Dogg Pound -1995- Dogg Shit (Death Row / Unfinished Project)

• 1995 : sessions for a Dogg Pound unknown project, sort of E.P. companion to Dogg Food, a B-Sides and guests bonus disc.
• Their album supposed to be released in July of 1995 was delayed of three months and Dogg Pound recorded new songs, particularly with guests.
• What happened ? With the arrival of 2Pac at Death Row and the top priority of his project, Dogg Pound gave some of their best material for it (with Wu-Tang, with Dre & George Clinton). In late December, after The Notorious B.I.G.'s call to the boycott of "New York New York" video, Dogg Pound and 2Pac very likely got the idea of a mutual effort eventually titled Thug Pound against the East Coast, and the Pound recycled a lot of material of their project for it. In the summer of 1996, Daz and Kurupt returned to the idea of a second album titled West Coast Aftershock and they will again recycle some material from this short lived project.
• The recordings were dispersed or remixed in various projects : soundtracks, Death Row compilations, Daz' Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back (1998), Tha Last of Tha Pound (2004), Doggy Bag (2012)...
• Sources : ?

fanmade cover for a DGC's bootleg (with random content from various projects),

made from an altered image of 2002 compilation

### - WORK IN PROGRESS... There are no known material sequence or info about that project, which was maybe only in the state of a collection of B-Sides/featurings. For the second album project, cf. West Coast Aftershock - ### 

Dogg Shit (1995 Sessions)

1. Don't Stop, Keep Going (Original) feat. Nas ***
2. Got My Mind Made Up (Original) feat. Lady of Rage, Method Man, Redman & Inspectah Deck - unleaked / Inspectah's verse edit 
3. You Can't See Me feat. George Clinton
4. Just Doggin' feat. Nate Dogg 
5. Started (by Kurupt) feat. Ricky Harris (?) ***
6. Let's Play House (Original) feat. Daz, Warren G, Michel'le, Nate Dogg & Big Pimpin' **
7. Me In Your World (Original) feat. Lady Of Rage **
   
   
8. It's Going Down (Original) feat. Prince Ital Joe & Kevin Vernado *
9. Gang Bangin' Ass Criminals (Original) feat. LBC Crew & Soopafly *
10. I'll Do (Original) feat. Kausion
11. N.Y. '87 (Original) feat. Deadly Threat & Soopafly (speaking) **
12. Our Daily Bread (Original) feat. Lady of Rage & Prince Ital Joe *
13. The Name And The Rap (by Daz) 
14. Farewell To My Enemies (Outro) (by Ricky Harris) ** 
    
    Bonus Tracks (Kurupt's work for a solo) :
     
15. Loc'd Out Hood (by Kurupt) 
16. Jack Move feat. Big Syke & Outlawz *** 
17. Everybody Needs To Slow Down (by Kurupt) **  
18. Would You Ride (by Kurupt) feat. Snoop Dogg  

Producer - Dr. Dre (3), Daz (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16), Overdose & Soopafly (15, 17, 18). 

* released in a slightly remixed form in Daz' Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back (Death Row, 1998)
** taken from Doggy Bag (WIDEawake, 2012)

*** taken from Tha Last of Tha Pound (Gangsta Advisory, 2004)

Not included tracks :

. Money, Cars, Bitches (prod. Dr. Dre) - unknown source & date of recording
. Killin' Niggaz (by Daz) - unknown source & date of recording

. Jack Move (Original w/o Kurupt) feat. Outlawz ------> Thug Life Volume 2
. Initiated (Wind Mix) feat. 2Pac & Outlawz ----> Thug Pound
. N.Y. '87 (Quik Mix) feat. Threat & 2Pac ----> Thug Pound
. Don't Stop (Kurupt 2 Verses Mix) feat. 2Pac ----> Thug Pound
. Don't Stop (Final) feat. 2Pac ----> West Coast Aftershock ; 2002
. Trump Tight (by Kurupt) feat. Big Syke & Kadafi ----> Thug Pound
. Um Dumpin' (by Kurupt) feat. Gonzoe, 2Pac, Scarlo & Nutt-So ----> Thug Pound
. This Life I Lead feat. Gonzoe, 2Pac & Nutt-So ----> Thug Pound 
. Don't Try To Play Me Homie (by Daz) -----------> Gridlock'd 

A totally unknown project 

The closest thing to this original Dogg Shit unknown projects is the WIDEawake compilation Doggy Bag. But like all releases from that sub-label, the result is... far from being satisfying. Songs were taken from various projects from 93 to 98...  Tha Last of Tha Pound also presents a couple of songs taken from that era of recordings - 95 -, at a time the second Pound album (or a kind of E.P. companion) was logically titled "Dogg Shit" (after the food they ate in first album...). Without the arrival of 2Pac at Death Row, we could imagine that Daz and Kurupt would have had the project ready to drop in mid '96 or even before, or it would simply have turned into a second album.

