Snoop Dogg‘s Doggystyle not only solidified Snoop as a bona fide star, but helped to cement Dr. Dre as hip-hop’s most celebrated producer. According to Death Row co-founder Suge Knight, all of the musical credit shouldn’t go entirely to Dr. Dre.
“[It] was was pretty much luck. Everybody thought [Dr. Dre] would be doing the records, but Daz pretty much did the whole album,” Suge told RollingStone.com in an interview that was published on Monday.
Daz, a member of Tha Dogg Pound and cousin to Snoop Dogg, has long been said to be a major musical part of the album, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on November 23.
“And at the end of the day, once Daz finished it, everybody wanted Andre to get the credit,” Knight said. “Next thing I know, Daz is having a meeting with Andre and them and came back and said, ‘It’s OK, give me a few bucks and I’ll sign anything over that says produced by Andre instead of me.’ “
This isn’t the first time that Dre’s musical output on Doggystyle has come into question. In 2006, Snoop acknowledged that Daz and Dre’s cousin made the beats for Doggystyle, but argued that producing a record means more than just making the beats.
“They didn’t deserve the credit back then because they didn’t do the work. They made beats, Dre produced that record,” Snoop said in an interview with DubCNN.com. “I can make a beat, but I can’t produce! I can make a beat, but I can’t tell a n—a what to rap about, can I tell him when to come with the hook? Can you break the beat down? That’s what producing is.”
Suge split with Dre, then Snoop and then lost Death Row to bankruptcy in 2006. He spoke fondly to Rolling Stone about Doggystyle and Snoop: “My relationship with him is where it’s supposed to be. It’s respectful on both ends,” he said. “I could never turn around and say I hate this mothaf—-a, because he’s a part of my life and I’m a part of his life.”
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