| "Deep Cover" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byDr. Dre andSnoop Doggy Dogg | ||||
| from the albumDeep Cover (soundtrack) | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | April 9, 1992[1][2] | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Studio | GF Studios (Hollywood, Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:17 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Producer | Dr. Dre | |||
| Dr. Dre singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Snoop Doggy Dogg singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Deep Cover" | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Deep Cover" onYouTube | ||||
"Deep Cover" is the debut solo single by AmericanrapperDr. Dre and his first track released after the breakup ofN.W.A. The track was recorded for the soundtrack of the filmDeep Cover bySolar Records and distributed byEpic Records. The song features fellow American rapperSnoop Doggy Dogg in his first appearance on a record release. Shortly after the song's release Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg remade the song and released it as "One Eight Seven" underDeath Row Records. In 1994 "One Eight Seven" was remixed for the reissue of theDeep Cover soundtrack and retitled "187um".
The album peaked on theBillboard 200 albums chart at #166 on July 25, 1992. Apart from the soundtrack compilation, it also appeared as a single and on Dr. Dre'sFirst Round Knock Out, which spent two weeks on theBillboard 200 starting at #52 and later on several greatest hits albums, including:Doggy Stuff andDoggy Style Hits. Like the artist indication on the original12" vinyl says, "Dr. Dre introducing Snoop Doggy Dogg", it is the first time Snoop Dogg was featured on a record. As a single it had no major breakthrough regarding sales, but it launched Snoop Dogg's career. It samples a number of 1960s, 1970s, and 1980sfunk acts, such asUndisputed Truth's "(I Know) I'm Losing You", the song "Bad Times" byTavares, andSly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song", which provided the drumbeat. The bassline is similar to part of the bassline found in the jazz composition "Zoltan," written by Woody Shaw and performed by Shaw, organist Larry Young, and Joe Henderson and Elvin Jones, on Larry Young's album "Unity."[5]
The single was set to be released onThe Chronic, but fallout fromBody Count's banned song, "Cop Killer", prevented it since this song is also about killing police officers. Despite being praised by critics, the film itself did not have much commercial success, and it only received two nominations on theIndependent Spirits Awards in 1993; however, the song was well received. During the 2007VH1Hip Hop Honors show,T.I. andB.G. performed this song during Snoop's honor ceremony.
The plot of the video resembles that of the same-titled movie starringLaurence Fishburne andJeff Goldblum. An undercover cop goes deep in the hierarchic pyramid of the undergroundmafia to get the bosses locked up, and "goes deep" also by getting addicted to drugs while trying to not reveal himself. The video begins in the first scene with Snoop, marking Snoop's first appearance in a music video, Dre and a black kingpin in a smoky office in the middle of an initiation where Snoop has to decide between the pipe and being caught up. After that introduction the music starts but the rest of the video is rather cut-to-cut and is a mixture of some five seconds long takes in black and white and some pictures from the motion picture. The scenes take place in a filthy concrete bungalow with several crack addicts and a projector flashing the movie itself on the wall, in addition to a rooftop of a building with the skyline ofDowntown Los Angeles directly behind. The house is later raided by the drug squad. There's also a scene with Snoop and Dre wearing business suits in a car, but it has no additional meaning to the plot.
A second version of this song, released byDeath Row Records and titled "One Eight Seven", was released as a B-side track on the 1992Dre Day single. It features the same chorus as the soundtrack version but with entirely new verses and a slightly modified beat.
A third version, titled "187um" was released on the reissue of theDeep Cover soundtrack in 1994 and on the hip-hop compilation albumOne Million Strong in 1995. It has the same alternate verses as "One Eight Seven", with further differences in the beat and a more explicit chorus, replacing "undercover cop" with "motherfuckin' cop".
The titles of these versions, like the choruses, refer to the paragraph number of theCalifornia Penal Code that definesmurder.
New York rappersBig Pun andFat Joe collaborated to make a remix of the song titled "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)", for Pun's debut studio albumCapital Punishment, released in 1998. The idea for the song was suggested to Pun by Joe, who liked the original song, and wanted to use the instrumental as something to appeal to listeners of bothEast Coast andWest Coast hip hop alike.[6] The song was released as a single in 1998.[7] Snoop Dogg also made a brief appearance in its music video.[1]
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[11] | 46 |
| USHot Rap Songs (Billboard)[12] | 4 |
