Deathrow Row Greatest Hits - Death Row Records > Reviews > Get Electrified at Death Row

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money

Advantages:	Excellent lyrical content and interesting subject matter
Disadvantages:	Poor Remixes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Death Row was the greatest hip-hop label throughout the 1900s before the abrupt takeover of Bad Boy Entertainment after the death of lead rapper Tupac Shakur and the imprisonment of CEO Suge Knight. Over the past 6 month’s Death Row has started to re-emerge as a powerful label and the release of the greatest hits album shows their desire to retain their dominance of the hip hop mainstream scene. Death Row Greatest Hits is an album intended to remind once Death Row fans of their greatness and possibly tear them away from now dominating record labels such as So So Def and Bad Boy Entertainment. Anyone that is serious about West Coast gangster rap, I would not recommend this album to because they will probably have most if not all the songs present on it anyway.

The album is basically a greatest hits of the greatest hits. The majority of the tracks are lifted from the Snoop Dogg, Doggstyle album. These are excellent songs and are remixed on the second side. The fact that the songs are taken from Snoop Dogg’s first album is critical for the success of the album because over the years Snoop Dogg has become caught up in the commercial side of rap. In addition he has been concentrating on work on Dr Dre’s albums and projects especially Up In Smoke and as you can imagine his work has suffered. Albums such as the very disappointing Dogg Father are avoided but instead the young Snoop Dogg is preferred with his skilful rap delivery and jazzy beats. Songs such as Gin & Juice and Doggy Dogg World show Snoop Dogg’s excellent lyrical ability whereas, Ain’t No Fun will have Death Row fans reminiscing on Nate Dogg’s talent to make outstanding songs based on the perfection of choruses. Nate Dogg first showed this talent in the Dr Dre’s the Chronic.

2Pac, of course, Death Row’s greatest artist gives his contribution to the album with songs like the previously unreleased Hit’em Up and the women’s favourite Keep Ya Head Up. I don’t believe that the songs chosen are the best that Pac made under the Death Row label, one feels that songs like Made N****z should have been preferred over Me Against The World.

It was surpising to hear that Death Row had put a track on the album that blatantly insulted their greatest producer and one of their biggest rappers. In a previously unreleased track called No Vaseline, Ice Cube insults and threatens Dr Dre but to a humorous effect and the song is comedy rap at its best. Although not as violent as 2Pac’s Hit’em Up, the message from Ice Cube to Dre is clear.

In retrospect the album gives a range of songs from the varying artists on the album. From slow beats such as the excellent Dear Mama in which 2Pac expresses his feelings about his mother against backing hip hop vocals to up-tempo, club suitable tracks like the G era classic Nothin’ But A G Thang and Snoop Dogg’s Who Am I lifted from the Doggy Style LP. The songs sound as fresh and relevant now as they did years ago when they we first released and the theme throughout the album is Gangster Rap, the rap that Death Row has claimed throughout its existence.

The collaborations on the album are second to none. Dr Dre and Ice Cube’s Natural Born Killaz is a gem and proves that Death Row still has it. And although Death Row was greatly know for its breakthrough in the rap charts it also had several R ‘n’ B artists on the label. Jodeci’s and Danny Boy’s soothing vocal tones provide the album with its only lay back songs. These two tunes are well appreciated and surprisingly flow with the rest of the album. Both Jodeci and Danny Boy collaborated with 2Pac on various occasions but it was their soulful voices that established them as individual artists and songs such as Come Up To My Room and Come When I Call prove this point.

Despite a lot of the songs being already released under various albums there are a few tunes available on the album that were either on rare soundtracks or unreleased. 2Pac’s smile is one of these songs and the excellent soothing male vocals for the chorus interlink nicely with the essence of Pac’s poetic rap. The young Death Row producer Daz Dillinger is also allowed to shine in the album with great effect and in Me In Your World his rapping talents also are brought to light.

The production in Death Row greatest hits is second to none and consists of the greatest in the hip-hop world today. Dr Dre and his knowledge of old skool beats blending nicely with fast modern hip-hop lyrics prove and asset to the album. Daz Dillinger’s production was second only to Dr Dre’s, but still the beats that he creates are both funky and soothing.

