The Snoop Doggy Devotional
Note: The Snoop Doggy Devotional will be an ongoing series reflecting on the message, meaning, and place we hold in our lives for the lyrics of rapper/actor Snoop Doggy Dogg. Peace.
...then my ThinkPad was straight fucked at work (it was in my bag while I was walking in the rain). I'm sitting there with it upside-down on my desk, occasionally powering it on to see the screen come up totally garbled. My co-worker goes, "You're being very Zen about the whole thing. How do you not look more angry?"
I'm deep...
- Andrew James Tosh III
"Deep / Deep like the mind of Minolta..."
Listen to "Serial Killa"
The mission of G-funk as invisioned by ex-NWA member Dr. Dre was to combine the freewheeling West Coast aesthetic, represented by P-Funk-inspired beats, with the harsh realities of inner city life, represented by aggressive hardcore rapping. Snoop Doggy Dogg's landmark 1993 album Doggystyle can be considered the first and possibly the only perfect implementation of the G-funk aesthetic, combining gangsta rap and funk attitudes in equal parts. As a "concept album" of sorts, track 7, "Serial Killa" (along with the preceding track, "Murda Was Tha Case,") necessarily play the dark side to the "Lodi Dodi" and "Gin 'n Juice"'s of the G-funk duality.
The line for reflection, delivered Death Row Records rapper RBX ("Reality Born Unknown"), opens the third verse with the single phrase: "Deep." This can be read as a reference to the last line of the first verse (sung by Dat Nigga Daz,) a threat against those who disrespect his crew. Daz raps that those who "don't understand" his group Tha Dogg Pound will end up "dead then motherfucker, creepin and sleepin / 6 feet deep in." Following this, RBX sings the chorus of "Serial killa" to reinforce the veracity of his claim.
"The mind of Minolta" is a reference to the camera maker's slogan "Only from the Mind of Minolta," which promoted its product (a 35mm SLR) as a conduit or enabler of the artist's creativity. After more violent imagery, RBX states "then I release def cuts / Brutal, jagged edged, totally roughneck," which reaffirms the neccessity of graphic depictions of street life in the G-funk aesthetic.
"Deep like the mind of Minolta" is therefore a simile comparing a camera to inner-city gang violence, both an integral part of the artist's creativity.
As we each reflect on our inner lives, we can consider the message of "Serial Killa," and remember to slow down the pace of life, take time to observe our surroundings, and gather inspiration from it.
Buy the album, biatch: Doggstyle
...then my ThinkPad was straight fucked at work (it was in my bag while I was walking in the rain). I'm sitting there with it upside-down on my desk, occasionally powering it on to see the screen come up totally garbled. My co-worker goes, "You're being very Zen about the whole thing. How do you not look more angry?"
I'm deep...
- Andrew James Tosh III
"Deep / Deep like the mind of Minolta..."
Listen to "Serial Killa"
The mission of G-funk as invisioned by ex-NWA member Dr. Dre was to combine the freewheeling West Coast aesthetic, represented by P-Funk-inspired beats, with the harsh realities of inner city life, represented by aggressive hardcore rapping. Snoop Doggy Dogg's landmark 1993 album Doggystyle can be considered the first and possibly the only perfect implementation of the G-funk aesthetic, combining gangsta rap and funk attitudes in equal parts. As a "concept album" of sorts, track 7, "Serial Killa" (along with the preceding track, "Murda Was Tha Case,") necessarily play the dark side to the "Lodi Dodi" and "Gin 'n Juice"'s of the G-funk duality.
"The mind of Minolta" is a reference to the camera maker's slogan "Only from the Mind of Minolta," which promoted its product (a 35mm SLR) as a conduit or enabler of the artist's creativity. After more violent imagery, RBX states "then I release def cuts / Brutal, jagged edged, totally roughneck," which reaffirms the neccessity of graphic depictions of street life in the G-funk aesthetic.
"Deep like the mind of Minolta" is therefore a simile comparing a camera to inner-city gang violence, both an integral part of the artist's creativity.
As we each reflect on our inner lives, we can consider the message of "Serial Killa," and remember to slow down the pace of life, take time to observe our surroundings, and gather inspiration from it.
Buy the album, biatch: Doggstyle
Labels: snoop doggy devotional
posted by Unknown at 9:59 AM
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