Tha Doggfather

His debut album sold over 11 million copies worldwide. And then things went sideways…

By the graces of God, the West Coast’s most promising new artist beat a murder rap in February 1996 which would’ve sent him away for a *very* long time. Given the non-guilty verdict, the most damning thing to happen to Snoop that year was Dr. Dre’s departure from Death Row Records. Sick of the many distractions surrounding the label, Dre took his talents East and formed Aftermath Entertainment. While the short-term work product from Aftermath didn’t prove to be transformative, Dre would end up having the last laugh…

In the meantime, Snoop would find himself wallowing. With expectations building and his musical secret weapon now camped out in New York, Snoop’s sophomore set would come hot on the heels of the untimely demise of Tupac Shakur -- which in hindsight would signal the end of the powerhouse that was Death Row Records. 

The album would sell nearly 500,000 copies in its first week. Eventually millions would be sold worldwide. And by all accounts, “Tha Doggfather” would have been a smashing success if not for the gigantic shadow cast by Snoop’s debut “Doggystyle”. 

Listening to the album more than 20 years removed from its launch date, you develop a newfound appreciation for what this album represented in the evolution of Snoop. Not just sonically different due to heavy production roles played by DJ Pooh, Soopafly and Daz; not Dre, but a formidable bunch nonetheless. But also different from a lyrical perspective. Snoop was trying hard to fashion himself as less of a silky smooth gangsta rapper with a spotted past and more of lyricist. He tried - albeit in vain - to show that his lyrical stylings were far more valuable than the trademark sound that he and Dre had nurtured on “The Chronic” (1992) and “Doggystyle” (1993). Over two decades later, those two album are universally revered as bonafide classics, while “Tha Doggfather” serves as record of Snoop Dogg’s missed attempt at becoming the West Coast’s most iconic rapper of all time. 

Sure...we all love Uncle Snoop. But it’s hard no to think back to the anticipation in ‘96 and what we were all hoping to hear when the album dropped on November 12th. Here’s a taste of what he gave us….

The Death of A Gansta. The Birth of A Pimp. 

Today, it’s hard to see beyond the pimp persona that Snoop adopted. The freshly pressed hair and the chalices and the absurdity of Bishop Don “Magic” Juan. But, if you revisit “Doggystyle”, you’ll find that this element of Snoop really only appeared on one track: “Doggy Dogg World” featuring The Dramatics. On his debut album, Snoop was smooth, yet his songs still packed an undeniable punch. Go back and listen to “The Shiznit” if you can’t fully remember how hard Snoop’s must have hit at the time and how timeless the sounds from his debut set truly are. 

Likely fueled by his recent legal woes, Snoop pivoted aggressively towards a softer and more soulful sound; at times even appearing to reach for a more mainstream sound. Which I remember being confusing to me as a kid because N.W.A., Dre and - yes - Snoop had cemented gansta rap as a staple of mainstream American music. 

The Failings of "Tha Doggfather"

For all of the album’s merits, there were more missteps. “Groupie” felt like nothing short of a shameless attempt to recreate the magic of “Ain’t No Fun”, and “Freestyle Conversation” was an explicit indication of Snoop’s insecurities about have been abandoned by Dre. On the track Snoop hoped to flex his lyrical prowess, but in the end he only confirmed the suspicions of his post-Dre doubters and seemed to be shamelessly putting on an East Coast rhyming affect. 

Pooh and Daz would over time prove to be production geniuses in their own right. However, there was no unifying thread to be found in this project. There was no clear indication of where Snoop was trying to go and there were far too few sightings of the 1993 Snoop that literally turned the rap game on its head and let the world know that the West Coast was not to be fucked with. 

On March 16th, 2018 Snoop Dogg released his 16th album, “Bible of Love.” A gospel-themed album that took many by surprise. Along the way, he’s dabbled in RnB, reggae and virtually everything else. More than 20 years after the release of “Tha Doggfather”, it’s still unclear who Snoop Dogg is and what Snoop Dogg could have been. 

But then again, maybe it’s our inability to pin him down and categorize him as one thing that makes him so iconic.

The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura

Didn't love it. But love that I finished it. Been a while since...

Still not done with "Atlas Shrugged".

Web Out Loud

It's not that you want to know. But if you did, this post alone could tell you that I was up at some ungodly hour writing this entry from somewhere in New York City. Not sure how eerily close you can get to triangulating my coordinates. But to be honest, it's not something that I'm too concerned about.

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Over dinner last night, my colleagues and I got into a discussion about "our generation." As far as I can tell, age forces one to make increasingly frequent references to his and her generation. So in age appropriate fashion, that's what we did.

During this conversation, one person in the group mentioned how difficult it would be to build a product that wins the minds and eyes of kids currently in high school. The social disruption that is Facebook happened to me at the age of 19, whereas folks currently in high school have been raised on the platform - with or without parental consent.

Thinking about this is shocking, even if not a novel discovery on our parts. Emerging generations - if you will - have increasingly become socialized in a fashion that makes living life out loud on the web has become the norm. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter to any niche network you can name, there has been a grand shift toward sharing more and more data. However, some differ in opinion about the benefits you get in return.

Spending nearly a decade in Silicon Valley before making the move to New York likely played a large role in my desensitization toward privacy issues. While I was never the one to sit down like a good web citizen and read every TOS or privacy policy, I did trust in the power of the crowd to surface any glaring irregularities. I took solace in knowing that if some fun app came along stating that it could lay claim upon some core aspect of my online identity, other webizens would spring into action. The company would be shamed and some degree of corrective action would be taken. Checks and balance.