In late December, notably after the recording of "Initiated", Dogg Pound will recycle some of their material for that mysterious 2Pac/Dogg Pound short-lived project usually known as Thug Pound ("Stated" on "Trump Tight", "Don't Stop" re-recorded with 2Pac, "NY87" remixed by DJ Quik), what could also be a renewed idea (with 2Pac arrival) for the "Death Row Compilation" (cf. Thug Pound), announced in the booklet of All Eyez On Me in February 1996. Another hypothesis could be that this "E.P. companion" was already an update for this compilation.

After Thug Pound project was dropped for an unknown reason (dispute with Dr. Dre ? 2Pac was arrested the 22nd of January and changed his projects ? dispute with Kurupt in the studios ?), Kurupt recycled his things for his own solo project.

DETAILED INFORMATION

• "Don't Stop". Remix featuring 2Pac has been released in Dogg Pound's 2002 but was probably initially remixed for Thug Pound in early 96. In 2004, Daz released the real original version of the song in Tha Last of Tha Pound, with verses from Nas instead of 2Pac, of course recorded before the "New York, New York" controversy, presumably in the summer of 1995.
• Inspectah Deck's verse cut from "Got My Mind Made Up" has been leaked circa ~2010. It was at the end of the song, Inspectah kind of freestyling whereas the beat was finished (we can still hear the first words in the released song). It is said 2Pac replaced Lady of Rage when the song was given to him and 2Pac and the engineers chose to cut the song at the end of the beat for his All Eyez on Me version.
• "You Can't See Me" was later given to 2Pac for All Eyez On Me, we ignore if there is also a Dr. Dre version which could be from 93-94 for Chronic 2. Presumably recorded in the summer of 1995. 
• "Just Doggin'" was released in Sunset Park Soundtrack in 1996, alongside 2Pac's "High Til I Die" and then again in 2002. It is a remix of "Mobbin' With The Pound" recorded for Above The Rim, with Nate Dogg added for the hook.
• "Started" is a three verses Kurupt song. In the intro, Daz uses the old nicknames. In his first, Kurupt says '95. Second one was re-used on "Trump Tight (Dump On Site)" very likely recorded for Thug Pound in late December 95, and later in February on "Music Makes Me High (Remix)" with Lost Boys. So this song was likely recorded in Summer/Autumn of 95 before 2Pac gave them their new nicknames.
• "Let's Play House" was originally recorded with Warren G, in late 1994 or early 1995. Dr. Dre remixed the track and Daz replaced Warren verse for Dogg Food, maybe following a demand of Suge who didn't like him - but was Dr. Dre not totally agree with that ?). Big Pimpin' poetry outro was also dropped.
• "It's Going Down" was initially recorded in the second half of 95, finally released in a very close mix in Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back in 1998.
• "Bangin' Ass Criminals" with LBC Crew was recorded circa late December, you can clearly hear lines against East Coast in their verses. The song will be edited with a new intro for Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back in 1998.
• "I'll Do" was released in a close mix in Supercop soundtrack (in June of 96), maybe to promote the forthcoming Dogg Pound album that Daz was still planning at that time. It features Gonzoe and his group Kausion. Verses refer to "fuck New York", to Thug Life and 2Pac, so it was possibly recorded for Thug Pound. Gonzoe recorded two other songs with Dogg Pound, Nutt-So and 2Pac in early 1996 for that project ; he also claims to have recorded another song eventually titled "Outlaw Immortalz", very likely in August of 96 with Edi, Hussein and Kurupt (presumably for Ghetto Starz or One Nation).
• "Me In Your World" was recorded circa Dec. 95 and edited without Rage in the summer of 96 for the album, finally released in Death Row's Greatest Hits in late 96. The original was released in Doggy Bag (2012).
• "N.Y. '87" was recorded the 14th of December 95 with Threat only. 2Pac and Quik added their parts a few days later and the song was maybe consecutively given to Thug Pound new project.
• "Our Daily Bread" was very likely recorded circa Jan. 96 (Kurupt referring to the "two millions albums sold", the 5th of January), so why not specially for the 2Pac/Dogg Pound project Thug Pound ? It was edited in August of 96, Daz removing Rage... Lady of Rage has been removed from 3 Dogg Pound songs ! There should be some argument between them at a time... 
• "The Name & The Rep" is a Daz solo song where he names himself "Dillinger" : the lyrics will be partially recycled in "Roll Wit' Us (Original)" in late 96 so the song could be from the first half of '96 or even before. The rap style is mostly similar to "Initiated", "I'll Do", recorded in December of 95. Daz quotes the title of the song in "Our Daily Bread" recorded in January... But it could be from February of 96.
• "Farewell To My Enemies (Outro)". Ricky Harris was already on Doggystyle and makes the intro of Dogg Pound, so this was maybe recorded for being an outro to it.