It is disappointing to see that there is no equilibrium within the album. The First CD is outstanding with a lot of hits like Who Am I/ Snoop Dogg and hit makers like 2Pac (R.I.P) whereas I feel the second is lacking in this. It is basically just filled with remixes that although decent don’t shine through and are simply disappointing. Because most of the artists have left Death Row there are no addition choruses or verses in the remixes, which means that the variation of beats is the foundation for the remixes. It feels as though it was unnecessary to release a second CD, but the novelty of releasing a double sided greatest hits album drove Death Row to compile a CD of remixes of their greatest hits such as 2Pac’s I Get Around and Dr Dre’s F*** Wit Dre Day.

The album is Death Row classic. Throughout the album the message of Gangster Rap is plainly illustrated through the music. The album contains the greatest from the hip-hop genre both in production and in MC capability. As a consequence the album is a historical must buy for any west coast gangster rap lover.

Here are the tracks available on the album:

Disc 1
1. Nuthin' But A G Thang - Dr. Dre (10/10 – The west coast anthem)

2. Gin & Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg (10/10 – 5 stars to the rap by Snoop Dogg on this track)

3. Afro Puffs - The Lady Of Rage (8/10 Although not Death Row’s best star, the track is still up to standards and suitable for the album)

4. Natural Born Killaz - Dr. Dre/Ice Cube (9/10 Excellent collaboration by Death Row)

5. Who Am I (What's My Name) - Snoop Doggy Dogg(10/10 – Outstanding Dr Dre production behind Snoop rapping in the peak of his career)

6. Keep Their Heads Ringin' - Dr. Dre (9/10 – A rare song from when Dr Dre was going through a transition period)

7. No Vaseline - Ice Cube (10/10 – Hilarious song insulting Dr Dre)

8. Doggy Dogg World - Snoop Doggy Dogg (9/10 - Nice backing vocals and lyrical content)

9. Keep Ya Head Up - 2Pac (9/10 – Great subject matter and the greatest rapper of all time 2Pac to coupe)

10. Murder Was The Case (SDTK) - Snoop Doggy Dogg (8/10 – Another rare track from Snoop Dogg’s transition period so not as good as the tracks taken from Doggystyle)

11. Lil' Ghetto Boy - Dr. Dre (7/10 – Great beats but one of the weakest tracks on Dr Dre’s the Chronic and not the best on this album either)

12. Ain't No Fun - Snoop Doggy Dogg (10/10 - Nate Dogg’s deep mid-tempo backing vocal work well with the young Snoop Dogg’s rhythmic rap flow)

13. Lodi Dodi - Snoop Doggy Dogg (8/10 – Good production on the track by Dr Dre)

14. Stranded On Death Row - Dr. Dre (9/10 - Taken from the Chronic, the track has a nice flow to it and the lyrics are superb as ever with Death Row)

15. The Shiznit - Snoop Doggy Dogg (8/10 – Funky beats make the foundation for this song)

16. Dear Mama - 2Pac (10/10 – One of the best rap love songs ever written with excellent soothing samples for the chorus)

17. Me Against The World - 2Pac (9/10 – Good closing track for the first CD)

Disc: 2
1. Let Me Ride (RMX) - Dr. Dre (n/a)

2. Gin & Juice (RMX) - Snoop Doggy Dogg (n/a)

3. Daydreaming - Michel'le – (6/10 – Not suitable for the gangster theme based album)

4. Who Am I (What's My Name) (RMX) - Snoop Doggy Dogg (n/a)

5. Nuthin' But A G Thang (RMX) - Dr. Dre (n/a)

6. I Get Around (RMX) - 2Pac (n/a)

7. 7. Lil' Ghetto Boy (RMX) - Dr. Dre (n/a)

8. 8. Hit 'Em Up - 2Pac (10/10 – Superb track in which 2Pac destroys Bad Boy Entertainment’s credentials. He insults P.Diddy, Lil’ Kim and Notorious B.I.G)

9. 9. Who Been There, Who Done That? - J-Flex (7/10 – Soulful beats)

10. F*** Wit Dre Day (RMX) – Jewell (n/a)

11. Pour Out A Little Liquor - Thug Life (8/10 – Good lyrical content from a group that 2Pac dedicated an entire album to)

12. What Would You Do - Tha Dogg Pound (9/10 – Classic track from the amazing Dogg Food days)

13. Come Up To My Room – Jodeci (9/10 – Soothing vocals from the now KCI and JoJo duet)

14. Come When I Call - Danny Boy (9/10 – A great lay back track)

15. Me In Your World - Dat N**** Daz (9/10 - Great production from Daz himself and even better rap flow)

16. Smile For Me Now - 2Pac/Scarface (10/10 – Scarface's chorus makes the song and 2Pac’s lyrical genius finishes it)