When Snoop Dogg dropped his debut album on November 23, 1993 he definitely made the world take notice. While Doggystyle‘s immediate impact was deafening, its lasting power was a little more difficult to predict. Twenty years later, however Snoop’s first shot was clearly hit its target ripping through hip-hop’s generational threads, still inspiring today’s biggest rap stars.
“When he came with Doggystyle, it was mind-blowing,” Rick Ross said. “Just for the feel of a west coast MC, the swag as well as the lyrics just feels so natural.”
“That album was probably one of the best produced albums that’s come out to date,” Pusha T added, while N.O.R.E. marveled at the fact that the album has been out for two decades. “That album is still a classic, and to know that it’s 20 years old, that’s super dope,” he said.
Vic Mensa was just an infant when Snoop took the world by storm, but somewhere along the way the Chicago rap rookie felt the aftershocks of the now-multiplatinum classic. “Snoop Dogg changed rap,” he said.
B.o.B was a kid as well, but the album’s harder tracks like “Murder was the Case” and “Serial Killer” left an indelible mark on his young mind. “I remember listening to it outside the mall and I put it in my tape deck and sh– got gangsta all of a sudden. I was like oh sh–,” he said before laughing. “I was like six.”
Like Snoop did 20 years ago, Kendrick Lamar has lifted California’s hip-hop scene to new heights. While different in tone, Lamar’s Dr. Dre-helmed debut good kid, m.A.A.d city has the potential to also have a lasting impact.
For K-Dot, the fun Doggystle tracks like “Gin and Juice,” “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)” and “Doggy Dogg World” reminds him of the house parties that his family used to throw. “What the records were talking about — my parents, my uncles, my aunties — it just wasn’t a song, people were actually feeling good about these songs and doing what Snoop and ’em were talking about,” he said.
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