History Music / TheChronic

With the end of NWA, Dr. Dre connected with record executive Suge Knight to create the label Death Row Records. With his first solo effort, he wanted to carve out a new hip-hop sound he called GFunk, which has been described as a combination of soulful backing vocals, funkadelic beats, synthesizers and rolling bass lines. Naturally, the lyrics involved would be controversial, with claims of misogyny and gratuitous violence thrown about, but that was already commonplace in connection with the "Attitude" alum. The title of the album was derived from a slang term for high-grade cannabis, and its iconic cover is an homage to Zig-Zag rolling papers.

-->--"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thing"

''The Chronic'' is the debut solo studio album recorded by HipHop rapper/producer Music/DrDre, previously of the group Music/{{NWA}}. It was released through Creator/DeathRowRecords in the United States, and Creator/InterscopeRecords globally, on December 15, 1992.

With the end of NWA, Dr. Dre connected with Suge Knight to create the label Death Row Records. He wanted to carve a new hip-hop sound he called GFunk, which has been described as a combination of soulful backing vocals, funkadelic beats, synthesizers and rolling bass lines. Naturally, the lyrics involved would be controversial, with claims of misogyny and gratuitous violence thrown about. But that was already commonplace in connection with the "Attitude" alum.

Dre really hit the mark. The critical acclaim was nigh-universal, in spite of the controversies. It got an A+ from ''Entertainment Weekly'', and 4 out of 5 stars from ''Magazine/RollingStone'', with their Album Guide raising it to 5 stars. Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' hailed that Dre and his protége, [[Music/SnoopDogg Snoop Doggy Dogg]], had "decisively expanded the hip-hop audience into the suburbs". ''The Village Voice'', however, gave it a C+, but it little to detract from its commercial success.

It has certainly stood the test of time. [=AllMusic=] rates ''The Chronic'' 5 out of 5 stars; Steve Huey stated that Dr. Dre's production is as "impeccable as ever, uniting his signature whiny synth melodies with a halting, descending bass line, a booming snare, and soulful female vocals in the background".

In addition to Snoop Dogg--who would release his own debut album the next year--the entire Death Row roster would see career launches from this album, including Warren G, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, and Daz Dillinger.

Commercially, it was triple-Platinum within a year, and has sold nearly 6 million copies total in the United States. It also went Gold in the United Kingdom, falling just a few thousand copies short of Platinum there. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and reached #6 on the year-end Billboard 200 for 1993.

The album spawned three singles: "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thing", "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", and "Let Me Ride". All three were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "G" peaking at #2 on the pop chart, and topping the Billboard Rap chart.

''The Chronic'' would see multiple nominations at the 36th Grammy Awards, with "Let Me Ride" winning Best Rap Solo Performance for Dre. It was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry in 2019.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Snoop's debut album ''Doggystyle'' is more or less a sonic sequel to ''The Chronic'', featuring a lot of the same production style Dre used on this album, and a bevy of skits between tracks.

With the end of NWA, Dr. Dre connected with Suge Knight to create the label Death Row Records. He wanted to carve a new hip-hop sound he called G-funk, which has been described as a combination of soulful backing vocals, funkadelic beats, synthesizers and rolling bass lines. Naturally, the lyrics involved would be controversial, with claims of misogyny and gratuitous violence thrown about. But that was already commonplace in connection with the "Attitude" alum.

-->--'''"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thing"'''

''The Chronic'' would see multiple nominations at the 36th Grammy Awards, with "Let Me Ride" winning Best Rap Solo Performance for Dre. The album would be listed at #137 on ''Rolling Stone'''s [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]] list in 2003, #138 in 2012, then up to #37 on [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 the 2020 list]].

It was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry in 2019.

''The Chronic'' is the debut solo studio album recorded by HipHop raper/producer Music/DrDre, previously of the group Music/{{NWA}}. It was released through Creator/DeathRowRecords in the United States, and Creator/InterscopeRecords globally, on December 15, 1992.

If you do, you'll have no clue\

* TheDissTrack: "Fuck wit Dre Day" is a diss track aimed at former NWA compatriots Music/EazyE and Music/IceCube, and east coast rappers [[Music/TwoLiveCrew Luke Campbell]] and Tim Dog. Eazy would respond with a whole EP of disses, while Cube and Dre ironically were on friendlier terms by the time the song was released as a single, with Cube even appearing in the video for "Let Me Ride".
* SpecialGuest: Most of Death Row's charter roster debuted on this album (Jewell, Daz, Nate Dogg, etc.), but Snoop Dogg is the standout.
* TitleTrack: "The Chronic", which is also helpfully labeled on the tracklist as the "intro".

''The Chronic'' is the debut solo studio album recorded by HipHop singer Music/DrDre, previously of the group Music/{{NWA}}. It was released through Creator/DeathRowRecords in the United States, and Creator/InterscopeRecords globally, on December 15, 1992.

With the end of NWA, Dr. Dre connected with Suge Knight to create the label Death Row Records. He wanted to carve a new hip-hop sound he called G-funk, which has been described as a combination of soulful backing vocals, funkadelic beats, synthesizers and rolling bass lines.

Naturally, the lyrics involved would be controversial, with claims of misogyny and gratuitous violence thrown about. But that was already commonplace in connection with the "Attitude" alum.

Dre really hit the mark. The critical acclaim was nigh-universal, in spite of the controversies. It got an A+ from ''Entertainment Weekly'', and 4 out of 5 stars from ''Magazine/RollingStone'', with their Album Guide raising it to 5 stars. Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' hailed that Dre and his protége, [[Music/SnoopDogg Snoop Doggy Dogg]], had "decisively expanded the hip-hop audience into the suburbs".

''The Village Voice'', however, gave it a C+. But what did they know?

# "Bitches Ain't Shit" (4:48)

* TakeThat: "Fuck wit Dre Day" is a diss track aimed at former NWA compatriots Music/EazyE and Music/IceCube.

With the end of NWA, Dr. Dre connected with Creator/SugeKnight to create the label Death Row Records. He wanted to carve a new hip-hop sound he called G-funk, which has been described as a combination of soulful backing vocals, funkadelic beats, synthesizers and rolling bass lines.

In addition to Snoop Dogg--who would release his own debut album the next year--the entire Death Row roster would see career launches from this album, including Music/WarrenG, Music/NateDogg, Kurupt, and Daz Dillinger.