Tha Dogg Pound
Tha Dogg Pound was an integral part of the Death Row Records empire, which cast a tall shadow over rap music in the early to mid-'90s, and though the label only released one Dogg Pound album, Dogg Food (1995), the duo's impression remained fairly constant in the years that followed, as the two group members pursued solo careers and occasionally reunited. Kurupt (born Ricardo Brown; November 23, 1972) and Dat Nigga Daz (born Delmar Arnaud; May 25, 1973) comprise Tha Dogg Pound (not to be confused with Dogg Pound Posse, a different and much shorter-lived hardcore rap group).
The two Californians began their recording careers individually, both of them featured sporadically on the foundational Death Row release, Dr. Dre's landmark The Chronic (1992). Kurupt and Daz were first billed together as Tha Dogg Pound on "Niggas Don't Give a Fuck," their contribution to the Poetic Justice soundtrack (1993). Later that year they reappeared as Tha Dogg Pound on Doggystyle, the solo debut of Snoop Doggy Dogg, where they were featured on a few songs, most prominently the hit single "Doggy Dogg World." In 1994 they were featured on a pair of Death Row soundtracks, Above the Rim ("Big Pimpin'") and Murder Was the Case ("What Would U Do?," "Who Got Some Gangsta Shit?," "Come Up to My Room"). Around this same time, Daz established himself as a capable producer, with the Lady of Rage's "Afro Puffs" to his credit, among other tracks.
Death Row released Tha Dogg Pound's debut album, Dogg Food, on Halloween 1995. It was quite a success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart. "Let's Play House" was the biggest hit, breaking into the Top 50 of the Hot 100, while "New York, New York" was an MTV favorite; in the video for the latter, Kurupt, Daz, and Snoop stomped Godzilla-like around the Big Apple, taunting their East Coast rivals. Tha Dogg Pound remained active thereafter, rapping on both 2Pac's All Eyez on Me (1996) and Snoop's Tha Doggfather (1996); Daz produced on a number of tracks on both albums as well, including the singles "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," "I Ain't Mad at Cha," and "Doggfather," not to mention numerous album tracks.
With Dr. Dre's sudden departure from Death Row in 1996, Daz assumed the vacated role of chief in-house producer. And then with the murder of 2Pac and the incarceration of label head Suge Knight later that same year, Daz assumed leadership. Consequently, pretty much everything released by Death Row in the late '90s featured Daz prominently -- from the holiday compilation Christmas on Death Row (1996) and the two-CD Gridlock'd soundtrack (1997), to the never-released Danny Boy album and the long-delayed Lady of Rage debut, Necessary Roughness (1997), Daz was involved both as producer and rapper.
Death Row began to unravel quickly in the wake of 2Pac's murder, however, and Interscope Records sold its interest in the label in August 1997. As Suge sat in prison and Snoop left for greener pastures, Daz (who now billed himself as Daz Dillinger) tried to keep the sinking ship afloat. Released in March 1998, his solo debut, Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back, was the final Death Row album of its era. (A vault's worth of unreleased Death Row material would be mined in subsequent years, beginning with G-Funk Classics, Vols. 1 & 2, a double-disc Nate Dogg album released by Breakaway Records in July.) In the meantime, Kurupt had already made arrangements for a solo career of his own. He'd left Death Row shortly after 2Pac's murder and signed to Antra Records. His Antra debut, Kuruption!, was a double album, and he followed it with Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha (1999) and Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey (2001).
While Kurupt was struggling with his solo career, which ground to a halt with Space Boogie, Daz was busy at the helm of D.P.G. Recordz (aka Gangsta Advisory Recordingz). He made his label debut with R.A.W. (2000) and released numerous others in the years that followed, notably a couple collaborations with Kurupt: Dillinger & Young Gotti (2001) and Dillinger & Young Gotti, Vol. 2: Tha Saga Continues (2005). Daz also mined his vault of unreleased recordings, issuing The Last of tha Pound (2004) and DPGC: The Remix LP (2005). For a moment, at least (after Suge)'s return from prison, Death Row mined its own vault for old Dogg Pound recordings, issuing 2002 (2001).
To the surprise of many, Kurupt returned to the Death Row fold in 2002, after his Antra contract expired and his one-off collaboration with Daz had run its course. He assumed the role of vice-president, a title once held by Dr. Dre; however, little material resulted from the arrangement, as his solo album, Against tha Grain, was delayed repeatedly, all the way until 2005, by which time Kurupt's relationship with Suge had soured. Distributed and marketed by Koch, Against tha Grain sold poorly, and Kurupt left the confines of Death Row once again. In turn, he mended his relationship with Daz, who had developed an adversarial, and often antagonistic, relationship with Suge and Death Row, and by association, Kurupt.
Snoop's so-called Western Conference in December 2005 went a long way toward initiating a new partnership between Kurupt and Daz, and a promising year awaited. In 2006, Daz released Kurupt's Same Day, Different Shit on D.P.G.; Koch released a full-fledged Dogg Pound reunion album, Cali Iz Active, and Jermaine Dupri released Daz's So So Gangsta on his So So Def Recordings label. As if this flurry of 2006 releases weren't enough, Tha Dogg Pound returned in 2007 with Dogg Chit, whose cover quotes that of Dogg Food. Despite hitting snags with the Cash Money and Koch labels, Kurupt and Daz kept tha Dogg Pound active with additional independent releases such as That Was Then This Is Now (2009), the compilation Keep on Ridin' (2010), and 100 Wayz (also 2010). Doggy Bag (2012) rounded up stray cuts. All the while, through the mid-2010s, the duo continued to collaborate with other artists and release solo projects.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
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Dogg Food
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Death Row Records - gamma. il 31 ott 1995
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The Last Of Tha Pound
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 27 apr 2004
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Lets Ryde 2Night EP
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 22 mar 2008
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Tha Dogg Set
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 16 dic 2008
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Cali Iz Active
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da eOne Music il 27 giu 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dillinger & Young Gotti (Digitally Remastered)
Tha Dogg Pound, Daz Dillinger, Young Gotti
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da OCF Entertainment - Essential Media Group il 1 mag 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dillinger & Young Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez...
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 1 nov 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Doggy Bag
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Death Row Records - gamma. il 3 lug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On & On - Tha Single
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 31 mar 2009
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On & On - Tha Single
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 31 mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dillinger & Young Gotti - Clean Version (Digitally Remastered)
Tha Dogg Pound, Daz Dillinger, Young Gotti
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da OCF Entertainment - Essential Media Group il 1 mag 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cali Iz Active
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da eOne Music il 26 giu 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
100 Wayz
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Felder Entertainment Inc. il 17 ago 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cali Iz Active
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da eOne Music il 1 gen 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
That Was Then This Is Now
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da 2100 Music Group il 24 nov 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Snoop Dogg Presents: That's My Work Vol. 5 (Deluxe Edition)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da D.P.G Online il 28 ott 2014
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Smoke Up
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Death Row Records - gamma. il 17 apr 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keep On Ridin'
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da 2100 Music Group il 18 mag 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
100 Wayz
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Felder Entertainment Inc. il 17 ago 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Who Ride Wit Us Vol 3
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Dogg Pound Online il 30 ott 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo