"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is a song by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

, featuring fellow American rapper

Snoop Doggy Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, on Dre's debut solo album, ''

The Chronic ''The Chronic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records along with Interscope Records and distributed by Priority Records. The recording ses ...

'' (1992). Released in January 1993 by

Death Row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, 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 ...

and Priority as the album's first single, it reached number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on March 20, 1993, behind "

Informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

" by

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

. It outperformed ''The Chronic''s other singles, " Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", which peaked at number eight, and "

Let Me Ride "Let Me Ride" is a song by American rapper and producer Dr. Dre, released in August 1993 by Death Row, Interscope and Priority as the third and final single from his debut studio album, ''The Chronic'' (1992). It experienced moderate success on ...

", which peaked at number 34. The single also reached number-one on ''Billboard''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 ...

chart, and was a number 31 hit in the UK. Its music video was directed by Dr. Dre himself. The song was selected by the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as one of the

500 songs that shaped rock and roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. ''XXL'' magazine named it the top hip-hop song of the decade. The song samples "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" by

Leon Haywood Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American funk and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1975 hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been frequently sampled by ...

. In June 1994, it was reissued in certain European countries.

Background

Dr. Dre has stated that

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

initially brought in a cassette tape with demo tracks recorded by Snoop Dogg for Dre to listen to. Upon putting the tape in, Dre was impressed enough to the point where he felt the two of them had to meet. After meeting Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre asked him to come up with lyrics for a beat he'd been working on, which he planned to use as a featured track for ''The Chronic''. Around this time, Snoop was serving jail time for a charge of attempted murder and recorded the original version of the song's vocals while making a pre-paid call from a prison phone. Dr Dre stated that “The original version of Nuthin but a 'G' Thang, he called in and I take the receiver of the phone to the mic. You can hear jail sounds in the back and everything, he's ''“1, 2, 3 and to the 4…”''”.

Critical reception

Peter Paphides Peter Paphides (born 1969 as Panayiotakis Paphides or Panayiotis Paphides) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Early life Paphides was born in Birmingham to a Greek Cypriot father, Chris, and a Greek mother, Victoria. He has an elder bro ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' commented, "The thing that makes Dr Dre's music so ace (in the case of "Nuthin' but a G Thang") is the fluidity of the rhymes and a salubrious touch of

swingbeat New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry L ...

arrangements that sweeten the blow of the lithe, luminous rhythm section. The subject matter — a slimy soliloquy on how Dre and guest rapper

like their woman — is best taken with a pinch of salt." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Diagnosing this case—assisted by his protege Snoop Doggy Dogg—the doctor has made a very radio friendly slow rap song. Our prescription; to be taken daily 10 times." Mark Sutherland from UK magazine ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it two out of five, saying, "Dr Dre, on the other hand, really ''is'' hard. You can tell by the way he swears, refers to girlies as "bitches" and gets real-life toughguy Snoop Doggy Dogg to rap over his slow 'n' sleazy

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

. All of which helped it sell two million copies in the States, but still doesn't make it a good record. In fact, it ain't nuthin' but a load of old rubbish, but don't tell the Doc I said so."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", directed by

, depicts Dre coming into

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

to pick up Snoop and go to a block party. Mingling at the party, they perform the first verses with a

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

cookout and a game of

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

nearby. A female player's (Mercedes Ashley) bikini top is pulled down by "T-Dubb", an original member of the Long Beach rap group

Foesum Foesum is an American hip hop group whose members included T-Dubb, MNMsta and DJ Glaze. They recorded an album on Penalty/Tommy Boy Records called ''Perfection'', released on October 22, 1996. History In 1986, DJ Glaze and MNM created a DJ cre ...

, exposing her

breasts The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

. For the next verses they go inside the house. A small sequence of events shows a snobbish female party-goer humiliated by being sprayed with shaken-up malt liquor. The video ends with Dre dropping Snoop off back at his house, with Snoop staggering up the driveway. The

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

edit censors nudity, drug paraphernalia,

with a

blunt Blunt may refer to: * Blunt (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Blunt (cigar), a term used in the cigar industry to designate blunt-tipped, usually factory-rolled cigars * Blunt (cannabis), a slang term used in cannabis cult ...

