Nate Dogg Albums (6)
'Ghetto Preacher/The Prodigal Son'
Release Date 6/10/2003
Tracks 30
Label K-Town
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Music & Me technically isn't Nate Dogg's debut album. That would be G-Funk Classics (1998), a mishandled double-disc album released as an afterthought during the waning days of Death Row Records. But since G-Funk Classics was such a hodgepodge, and also since it fell upon deaf ears, it's understandable that Music & Me feels like Nate Dogg's solo debut album -- his first chance to shine on his own and elevate his reputation from featured guest to solo superstar. Released by Elektra, Music & Me is a well-crafted album on most counts, featuring first-rate production work by Megahertz, Bink, and Mel-Man, along with high-profile guest features by Xzibit, Pharoahe Monch, Jermaine Dupri, Dr. Dre, Kurupt, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, and Fabolous (all of whom are returing the favor, for Nate Dogg was a featured guest on recent albums of theirs). Music & Me certainly sounds good while it's playing, and the revolving door of guest features keeps the proceedings interesting, if occasionally routine rather than exciting. If there's one quality lacking, however, it's a wealth of ace songwriting -- the productions are first-rate, the guests are talented, Nate Dogg himself is in good form, but the songs themselves are often generic. There are some exceptions, including such standouts as "I Got Love" and "Keep It G.A.N.G.S.T.A.," but too many of these songs are lyrically artless. This generally isn't a problem with Nate Dogg, since he usually is brought in by others to sing prewritten hooks, and so long as those hooks are catchy and sound good, it doesn't really matter however shallow they may be. Over the course of an entire album like this, on the other hand, where Nate Dogg is the focal point rather than a featured guest, there needs to be some substance -- lyrics and concepts that add up to something meaningful. Perhaps this goes to show that while Nate Dogg is a fantastic featured guest, a sure-fire hitmaker when brought in to sing a hook, he's no wordsmith. Nonetheless, Nate Dogg is vocally in fine form on Music & Me, an album that sounds good when it's playing, and fans will surely enjoy much of the album, which admittedly has been a long time coming, so long as they're not expecting anything deep or meaningful. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Prodigal Son is a repackaged German edition of the second disc of G-Funk Classics, Vols. 1-2, Nate Dogg's double-disc debut album, originally released in 1998 by Death Row Records and later split into two seperate albums, The Ghetto Preacher (i.e., the first disc, or volume) and The Prodigal Son, by secondary labels, in this case K-Town Records. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
'G-Funk Classics, Vols. 1 & 2'
Release Date 7/21/1998
Tracks 31
Label Breakaway
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Two years is an eternity in hip-hop, especially for rappers arriving at the tail end of a trend. Such is the case with Nate Dogg, a talented rapper who first made waves on Warren G's seminal "Regulate" in 1993 and then signed a solo contract shortly afterward. If he had been able to deliver his debut album, G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1, in 1995/early 1996 like he intended, he may have been a major star. Instead, the album was shelved due to legal problems at Death Row Records, and he wasn't able to release the album until the summer of 1998. By that time, the record had become a double-disc set named G-Funk Classics, Vols. 1 & 2, and perhaps more importantly, gangsta rap, particularly West Coast G-funk, had diminished in popularity. It was a case of bad timing, pure and simple -- G-Funk Classics sounded dated, and its bloated running length made it seem even more of a dinosaur than it actually was. And that's all too bad, because Nate Dogg has a wonderful, jazzy vocal style that's terrific to hear. If he had fresh productions, his raps would have sounded kinetic and alive; instead, they sound like canned gangsta rap. The album would have been helped immeasurably by a little editing -- there are a handful of great cuts scattered across these two discs, but it takes too much effort to track them down. That, combined with the delay, prevented G-Funk Classics from being the explosive debut it could have been. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
