Tha Dogg Pound | |
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 Tha Dogg Pound in 2015 | |
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| Origin | Greater Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
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| Spinoffs | D.P.G.C. |
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Tha Dogg Pound is an Americanhip-hop duo composed of West Coast rappersKurupt andDaz Dillinger. They were among the first acts to sign toDeath Row Records in 1992.
Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting in 1998; they left the crumbling Death Row Records following year. Daz left due to long-lasting internal struggles on the label after friend and labelmateTupac Shakur'smurder in 1996. Kurupt started Antra Records, while Daz and Soopafly startedD.P.G. Recordz. In 2002, a feud arose between the two when Kurupt decided to sign back with Death Row Records, upsetting everyone involved with the group. His awaited Death Row releaseAgainst the Grain had been postponed several times while Kurupt was on the label, later being released in August 2005, after he was off. In January 2005, Daz made another solo album release titledTha Dogg Pound Gangsta LP. Tha Dogg Pound then got back together as a group and releasedDillinger & Young Gotti II in November 2005. In 2006,Snoop Dogg executive produced released their official reunion albumCali Iz Active.
BeforeThe Chronic album came out, Kurupt and Daz were solo artists. Having heard the chemistry they had while recording the album,Dr. Dre suggested they form a group. The two went on to feature onDoggystyle and various features and soundtracks as Tha Dogg Pound.[1]
Between 1993 and 1994, the group assistedHammer on hisThe Funky Headhunter album (such as the song "Sleepin' on a Master Plan" and others), along withSuge Knight and the Whole 9.
In 1995, they released their debut albumDogg Food under Death Row Records.[1] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200[2] and went on to reach twice platinum status. "Let's Play House" was the biggest hit, breaking into the Top 50 of theBillboard Hot 100, while "New York, New York" was an MTV favorite; in the video for the latter, Daz and Snoop stomped Godzilla-like around the Big Apple, taunting their East Coast rivals. In the October that followed, towards the end of the same year,Tupac Shakur had been bailed out of jail by Death Row's Suge Knight in exchange for releasing his following four albums on Death Row Records.
In 1996, Tha Dogg Pound were featured on 2Pac's Death Row Records debut albumAll Eyez on Me with Kurupt featured in "Got My Mind Made Up" and "Check Out Time" and Daz Dillinger producing the hit songs "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", "Ambitionz az a Ridah", and "I Ain't Mad At Cha". They made an appearance on Snoop Doggy Dogg's albumTha Doggfather.[citation needed]
In January 1998, Kurupt left Death Row but remained in Tha Dogg Pound.[3] Kurupt released two solo albums in 1998 (Kuruption!) and 1999 (Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha) that had Daz Dillinger and the rest of DPG on them.[4] However, in 1998, Daz was making noise of his own over at Death Row and released his only Death Row album (Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back). Afterward, he made his own label called Mobstyle Muzik, in which he had his first taste of the independent scene. Mobstyle's first releasePoppa Snoop Presents Mobstyle Muzik Volume 1 failed and Daz returned to Death Row. He later started up DPG Recordz along with Christopher "Big C-Style" Bowden through Death Row Records.
Daz also eventually parted ways with Death Row in December 1998[5] and released his first independent albumR.A.W. in 2000. That was followed by the D.P.G. album from Tha Dogg Pound entitledDillinger & Young Gotti.[6][7] After Tha Dogg Pound's full departure from Death Row, Suge Knight claimed ownership of the name "Tha Dogg Pound" and any tracks recorded prior to them leaving. To avoid a legal battle at the time, Daz changed their marketing name to D.P.G. short for Dogg Pound Gangstaz.[7] In 2001, Suge Knight released a Dogg Pound album entitled2002, which consisted of unreleased Dogg Pound tracks. Soopafly's songs were featured on his 2001 solo albumDat Whoopty Woop.
Over the years, Tha Dogg Pound had beef withBone Thugs-N-Harmony, due toDeath Row Records being embroiled in a feud withEazy-E'sRuthless Records. Tha Dogg Pound made a diss towards The Bone Thugs, on the song "Dogg Pound Gangstaz", with Kurupt's line "Ain't got no love for no hoes in harmony." In responseLayzie Bone shot back on the track "Shotz to tha Double Glock" with the line "Dogg Pound hoes it's on.", and Krayzie Bone with "Gotta find these 'Row Hoes" in the song "Mo' Murda" off the albumE. 1999 Eternal. The feud ended whenSnoop Dogg andKurupt were featured onKrayzie Bone's albumThug Mentality 1999 in the song "The War Iz On."Kurupt was featured onFlesh-N-Bone's song "Kurupted Flesh" on the5th Dog Let Loose. Krayzie Bone also featured on Daz Dillinger's 2008 solo albumOnly on the Left Side on the song "Meal Ticket" and later on the song "Money Fold'N" on Tha Dogg Pound's 2009 albumThat Was Then, This Is Now.
Tha Dogg Pound were also involved in a feud withB.G. Knocc Out &Dresta. In response to Eazy-E'sReal Muthaphukkin G's andKokane &Cold 187um's "Don't Bite The Funk", Tha Dogg Pound along with Snoop Dogg made a track called "What Would You Do" with such lines as: "Fuck B.G. Knocc Out and every nigga down with him." Later B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta retaliated with the song "D.P.G. Killa", on their debut albumReal Brothas. They have since squashed the beef and released a song called "Blaze It Up", as a bonus track on Tha Dogg Pound'sDogg Chit album.
The duo engaged in yet another conflict, thebeef Suge and new signee2Pac initiated againstBad Boy Entertainment'sPuff Daddy andNotorious B.I.G.; Daz and Kurupt would expand the feud to includeCapone-N-Noreaga,Tragedy Khadafi andMobb Deep with their Snoop-assisted single "New York, New York."
