Naturally the homophobia allegations fit comfortably with the critics of The Chronic. There is no question about it: much of the lyrical content from the record is odious and wholly improper. But Dre and Snoop aren’t setting out to diminish things and they aren’t going to hold back. Despite a feisty shrewdness in the rhymes, the message is lucid and patent: this is outlaw music.
Dre, Snoop, Daz, and RBX throw flames on top of fire with “The Day the Niggaz Took Over,” a track that provides the soundtrack to rioting and looting. Unrestricted and unencumbered, a perfunctory listen reveals something treacherous.
“Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” is obviously one of the record’s more popular tracks. Its famous milieu is delicate and the line-trading between Snoop and Dre is classic hip-hop shit. “Let Me Ride” won Dr. Dre a 1994 Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. And “Lil Ghetto Boy” is the album’s most “political” song.
Most hip-hop fans don’t need to be told how important The Chronic is. It would be hard to find a modern rap artist that does not consider Dr. Dre’s decisive work to be a major career influence. The Chronic is more than a simple rap album. It is the voice of the streets, a time capsule of an era, and the beginning of something special in music.
The Chronic is a war album, in essence. Dre and Snoop go to war against former allies, against cops, against the government, against poverty, and against themselves. Their steadfast capacity to tell it like it is astonishing and, at times, far too cavalier. But that is the album’s magic, too.
More than just classic beats and the introduction of G-funk, The Chronic summarizes a way of life that is still all too real for many young men and women on our streets.
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