye West (April 7, 2005)]
The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time
''Rolling Stone''. Accessed March 9, 2008.
Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the production, writing "The bottom register is swampy synthesizer bass lines that openly emulate Parliament-Funkadelic; the upper end is often a lone keyboard line, whistling or blipping incessantly. In between are wide-open spaces that hold just a rhythm guitar, sparse keyboard chords."[Jon Pareles (November 14, 1999)]
Music; Still Tough, Still Authentic. Still Relevant?
''The New York Times''. Accessed March 18, 2008. Pareles observed that the songs "were smoother and simpler than East Coast rap, and r. Dre and Snoop Doggdecisively expanded the hip-hop audience into the suburbs."[Jon Pareles (July 11, 2000)]
Rap Review; Four Hours Of Swagger From Dr. Dre And Friends
''The New York Times''. Accessed March 18, 2008. Until this point, mainstream hip hop had been primarily party music (for example, Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...
)[Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Biography">Beastie Boys > Biography Allmusic. Accessed April 6, 2008.] or pro-empowerment and politically charged (for example, Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
or X-Clan
X Clan (formerly stylized as XCLAN and often incorrectly spelled X-Clan) is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York, originally consisting of Grand Verbalizer Funkin' Lesson Brother J, Professor X the Overseer, Paradise the Architect, and ...
), and had consisted almost entirely of samples and breakbeats.[Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Biography">Public Enemy > Biography Allmusic. Accessed April 6, 2008.][Andy Kellman. X Clan Biography Allmusic. Accessed April 6, 2008.] Dr. Dre ushered in a new musical style and lyrics for hip hop. The beats were slower and mellower, samples from late 1970s and early 1980s funk music. By mixing these early influences with original live instrumentation, a distinctive genre known as 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.
Charac ...
was created.[
]
Lyrics
The album's lyrics caused some controversy, as the subject matter included sexism and violent representations. It was noted that the album was a "frightening amalgam of inner-city street gangs that includes misogynist sexual politics and violent revenge scenarios".
Most of the N.W.A
N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
members were addressed on the album; Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...
and Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...
were dissed on the second single "Fuck Wit Dre Day
"Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", or as a single titled "Dre Day", is a song by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released in May 1993 as the second single from Dre's ...
", while MC Ren however was shouted out on the album's intro. Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
's dissing of former bandmate, Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...
, resulted in vicious lyrics, which were mainly aimed at offending his enemy with homosexual implications, although it was noted to have "a spirited cleverness in the phrasing and rhymes; in other words, the song is offensive, but it's ''creatively'' offensive".[
]Snoop 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, " ...
, who had a significant role on the album, was praised for his lyrics and flow, and it was mentioned that "Coupled with his inventive rhymes, Snoop's distinctive style made him a superstar before he'd even released a recording of his own"[ and that his involvement was as important to the album's success as its production.][Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Biography">Snoop Dogg > Biography Allmusic. Accessed March 7, 2008.] Touré of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' remarks that "While Snoop delivers rhymes delicately, the content is anything but. Growing up poor, often surrounded by violence, and having served six months in the Wayside County jail outside of Los Angeles (for cocaine possession) gave Snoop Dogg experiences upon which he draws."[Touré (November 21, 1993)]
Pop Music; Snoop Dogg's Gentle Hip-Hop Growl
. ''The New York Times''. Accessed March 18, 2008. Snoop Dogg later commented on the "reality" of his lyrics, stating "My raps are incidents where either I saw it happen to one of my close homies or I know about it from just being in the ghetto. I can't rap about something I don't know. You'll never hear me rapping about no bachelor's degree. It's only what I know and that's that street life. It's all everyday life, reality."[
]
Singles
Three singles were released from the album: " Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Fuck wit Dre Day
"Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", or as a single titled "Dre Day", is a song by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released in May 1993 as the second single from Dre's ...
" and " Let Me Ride".
"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" was released as the first single on November 19, 1992. It peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...
.[ The Chronic – Billboard Singles Allmusic. Accessed March 6, 2008.] It sold over a million copies and the Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
(RIAA) certified it Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
on March 24, 1993.[RIAA Searchable database – Dr. Dre Singles](_blank)
. RIAA. Accessed March 7, 2008. The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 1994 Grammy Awards,[Dr. Dre Timeline](_blank)
. Rock on the Net. Accessed March 22, 2008. but lost to Digable Planets
Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenr ...
' "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)
"Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, '' Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'', in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was ...