In late 2002, Kurupt shocked the entire DPGC and fans alike, when he accepted the job of executive producer at Death Row Records. Daz, Soopafly, Snoop Dogg, and the rest of DPGC viewed this as betrayal and took many shots and dissed Kurupt harshly for making the move. Kurupt did the same claiming they all were wrong to have turned their backs on Death Row. They declared war between both camps and that he was not the one who changed, rather them.
The rap duo heavily dissed each other from 2003 to late 2004, both recording diss albums against each other. Daz took aim at Kurupt and Death Row with his single "U Ain't Shit" featuringBad Azz and another song "I Don't Give a Fucc" which is sung over the beat to50 Cent'sIn Da Club. Kurupt responded heavily with hisOriginals album which featured many disses throughout nearly every song, most notably the bonus track "Eat a Dicc (Fucc Daz)".
The feud continued until April 2005 when Kurupt and Daz made a truce.[8][9] The struggling Death Row Records failed to promote Kurupt's albumAgainst Tha Grain and the duo began to feel remorse for one another. Kurupt left Death Row and reunited with Daz. The duo started rapping together again and even made a new album together entitledDillinger & Young Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez. AfterThe Western Conference in 2005 the two of them agreed to revitalize the DPGC by working together once again on an album withSnoop Dogg,Soopafly,Nate Dogg,Warren G,RBX,Lady of Rage and Lil' ½ Dead with Snoop taking over the producing and distributing tasks for it.
Tha Dogg Pound then released a joint venture reunion comeback project the next year in 2006 calledCali Iz Active under the aegis of Snoop Dogg'sDoggystyle Records with the main single "Cali Iz Active" featuring Snoop Dogg and a wide range of new producers throughout the album.
Tha Dogg Pound released the albumDogg Chit independently on March 27, 2007, touting it as a sequel to their debut. In August 2007 it was announced that the duo was in the process of signing toCash Money Records; their next album was announced asWestcoast Aftershocc. The pair released the singles "Ch-Ching" and "Mystic River" from the album, but when the deal stalled, they postponed the project in favor of a separate album,100 Wayz. Tha Dogg Pound began putting out singles for the latter album as early as 2008, releasing "Cheat" featuringPharrell and following up with "They Don't Want It" featuring Soopafly, and "Get My Drink on & My Smoke On." Although100 Wayz was expected for release that year, it was postponed due to a dispute withKoch Records head Alan Grunblatt; instead, they released the albumThat Was Then, This is Now, which included the singles originally intended for100 Wayz, in late 2009.
After putting out the compilation albumKeep on Ridin in May 2010,100 Wayz finally saw release in July of that year. Since then, the duo announced several projects, includingDillinger & Young Gotti III: Get Paid, a collaboration album withPete Rock, and a re-announcement of the albumWestcoast Aftershocc for 2011, as well as several solo projects from Kurupt working with various producers, fromDJ Premier and Pete Rock toFredwreck. However, their only releases of late have been Kurupt's solo albumStreet Lights and two projects from Daz Dillinger.
Recently, tha Dogg Pound has been involved in various side projects; Kurupt announced the formation of supergroup 1st Generation, made up of himself,King Tee,Sir Jinx, Gangsta of tha Comradz andMC Eiht and producer Tha Chill ofCompton's Most Wanted. Both Kurupt and Daz have formed a supergroup called the N'Matez consisting of themselves, the Lady of Rage, and RBX. In December 2011, Tha Dogg Pound put out the single "Forever in a Day," featuring Snoop Dogg, although they have not announced whether it is attached to a specific project. A few days later, the duo announced that their next group album will be entitledAlumni and is set to be executive produced by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, who will be co-producing and/or mixing several of the beats.[10][11] The album will mark the first time a member of Tha Dogg Pound has collaborated with Dr. Dre since Kurupt's appearances on the producer's album2001, and the first time Dre has collaborated with Tha Dogg Pound as a duo since he mixed their debut album,Dogg Food. On December 2, 2012, Tha Dogg Pound released a collaboration mixtape withSnoop Dogg titledThat's My Work Vol. 1.[12]
In 2021, Tha Dogg Pound were prepping to release theirDogg Food II album with the lead single "Let's Roll" debuted in late 2020.[13] Their follow-up single "Nice & Slow" was released in July 2021 and featuredSnoop Dogg.[14] In 2023, Daz Dillinger shared on social media that the album would be released soon on Dogg Pound Records. As of April 2024, the album is yet to be released.
In April 2024, a new song, titled "Smoke Up", was released featuringSnoop Dogg. The end of the song's music video promoted a new album, titledW.A.W.G. (We All We Got), that would be released on Death Row Records in June 2024.[15] On May 31, 2024, the album was released ahead of schedule on all major streaming platforms.
D.P.G.C. | |
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| Also known as | Dogg Pound Gangsta Clicc |
| Genres | West Coast hip hop |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Doggy Style Records |
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An extended family or collective referred to asDPGC (short forDogg Pound Gangsta Clicc), is composed of Tha Dogg Pound, as well as Snoop Dogg, and various affiliated acts from Death Row Records, G-Funk Records, DPG Recordz, Antra Music Group and Dogg House Records eras, includingNate Dogg,Warren G, Lil' ½ Dead,Tha Eastsidaz,LBC Crew,Bad Azz,Tray Deee,Soopafly,RBX,Lady of Rage,Goldie Loc, E-White,Twinz,Roscoe, and more. The group released their debut studio album,DPGC: The Remix, in 2002.
Tha Dogg Pound has been nominated for oneGrammy Award.
| Category | Genre | Song | Year | Result |
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| Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Rap | "What Would You Do?" | 1996 | Nominated |
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