Snoop Dogg’s seminal debut album Doggystyle is without question one of hip-hop’s greatest albums of all time. As noted yesterday by Stereo Williams, the album is now officially 20 years old.
Here are five interesting tidbits about Doggystyle that you probably didn’t know.
1. Vocalist Nanci Fletcher, who is featured on a number of songs on the album including “Doggy Dog World” and “Aint No Fun,” is the daughter of legendary jazz singer Sam Fletcher.
2. Some critics initially panned the album claiming it was a rip-off of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic.
3. The album sold 802,858 copies in its first week, which was a record for a debuting artist and the fastest-selling album ever until some guy named Marshall Mathers released an album called The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000.
4. Snoop was arrested for the murder of Phillip Woldermarian in August 1993 while recording the album. Remember his passionate proclamation of “I’m innocent! I’m innocent!” that ended his performance of “Murder Was The Case” at the ’94 VMAs?
5. There were a number of tracks recorded for the album that were not included for various reasons. “Gz Up, Hoez Down” made the initial pressings of the album but was omitted on all future pressings for sample clearance issues. “The Root Of All Evil (Outro)” featuring the late great Teena Marie and title track “Doggystyle” featuring Jewell and funk legend George Clinton never made the album but ended up on a compilation years later called Death Row: The Lost Sessions Vol. 1. There was also a song called “The Next Episode” (not to be confused with the song from Dre’s 2001 album) that didn’t make the cut but its instrumental ended up being Warren G’s “Runnin’ Wit No Breaks” from his Regulate…G Funk Era album. And finally “Every Single Day” featuring Kurupt and Nate Dogg was recorded during the Doggystyle sessions but wasn’t released for years until an alternate version surfaced in 2002.
