Snoop Dogg has done more for hip-hop than people can imagine and he is without a doubt, the undisputed king of the West. Discovered by Dr. Dre, Snoop made his first appearance on the track Deep Cover, which made a lot of noise and made Snoop a rising star in the hip-hop game.

Following Deep Cover, he helped Dr. Dre put together the quintessential hip-hop classic, The Chronic. Can you think of better way to get into the game? With all this under his belt, it was time for Snoop to put together his solo debut. With Dre behind the boards and Snoop laying the vocals, if there ever was a sure bet, this was it. The first single, “Who Am I (What’s My Name?)” dropped and the mayhem began. The thumping beat and catchy chorus had everybody hooked as Snoop laid his syrupy gangsta vocals over Dre’s instrumental. The video showed Snoop, tall and lanky, repping his colors with the Dogg Pound behind him. He was instantly the new face of the West Coast and an international superstar to boot.

“Who Am I (What’s My Name?)”

From the depths of the sea, back to the block
Snoop Doggy Dogg, funky as the, the, The D.O.C
Went solo on that ass, but it's still the same
Long B each is the spot where I served my cane
Follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me, but don't lose your grip
Nine-trizzay's the yizzear for me to fuck up shit
So I ain't holdin nuttin back
And motherfucker I got five on the twenty sack
It's like that and as a matter of fact [rat-tat-tat-tat]
Cuz I never hesitate to put a nigga on his back
[Yeah, so peep out the manuscript
 You see that it's a must we drop gangsta shit]
What's my motherfuckin name?

Now just throw your hands in the motherfuckin air
And wave the motherfuckers like ya just don't care
Yeah roll up the dank, and pour the drank
And watch your step (why?) cuz Doggy's on the gank
My bank roll's on swoll
My shit's on hit, legit, now I'm on parole, stroll
With the Dogg Pound right behind me
And up in yo bitch, is where ya might find me
Layin that, playin that G Thang
She want the nigga with the biggest nuts, and guess what?
He is I, and I am him, slim with the tilted brim
What's my motherfuckin name?

The album sold 802,858 copies in its first week and became the fastest selling hip-hop record to date. Besides that, it went platinum ten times over making it one of the first diamond hip-hop albums ever. Put all the monumental achievements of the album aside, and you’ll see that Doggystyle was truly a masterpiece.

“Gin and Juice”, another classic track found Snoop rapping about what he does best, drinks, weed, and women. Snoop also flexed his story telling muscles on the eerie and slowed down version of Slick Rick’s “Lodi Dodi”. “Murder Was The Case”, showed a deeper side of Snoop and proved there was more to the man than a catalog of party tracks.

Not only did this album do tremendous amounts for Cali but also for hip-hop in general. It laid a blueprint for rappers to come and made Snoop one of the first superstars of his generation. Everything about this album was different from what was going on in hip-hop, from Snoop’s gear to his slang, understizzle? Even cats from New York couldn’t help but bump the album out of their Alpine systems and you know the Cali cats kept it bumpin’ in their 6-4’s.

Not many artists can truly embody and represent a whole state the way Snoop did. A lot of rappers can say they put their town on the map, but how many can say they made a whole  Coast hot? The album is truly a classic and should be a part of every hip-hop head’s collection.