In late 1992 when The Chronic was released, American hip hop was in the midst of a rivalry between the East and West Coasts. New York, claiming the paternity of the genre, had the chance to present a wide range of styles, ranging from aggressive militantism based on strident samples of Public Enemy, to a more abstract and poetic version signed by De la Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.
On the other side of the country, California was immersed in gangsta rap, an ultra-violent soundtrack illustrating the gang war between the Crips and Bloods, a world where the members of N.W.A were the untouchable godfathers. But when he decided to go solo, Dr. Dre (producer and founding member of this all-star group from Compton, also including Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella) embarked on a new artistic direction. Better yet, he invented a genre, G-funk.
Dr Dre - Nuthin' But A "G" Thang [Official Music Video]
Dr. DreThe gangsta philosophy of the ghetto is still present (big cars, big guns, piles of dollars, deals of all kinds, sex galore), but it is much more oriented towards marijuana, as the explicit title of the album (Chronic and logo of the rolling paper Zig-Zag on the cover) makes clear.
Dre's real revolution is mainly musical. Goodbye to the aggressive samples of N.W.A, make way for the creamy funk of the late 70s and early 80s. And more particularly that of the P-Funk galaxy of George Clinton and the two hemispheres of his brain, Parliament and Funkadelic, sampled on a third of the album's tracks. And without the sound of Bernie Worrell's keyboards and Bootsy Collins's bass, this G-funk would be nothing. Dre even reinforces this universe of vintage grooves by also sampling Ohio Players, Bill Withers, One Way, Donny Hathaway, Willie Hutch, Joe Tex, Isaac Hayes, B.T. Express, Graham Central Station and Trouble Funk.
Dr. Dre - Let Me Ride [Official Music Video]
Dr. DreThe overall atmosphere of The Chronic is mostly laid-back and languid like never before, a real novelty in a world of hip-hop that was used to much more up-tempo productions. This slowness can be credited to one Long Beach slacker of barely 20 years old, whose quite unique relaxed flow explodes on twelve of the sixteen tracks on the album, one Calvin Broadus Jr. nicknamed Snoop Doggy Dogg. He is the co-star of this album which doesn't forget the basics of the genre like the clash (uppercut against his ex-partner Eazy-E but also Tim Dog and Luke from 2 Live Crew on the classic Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')) and the featurings (Warren G, the D.O.C., Kurupt, Nate Dogg, RBX, Dat Nigga Daz, Jewell, Lady of Rage, Bushwick Bill).
30 years after its release, The Chronic finally lands on streaming and download platforms. One listen is enough to realise that not only has it not aged a minute, but that the genius of the good Doctor in 1992 is still mind-blowingly modern in 2023...
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