, copyrighted logos, a

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

ball cap, and screen text. Many artists appeared in video, including

The D.O.C. Tracy Lynn Curry (born June 10, 1968), better known by his stage name the D.O.C., is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Along with his solo career, he was a member of the Southern hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew, and later co-wr ...

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...

, RBX and

Suga Free Dejuan Walker (born January 17, 1970), better known by his stage name Suga Free, is an American rapper. Biography Suga Free was born in Gardena and moved from Oakland, CaliforniaWhitburn, Joel (2005) ''The "Billboard" Book of Top 40 R&B and H ...

In popular culture

*The song was featured on

Radio Los Santos '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' is an open-world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. First released on 26 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2, ''San Andreas'' has an in-game radio that can tu ...

, a fictional hip-hop radio station in the 2004 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. *In the 2015 biopic ''

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on January 25, 1989, through Priority Records, Priority and Ruthless Records. It was Record producer, produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, a ...

'', the song is shown being improvised by Snoop Dogg (

Lakeith Stanfield LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in '' Short Term 12'' (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the fil ...

) and Dr. Dre ( Corey Hawkins).

Accolades

"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is listed in

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. In 2003, it was ranked at number 419 ''

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

s list of the "

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

", moving up to number 29 in a 2021 update. ''

Q magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'' listed it as the 24th greatest hip hop song of all time and is featured in the game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. In September 2010 ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'' included it at number three on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s". In 2024, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine ranked "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Songs of the 1990s".

Criticism

In 1998, CBS reported that Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

(R-Kansas), who sought hearings in the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, said he was "concerned that the music industry is marketing its most violent and misogynist music to teens." The report added, "While industry executives assert that children are protected from this music, much evidence suggests that most hyper-violent albums are bought by children." Advisory labels were an outcome of the hearings. Musically, the funk orientation in hip-hop is often linked to "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" but its roots were laid by another rap group, Above the Law. "Nuthin' But a G Thang echoes Above the Law's Never Missin' a Beat" ic according to a 2016 article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Both groups interpolated the signature funk grooves of

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...

Live performances

Dre and Snoop performed the song live at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards on July 13, 1993. They also performed the song live at the 1994 Soul Train Music Awards on March 15, 1994.

Track listing

* 1992 CD single # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Radio Mix) – 3:56 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (LP Version) – 3:58 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Instrumental) – 4:06 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Club Mix) – 4:38 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Vibe Instrumental) – 4:30 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Freestyle Remix) – 4:11 * 1994 CD single # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Radio Mix) – 3:56 # "Let Me Ride" (Radio Mix) – 4:22 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Club Mix) – 4:38 # "Let Me Ride" (Extended Club Mix) – 11:01 * 1992 12" vinyl # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Radio Mix) – 3:56 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (LP Version) – 3:58 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Instrumental) – 4:06 # "A Nigga Witta Gun" – 3:56 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Club Mix) – 4:38 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Freestyle Remix) – 4:11 * 1994 UK 12" vinyl # "Let Me Ride" (Radio Mix) – 4:22 # "Let Me Ride" (Extended Club Mix) – 11:01 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Freestyle Remix) – 4:11 * 1994 US 12" vinyl # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Radio Mix) – 3:56 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Red Eye Mix) – 4:25 # "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" (Club Mix) – 4:38 # "Let Me Ride" (Radio Mix) – 4:22

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang 1992 songs 1992 singles 1993 singles Dr. Dre songs Snoop Dogg songs Death Row Records singles Interscope Records singles G-funk songs Songs about California Song recordings produced by Dr. Dre Songs written by Snoop Dogg Songs written by The D.O.C. Songs written by Leon Haywood Songs written by Dr. Dre Songs about drugs