 

• "Money, Cars, Bitches" is a curious track, presumably unfinished, with one Daz verse and Kurupt only speaking in the beginning, but space for another verse... Daz doesn't sound particularly pre-Dogg Food on it... Could be a Dr. Dre unfinished thing for Murder Was The Case... or simply a Daz/Kurupt track for unfinished DPG4Life. 
• "Killin' Niggaz" is a Daz solo song, presumably more from 1994...
• "Loc'd Out Hood" was released in Gridlock'd Soundtrack in 1997. Kurupt uses verses from "Life I Lead" and "Dumpin", but added some more lines with notably a dedication to "Mo Komeini" (Mopreme) in the second verse, so the song was recorded before Mo was thrown off of Death Row in Feb. 17 of 96.  
• "Jackmove" was firstly recorded for Thug Life Volume 2 in December 95 as Daz featuring Outlawz. Kurupt very likely added in February 96, the 27th.   
• "Everybody Needs To Slow Down" was recorded in April for an unknown Kurupt solo project before he was thrown to Philly (July 96) and he and Daz started a new second album project in August. 
• "Would U Ride" was very likely recorded in March-April 1996. Released in Chronic Re-Lit & From The Vault Edition Bonus Disc. The song is credited to Tyrone aka Hurt-M-Badd but very probably mistakenly. There is an "Overdose Work DAT 04/06/96" in Death Row inventory with content "Untitled/Would You Ride/Everybody Needs To Slow Down", and it is definitely his style (also producer for Dogg Pound "Sooo Much Style", Kurupt of "These Reasons/I Don't Bang No More / Up Down N Around", cf. DPG4Life).

Why so much hate on Rage ? Is it because of 2Pac ? 

Almost a member of the Dogg Pound initially, Lady of Rage will be removed from three Dogg Pound original tracks :  "Got My Mind Made Up", "Me In Your World" and "Our Daily Bread" ! She was kind of put apart of the label in the beginning of 1996... The famous original "Blunt Time" which had 2Pac and Rage is still unleaked... Lady of Rage even said once Pac destroyed her career (what is not entirely true considering that she released a very decent album in 97, contrarily to many Death Row artists who totally disappeared after 2Pac's death...). What is sure is that she wasn't getting on well with the stars of the label ; she is featured in no songs from Dogg Pound, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg in 1996 ! What happened ? Rage only re-appears after Pac's death in Gridlock'd in 1997 in featuring with J-Flexx to replace Sam Sneed in the new version of "Lady Heroin", and with a new solo song "Sho Shot", announcing her first solo album. Only the song "Rough, Rugged & Raw" will feature Daz and Snoop, but it was certainly recorded way before in 1995 (Snoop still saying "Rage representing the Pound")...

In this guest compilation / draft for a second album, we can see that Dogg Pound maybe wanted to create a bridge between L.A. and New-York. Unfortunately, the single "New York New York" (Sept. 17, 1995) created an inverted effect, started a huge feud, the biggest and the most violent Hip-Hop clash that ever occurred. And that's why this original East-West album turned into a war album in early 96 before again becoming a full West Coast album (West Coast Aftershock). 

Tha Dogg Pound erased the prints of that old east/west project starting in December of 95 by 2Pac recording with them in "NY 87", "Initiated", replacing Nas in "Don't Stop" and eventually "Got My Mind Made Up" (following what Daz and Snoop pretend).