". Steve Huey of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
named it "''the'' archetypal G-funk single" and added "The sound, style, and performances of "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" were like nothing else on the early-'90s hip-hop scene." He praised Snoop 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, " ...
's performance, stating " noop Dogg'sflow was laconic and relaxed, massively confident and capable of rapid-fire tongue-twisters, but coolly laid-back and almost effortless at the same time".[Steve Huey. "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" Review Allmusic. Accessed March 6, 2008.] Today it is one of the most critically and commercially lauded hip-hop/rap songs of all time. It is rated the 134th best song of all time by Acclaimedmusic.net, and the sixth best hip-hop/rap song, and voted in a VH1 poll as the 13th best song of the 1990s.
"Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" was released as the second single on May 20, 1993, and like the previous single, it was a hit on multiple charts. It reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.[ It sold over 500,000 units and the RIAA certified it ]Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
on October 8, 1993.[ Allmusic writer Steve Huey stated that the song was "a classic hip-hop single", citing Dr. Dre's production as "impeccable as ever, uniting his signature whiny synth melodies with a halting, descending bass line, a booming snare, and soulful female vocals in the background"][ and alluded to Snoop Dogg, stating "Attitude was something Snoop had by the boatload, his drawling, laid-back delivery projecting unassailable control – it sounded lazy even though it wasn't, and that helped establish Snoop's don't-give-a-damn persona."][Steve Huey. "Fuck Wit Dre Day" Review Allmusic. Accessed March 6, 2008.] The track contains direct insults to rappers East coast rapper Tim Dog, 2 Live Crew member Luke, and Dre's former accomplices Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...
& Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...
.
"Let Me Ride" was released as a cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980.
History
The debut ...
on September 13, 1993. It experienced moderate success on the charts, reaching number 34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number three on the Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...
.[ The song won Dr. Dre Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1994 Grammy Awards.] On this song and "Nuthin but a "G" Thang", ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine noted that Dr. Dre's verses were delivered with a "hypnotically intimidating ease" and made the songs feel like "dusk on a wide-open L.A. boulevard, full of possibility and menace".[
]
Critical reception
In a contemporary review for ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', Havelock Nelson wrote that the album "drops raw realism and pays tribute to hip-hop virtuosity." ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' said that it "storms with rage, strolls with confidence, and reverberates with a social realism that's often ugly and horrifying". Matty C of ''The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
'' claimed that Snoop Dogg's "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 " ...
-esque style" produces "new ground for West Coast MCs" and that the album is "an innovative and progressive hip-hop package that must not be missed." Edna Gundersen
Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who was a longtime music writer and critic for '' USA Today''.
Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Tex ...
of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' found "Dre's prowess as beat-master and street preacher" to be "undeniable". Jonathan Gold of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' wrote that, although the rappers lack "quick wit" and "rhythmic virtuosity", Dre's artistry is "on a par with Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
's or Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...
's." Gold argued that, because Dre recreates rather than samples beats and instrumental work, the finished album's fidelity is not inflected by that of "scratchy R&B records that have been played a million times", unlike productions from East Coast hip hop.
Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the '' Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busine ...
was less enthusiastic in the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'', deeming ''The Chronic'' superficial, unrefined entertainment, while writing that "Dre combines street potency with thuggish stupidity in equal measure." ''Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' critic Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
dismissed it as "sociopathic easy-listening" and "bad pop music" whose innovation—Dre's departure from sampling—is not inspired by contemporary P-Funk
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive f ...
, but rather blaxploitation
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president ...
soundtracks, which led him to combine preset bass lines with imitations of " Bernie Worrell's high keyb sustain, a basically irritating sound that in context always signified fantasy, not reality—stoned self-loss or, at a best Dre never approaches, grandiose jive." He felt that the brutal lyrical threats were vague and lacked detail, but that Snoop Dogg rhymed " drolly" and less dully than Dre. '' Select''s Adam Higginbotham opined that ''The Chronic'' was not as strong as releases from other gangster rap artists such as Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be p ...
and Da Lench Mob and found it neither as "musically sharp, nor as lyrically smart as the latter". His review concluded that the album sounded like "all the pedestrian bits from '' The Predator''", but that it was still better than anything Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred ...
had released.
In a retrospective piece, Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said that ''The Chronic'' and Snoop 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, " ...
's '' Doggystyle'' "made the gangsta life sound like a party occasionally interrupted by gunplay".[ ]AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
's Steve Huey compared Dr. Dre to his inspiration, George Clinton, stating "Dre's just as effortlessly funky, and he has a better feel for a hook, a knack that improbably landed gangsta rap on the pop charts". Rhapsody writer Brolin Winning named the album as "an untouchable masterpiece of California Gangsta Rap" and that it had "track after track of G-Funk gems". In ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it was noted that "Dre funked up the rhymes with a smooth bass-heavy production style and the laid-back delivery of then-unknown rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg." ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine's Josh Tyrangiel states that Dr. Dre created "a sound that defined early 90s urban L.A. in the same way that Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
defined 60s Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
".[ Laura Sinagra, writing in '']The Rolling Stone Album Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'' (2004), said that ''The Chronic'' "features system-busting Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...
beats designed to rumble your woofer while the matter-of-fact violence of the lyrics blows your smoke-filled mind".
Accolades
In 1994, "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" and "Let Me Ride" were nominated at the 36th Grammy Awards, with the latter winning Best Rap Solo Performance for Dr. Dre.[Grammy Searchable database – Dr. Dre]
. Grammy. Accessed March 4, 2008. That year, readers of ''Hip Hop Connection
''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".
History
Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the magazine p ...
'' voted it the fourth best album of all time, leading the magazine to speculate, "In a few years' time, it could even be remembered as ''the'' best rap album of all time."
''The Chronic'' was included in ''Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...
'' magazine's list of the 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century, and the magazine later included it in their list of the Top 10 Rap Albums of All Time, dubbing it a "decade-defining opus". The record was ranked eighth in '' Spin'' magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s", and in 2005, it was ranked at number thirty-five in their list of the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''The Chronic'' at number 138 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and at 37 in their 2020 update. In 2005, MTV Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
listed ''The Chronic'' as the third greatest hip hop album in history. The following year, ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine named it as one of "The All-''Time'' 100 Albums". In a retrospective issue, '' XXL'' magazine awarded ''The Chronic'' a perfect "XXL" rating. ''The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
'', who originally gave the album a rating of 4.5 out of 5 mics in 1993, would later include it in their list of the 100 Best Rap Albums; in 2008, the magazine's former editor Reginald Dennis remarked that he "would have given it a five" in retrospect—the magazine's editors had a strict rule forbidding five-mic ratings at the time—and that "no one could have predicted the seismic shift that this album would produce". ''The Chronic'' is listed in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''.
Commercial performance
As of 2015, the album has sold 5.7 million copies in the United States, and was certified Triple Platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
on November 3, 1993.[RIAA Searchable database – ''The Chronic'']
. RIAA. Accessed March 4, 2008. It is Dr. Dre's second-bestselling album, as his follow-up album, '' 2001'', was certified sextuple Platinum.[RIAA Searchable database – ''2001'']
. RIAA. Accessed March 4, 2008. The album first appeared on music charts in 1993, peaking on the ''Billboard'' 200 at number three, and peaking on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
at number one.Dr. Dre – Discography, Charts and Awards
Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
Allmusic. Accessed March 4, 2008. ''The Chronic'' spent eight months in the Billboard Top 10. The album's three singles became top ten ''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 adverti ...
'' singles.[ Billboard Singles: ''The Chronic'' Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-08-12.] "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and at number one on both the Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...
and Hot R&B Singles
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
charts. "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" became a top ten single on four different charts, including the Hot R&B Singles (number 6) and the Hot 100 (number 8).
''The Chronic'' didn't chart on the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
until 2000, eight years after its original release, and peaked at number 43 in July 2004. It has sold 260,814 copies there. ''The Chronic'' re-entered the charts in 2003, peaking on the Ireland Albums Top 75 at number 48, and on the UK Albums Top 75 in 2004 at number 43.[Dr. Dre – The Chronic Chart Positions]
. aCharts. Accessed March 4, 2008.
Legacy
Having split from N.W.A
N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
, Dr. Dre's first solo album established him as one of the biggest hip hop stars of his era.[ ]Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...
writer S.L. Duff wrote of the album's impact on his status in hip hop at the time, stating "Dre's considerable reputation is based on this release, alongside his production technique on Snoop's Doggystyle" and his early work with N.W.A. Whatever one thinks of the over-the-top bravado rapping, the tracks and beats Dre assembled are beyond reproach". ''The Chronic'' brought 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.
Charac ...
to the mainstream – a genre defined by slow bass beats and melodic synthesizers, topped by P-Funk
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive f ...
samples, female vocals, and a laconic
A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal auster ...
