G-funk, or Gangsta-Funk, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that emerged from West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk (which uses funk music with an artificially lowered tempo) incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of p-funk tunes, and a high portamento sine wave keyboard lead. The lyrical content consisted of sex, drugs, violence, and women. There was also a slurred “lazy” way of rapping in order to clarify words and stay in rhythmic cadence.

Unlike other earlier rap acts that also utilized funk samples (such as EPMD or The Bomb Squad), G-funk often utilized fewer, unaltered samples per song ^[1]. Music theorist Adam Krims has described G-funk as "a style of generally West Coast rap whose musical tracks tend to deploy live instrumentation, heavy on bass and keyboards, with minimal (sometimes no) sampling and often highly unconventional harmonic progressions and harmonies".^[2] Dr. Dre, a pioneer for the G-Funk genre, normally uses live musicians to replay the original music of sampled records. This enabled him to produce music that had his own sounds, rather than a direct copy of the sample^[3].

There has been some debate over who should be considered the "father of G-funk." Dr. Dre is generally believed to have developed the sound^[4] It has been said^[who?] that the sound of g-funk originated from Cold187um of Above the Law. Cold187um’s ideas were used by Dr. Dre for the Death Row debut album “The Chronic”. They both released records on Ruthless Records prior to this. Warren G and Snoop Dogg were with Cold187um before joining Dr. Dre and Deathrow. It’s been said^[who?] that Dr. Dre gave no credit to Cold187um for the new sound created. On Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle album, Warren G and Daz Dillinger claim they produced "Ain't No Fun," even though Dre is credited as the album's sole producer^[5].

The earliest use of sine wave synthesizers and Parliament-Funkadelic-style bass grooves in Dr. Dre's work appeared on N.W.A's single "Alwayz Into Somethin'" from their 1991 album Efil4zaggin. Dr. Dre's first true G-funk single, however, was 1992's "Deep Cover", the title song from the movie soundtrack of the same name, which also introduced Snoop Dogg to the world. When Dre's 1992 Death Row Records debut The Chronic was released in 1992, the album was immensely successful, and consequently made G-funk the most popular sub-genre of hip hop.^[6]

Dr. Dre’s sound of g-funk has influenced many artists, such as Daz Dillinger, Warren G, DJ Quik, Warren G’s Regulators, Daz Dillinger and the Dogg Pound’s Dogg Food, and DJ Quik’s Safe & Sound.

Some g-funk songs are:

Gin & Juice - Snoop Dogg

Afro Puffs - The Lady of Rage

Gz and Hustlas - Snoop Dogg

Nuthin' But A G Thang - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg

Regulate - Warren G feat. Nate Dogg

Tha Shiznit - Snoop Dogg

Keep Their Heads Ringin' - Dr. Dre

Let Me Ride – Dr. Dre

Black Superman - Above the Law

Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin') – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg

Ghetto Bird - Ice Cube

Heartz of Men - 2Pac

Doggy Dogg World - Snoop Dogg feat. Tha Dogg Pound

Can't C Me - 2Pac

California Love - 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre

Deep Cover - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg

2 of Amerika'z Most Wanted - 2Pac feat. Snoop Dogg

Real Muthaphuckkin G's - Eazy-E

Summer Breeze - Lords of Lyrics

[edit] See also

• List of G-funk musicians
• The Chronic
• Doggystyle
• All Eyez on Me
• Dogg Food
• Regulate...G Funk Era

[edit] References