The second release following Toronto-based WIDEAwake’s purchase of the Death Row catalogue, Snoop Dogg’s Lost Sessions Vol. 1 would ostensibly offer a gold mine of unheard rarities cut during the label’s 92-96 heyday. Instead it offers a closer look at how quickly Snoop fell off without Dre’s serpentine funk and creative direction. Of course, any of the million suckers (myself very much included) that purchased 1996’s archetypal sophomore slump, Tha Doggfather, can attest to that fact, but The Lost Sessions confirms it, with the Cadillac strut of Dre’s Parliament samples swapped for Snoop’s watery sub-Gap Band explorations. Apparently, weed isn’t the panacea that the “Chronic Relief Intro” promised.
Like most archival releases, these tracks remained in the vault for a reason, but The Lost Sessions isn’t entirely lacking merit. In particular, the George Clinton-aided “Doggystyle,” might’ve been superfluous on Snoop’s debut but removed from it’s context, it’s a classic slice of G-Funk, with Snoop’s wiry hunger and sneering drawl still salient and meshing perfectly with Clinton’s drunken and drugged warblings. Plus, it has Jewell, the Blue Raspberry of the West Coast (with all due respect to Michel’le). “Fallin’ Asleep on Death Row,” might have accurately described the label shortly after recording ceased, but reminds exactly how potent and sinister the Murder was the Case-era Snoop was. While “Quite Obvious” throws a bone to rap nerds with the pairing of Snoop and San Francisco’s Rappin 4-Tay. And the original version of “O.G.” finds Nate Dogg kicking the first draft of the “Nobody Does It Better” hook and Snoop in story-telling mode– a style he abandoned all-too soon in the pursuit of a mastery of the “izzle” suffix.
Beyond a smattering of essential cuts, the disc’s true value derives from its documentation of the storied Death Row era. Regardless of their eventual commercial success, the tracks hear stretch on to almost prog-lengths — there’s little calculation and few shameless gropes for radioplay –just at the sound of artists in their prime, fucking around rapping, smoking blunts, sipping on Tanqueray, and having fun. Even if little of the material reaches the heights of anything on The Chronic and Doggystyle, it’s an interesting listen. You don’t have to smoke chronic to get high.
Download:
MP3: Snoop Dogg ft. George Clinton & Jewell–“Doggystyle”
MP3: Snoop Dogg ft. Nate Dogg-“O.G.”
