Nate Dogg: Music & Me

Like many of his fellow Death Row exiles, Nate Dogg drifted toward obscurity following the label's widely documented fall, popping up here and there and releasing a poorly marketed and distributed solo album that failed to recapture his early success. But just as Dogg seemed headed the way of D.O.C. and Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre's 2001 came along, and suddenly it was 1994 again for the silky-voiced crooner. Since then, Dogg has been as ubiquitous on the pop charts as tortured rap-rockers and anemic kiddie pop, adding his unmistakable presence to hit after hit from the likes of Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch ("Oh No"), Ludacris ("Area Codes"), and Fabolous ("I Can't Deny It"), among others. One crucial source of his success has been the striking contrast between the smooth, after-midnight seductiveness of his river-deep baritone and the casual misogyny of his thugged-out lyrics. Dogg's lyrics may be pimpish and misanthropic, but his voice makes even the crassest bit of sexism sound as romantic as the smoothest D'Angelo come-on. As mellow as Warren G and DJ Quik covering Lionel Richie at a Sunday-afternoon picnic, Nate Dogg's Music & Me finds hip-hop's premier gangsta-crooner perfecting his smooth blend of dick-grabbing swagger and R&B seduction alongside longtime collaborators Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Dr. Dre. But while his venerable comrades provide much of Music & Me's appeal, Monch scores the album's most transcendent moment, slaying a terrific Mel-Man beat on the hypnotic "I Pledge Allegiance." Ludacris similarly steals "Real Pimp" with one of his show-stopping guest turns, but in spite of impressive contributions from Kurupt, Dr. Dre, Jermaine Dupri, and Tha Eastsidaz, Dogg's hypnotic voice dominates Music & Me. The disc gets off to a sleepy start, but stellar production from a surprisingly cohesive and consistent team of beatsmiths (Dre, Battlecat, Mike City, Dupri, Megahertz) helps give Music a sophisticated air of blunted sonic perfection. Hip-hop has seen a slew of recent contenders (Butch Cassidy, Kokane) challenging Dogg's crown, but Music & Me proves that he remains the undisputed champion of West Coast crooning.