Snoop Dogg recorded 'Nuthin But A G Thang' for Dr Dre while in prison
Topics: Drugs, Crime, Music, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images/Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Topics: Drugs, Crime, Music, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre
There's no denying Snoop Dogg is one talented guy, but perhaps nothing proves that quite as much as the fact he managed to create the demo for an iconic Dr Dre track while he was literally locked up in jail.
Snoop has brought us countless legendary songs over the years, but before he released his debut album 'Doggystyle' in 1993 he was working with Dre on one of the songs that put him on the map.
The rapper burst onto the scene when he featured in Dre's 1992 track 'Deep Cover', after which he became one of the primary featuring artists on Dre’s debut album The Chronic.
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Around the same time, Snoop was actually enduring jail time after being convicted in 1990 of felony drug possession and possession for sale.
Snoop's troubles with the law didn't stop Dre from wanting him on his tracks, though, and in an interview with BigBoyTV Dre explained that he 'really wanted this demo done' at the time Snoop was behind bars.
The demo in question was for 'Nuthin But A G Thang', which featured on 'The Chronic'.
Determined not to let a few metal bars stand in his way of creating the song, Dre explained: "He called in and I taped the receiver of the phone to the mic. You can hear jail sounds in the back, and everything. He's like '1, 2...', so that was the original version."
It was only after Snoop recorded his jail-based rap that Dre found a new track which would work as a 'better foundation' for 'Nuthin But A G Thang', explaining: "I just happened to be at my mom's house going through records and then I found this Leon Haywood, 'I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You', and thought that would make a better foundation track.
"So I took that back, recorded the track, Snoop got out and we just recorded this song at my house. It was a bedroom that I converted into a studio at my house."
Recalling what Snoop was like at that time, Dre added: "We were just having fun. That's it."
Snoop faced further legal issues in 1993, when he was hit with first- and second-degree murder charges following the death of gang member Philip Woldemariam.
It wasn't until 1996 that Snoop was acquitted of the charges, after which he said the jury 'made the right decision'.
"This has been an ordeal that has affected our lives for the past two and a half years," he said. "I was just trying to figure out if I was going to be here to raise my son.”