, laid-back lyrical delivery referred to as a "lazy drawl". The album takes its name from a slang term for premium grade cannabis, chronic. The album cover is an homage to Zig-Zag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
rolling papers.[ ]Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
said that, although he "can't stand" it, he respects ''The Chronic'' "for its influence and iconicity".
The album launched the careers of West Coast hip hop
West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the ea ...
artists, including Snoop Doggy Dogg, 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 ga ...
, Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Po ...
, Nate Dogg, and Warren G
Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...
, Dr. Dre's stepbrother – all of whom pursued successful commercial careers.[ ''The Chronic'' is widely regarded as the album that re-defined West Coast hip hop,] demonstrated gangsta rap
Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
's commercial potential as a multi-platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
commodity, and established G-funk as the most popular sound in hip hop music for several years after its release, with Dr. Dre producing major albums that drew heavily on his production style.[Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Biography">Dr. Dre > Biography Allmusic. Accessed March 5, 2008.] The album's success established 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 ...
as a dominant force in 1990s hip hop.[ It has been re-released 3 times, first as a remastered CD, then as a remastered ]DualDisc
The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including Michael Jackson, MJJ Productions Inc., EMI, EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, ...
with enhanced stereo and four videos, and in 2009 as "The Chronic Re-Lit" with a bonus DVD containing a 30-minute interview and 7 unreleased tracks. The singles "Fuck wit Dre Day" and "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" are in best-selling video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''[GTA: San Andreas toasts success]
. BBC News (November 4, 2005). Accessed March 28, 2008.[Jonathan Sidener (September 25, 2007)]
SignOnSanDiego. Accessed March 28, 2008. on the fictional radio station Radio Los Santos
''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' is an open world, open-world, Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. First released on 16 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2, ''San Andreas'' ...
.[Spence D. (October 27, 2004)]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Radio Los Santos
. IGN. Accessed March 28, 2008. On April 20, 2020, the album was distributed across all major streaming services, as it had previously been an Apple Music
Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
exclusive since 2015.
However, on March 13, 2022, both ''The Chronic'' and Snoop Dogg's ''Doggystyle'' would be erased from music streaming platforms and were turned into NFTs.
Track listing
All songs produced by Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
.
Personnel
* Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
– vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
, synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, producer, drum programming, mixing
* Snoop Doggy Dogg – vocals, co-writer
* Lady of Rage
Robin Yvette Allen (born February 6,1966), known professionally as the Lady of Rage, is an American rapper, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with several other Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on th ...
– vocals
* Warren G
Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...
– vocals, drum programing, composer
* The D.O.C.
Tracy Lynn Curry (born June 10, 1968), better known as The D.O.C., is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. In addition to a solo career, he was a member of the Southern hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew and later collaborated with ga ...
– co-writer, vocals
* RBX
Eric Dwayne Collins (born October 8, 1969) better known by his stage name RBX (standing for "Reality Born Unknown"), is an American rapper and songwriter from Long Beach, California.
Early life and education
Contrary to popular belief, Collins i ...
– vocals, composer
* Nate Dogg – vocals, composer
* Dat Nigga Daz
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 gang ...
– vocals, drum programming, composer
* Kurupt
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Po ...
– vocals, composer
* Jewell - vocals
* Colin Wolfe – bass guitar, bass keyboard, co-writer
* Justin Reinhardt – keyboards
* Katisse Buckingham – flute, saxophone
* Eric "The Drunk" Borders – guitar
* Chris Clairmont – guitar
* Bernie Grundman
Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer.
He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...
- mastering
* Greg "Gregski" Royal – mixing
* Chris "The Glove" Taylor – mixing
* Willie Will – mixing
* Ben Butler – producer
* Jewell – executive producer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
* List of number-one R&B albums of 1993 (U.S.)
References
Works cited
*
External links
*
The Chronic
' at Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Parents' Weekend with Dr. Dre: ''The Chronic''
at ''The Yale Herald
''The Yale Herald'' is a newspaper run by undergraduate students at Yale University since 1986. A weekly, the paper aims to provide in-depth, investigative reporting, and includes personal essays, interviews, opinion pieces, culture articles, revi ...
''
*
The Chronic Stream
'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronic, The
1992 debut albums
Dr. Dre albums
Albums produced by Dr. Dre
Death Row Records albums
Interscope Records albums
Cannabis music
Priority Records albums
Albums produced by Suge Knight
United States National Recording Registry recordings
United States National Recording Registry albums
G-funk albums