But why has this pioneering song flown under the radar? How did Pac become involved with the song? And, most importantly, why do Above the Law believe they created g funk? Okayplayer recently asked these questions and more to Big Hutch and Money-B. The song and music video of “Call It What U Want” includes many other fallen legends like Eazy-E and Shock G. "2Pac'll pack a person, pump the trunk, I'm bumpin' g funk, but you can call it what you want," Tupac Shakur booms on the first verse of “ Call It What U Want ,” Above the Law’s P-funk- infused track that features a young Shakur and Money-B (both representing Digital Underground). There, a group called Above the Law - headlined by producer Big Hutch, the nephew of Motown legend Willie Hutch - pioneered gangsta funk, with their sophomore album Black Mafia Life (released in February 1993) being the first to explicitly call g funk by its name. However, about 30 miles east from the well-known Los Angeles communities of Compton, Watts, South Central, and Long Beach, the inland town of Pomona is where some argue g funk actually began. From there, you might hear the names of other trailblazers: DJ Quik, Warren G, and Daz Dillinger. G funk is often considered to be the brainchild of Dr. The reliable formula of funky synthesizers, deep basslines, and soulful crooners spread like wildfire across the country to become the defining sound of mid-‘90s West Coast rap (and rap in general), thanks to record labels like the imposing Death Row Records, larger than life rappers, and classic movie soundtracks. Hip-hop fanatics may be talking about the beloved genre turning 50 this year, but one of its most beloved subgenres is now officially three decades old - g funk. After a few years, it would become clear that Compton was still producing game-changing artists.The story of how Above The Law’s 2Pac-featuring “Call It What U Want” created the defining sound of mid-‘90s West Coast rap - g funk. But when they see someone like Kendrick, they get inspired.”ĭre would end up being the producer who would give Kendrick Lamar his shot, after J Cole prompted the ‘Still Dre’ rapper to give B Dot a contract. “I see a bunch of good kids every day here and I can only imagine what they go through outside of Centennial High School. We have to have people like Kendrick and Beyoncé to keep people conscious of these issues, even though we’ve made plenty of progress in America,” Principal Douglas Brown told Pigeon & Planes of Kendrick Lamar. “He’s bringing controversial issues to light. The two men share a host of commonalities including attending Centennial High School some decades apart. Fifteen years later I meet Dr Dre, and I explained that story to him, and he remembered that same exact moment, and he remembers them kids that were out there, and I said Dre, I was one of the kids that were there, it’s a crazy feeling.” “I think it was a white Bentley, that moment right there, whether I knew it or not, branched me off to what I’m doing now, it was already designed in destiny. My father see them, went two blocks down and got me, by the time he got me everybody was out there it was pandemonium, he put me on his shoulders and there they was, Dr Dre and Tupac right there. “They was shooting a video in my neighbourhood in Compton. “I was about eight years old,” Kendrick later recalled to the Recording Academy. He remembers how utterly transfixed he was by their greatness, and, at that moment, he knew that he was going to dedicate his life to following in their footsteps. The original video for the track featured a scene in Dre’s hometown, and Kendrick still vividly remembers the day these two titans of hip-hop came for a victory lap in his neighbourhood. Lamar first saw Tupac and Dre when they shot the ‘California Love’ video in his neighbourhood.
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