However, beyond the brute force of the crowd, I think that my "generation" and those more aged  than I take pause around online privacy issues because we've all lived in a world that predated dual identities. I mean, my last post literally talked about my uneasiness with offline discussion about my online behavior. It doesn't freak me out, but it is something that is slightly jarring and unexpected. Even now, with over 10 years experience of social networking awesomeness.

Yet still, my awareness of the subtle mental gulf between my two identities helps me to embrace it further and better refine the way the two interact. For this reason, I think I am far more dismissive of some vocal minorities that seem to suggest that many value-additive features of the web are efforts to create a Big Brother-esque stronghold over who we are and what we do.

What we may be missing in these discussions around privacy and what companies should be able to know about us online is that fact that we may have already tipped. The kids that will file into high school classrooms in a few hours are so deeply engaged and immersed in internet-based activity that having a web that knows and adapts to them in a highly intelligent (or what some older folks may call creepy) fashion. This will be the front along which differentiation will occur as tech continues trucking forward.

Discussion around the online and offline will slowly fade out. Instead, in a world of increased connectedness, people will find it more difficult to unplug. Yet, I believe that people have already become more unwilling to unplug. So if I ever try my hand at building a web-based business, I will approach it with a belief that people want to be watched, understand as something more than a pattern, and improved upon to the greatest extent possible.

If you fundamentally believe that the web is good, the future of tech excites you. But if you fundamentally believe that the web is a scary place filled with pitfalls and potholes, there's much more in store that's probably going to freak you the fuck out.

Godspeed.
@drayford

When My Worlds Collide

Apparently I know a lot about #moms. I don't know where this started and I don't know when it started. All I know is that on Klout, I've been deemed to be an influencer in the realm of the motherly.

This is both uncomfortably awkward and terrifically amazing. All at once.

The awesome part lies in the fact that some fancy algorithm out there seems to believe that what I have to say has some type of meaning of import to those that are listening (or reading or whatever you want to call it). But, the awkwardness comes from those moments when the real world collides with the virtual world. In other words, when my expertise in the realm of moms comes up during face to face interactions with other people.

Yes - that's when things get weird.
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Just the other night, while walking to Von Bar on Bleecker Street, I zoned out for a bit while a few friends were talking about activity on Instagram. Must've been the five glasses of wine I had during open bar at the charity date auction.

"You haven't been posting much since Iceland."

When I looked up, I realized that this was a reference made toward me and my dry spell on the photo filtering app.

"Damn, I didn't realize that anyone paid much attention to my posting patterns."

It felt nice to know that someone looked forward to the pictures that I take. Sort of a testament to my ability to select the best possible filter before sharing images out via Facebook, Twitter and every other social network box that I can mark in the app. Yet, I was again made uncomfortable by this willingness to make real world references to my virtual presence.

For the longest time, I was accustomed to divided my conversations. Online postings were simply my ramblings at and with the "interwebs." But now, as I find myself deeply embedded in the school environments, I've found offline chatter about online chatter spark back up. Almost to the level it reached in undergrad after had finished having their minds blown about the advent on Facebook and modern social networking.

By no means does this discomfort mean that I'll begin to further filter the types of things that I say on the internet. I'll keep talking about #moms and I'll keep racking up those Klout points as the company's algorithm sees fit. Yet, it does mean that I'll need to be prepared for the real world consequences of my musings. Perhaps I'll just start to prepare a set of offline talking points to go along with each post that I share that manages to get the attention of more than a handful of people.

And if you'd like to get a sense of what I actually know about moms, you can always follow me on Twitter!

Yours truly,
@drayford

#eexsummit2013

Managed to round out my week on a high note. I had the honor of leading one of the four crawls organized as part of the NYU Stern Entrepreneurs Exchange annual summit. Instead of trapping folks indoors while the weather was so nice, we sent groups of students out to companies like Fab.com and Foursquare. Yours truly was lucky enough to lead a group of folks to chat with betaworks, a startup law specialist from Herrick and theCEO of OpenSky. Couldn't have asked for more candid hosts!

In a week that saw me take two midterms and finally figure out how to submit time sheets for my internship, I've gotta admit that participating in the crawl was my favorite. 

Looking forward to organizing this event again next year!

Musings on Google Glass

Google glass presentation from Dontae Rayford

I recently had a chance to compile some pretty pictures in an effort to share my thoughts on Google Glass. Specifically, I argue that companies should take a "gentle" (whatever that means to you) approach when seeking to distribute on a platform that sits directly above a user's line of sight.

Unsure what the future holds for Glass, but this is just further proof that the Cyborgs are coming. 

InSITE Pitch Day

It's pretty crazy to think that the Spring InSITE Pitch Day is coming up in a little over a week! Next Friday's event will serve as a testament to how quickly times flies. Can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of b-school.

At any rate, InSITE is one of the most influential contributors to my quest to experience NYC's entrepreneurial community. Last semester's Pitch Day was an amazing opportunity for all of the fellows to see what their counterparts were working on while watching entrepreneurs present to a packed audience filled with venture capitalists, other entrepreneurs, students, press and more!

If your schedule permits, I strongly encourage you attend the event which runs from 8:00 am - 11:00 am on April 5th, 2013. You can sign up for free here!