On 'Tales From My Hood,' Kurupt Delivers His Testimony in G-Funk
Fresh off a brush with death and newly committed to his sobriety, the Dogg Pound rapper reunites with DJ Battlecat for an album inspired by his second chance at life.
It’s been a bumpy ride for Kurupt.
After a troubling stint on Marriage Boot Camp: Hip-Hop Edition, the Dogg Pound rapper’s descent into alcoholism spilled out of the shadows and into the tabloids. But all those decades of debauchery with his accomplice of choice, Hennessy, finally came to a screeching halt in January, when he was rushed to the hospital amid rumors that we’d soon be pouring out liquor on the curb in his memory.
Miraculously, he pulled through—because that’s what Dogg Pound gangstas do—and now that he’s completely committed to his sobriety, thanks in part to Eminem and Dr. Dre’s intervention, the 53-year-old has been candid about just how close he came to cripwalking with the Grim Reaper.
“I had pancreatitis,” he recently revealed on Big Boy’s Neighborhood. “It was basically alcohol, it was basically cigarettes. Basically stress, anxiety. The whole ball of wax.”
He also confirmed he was in a coma for three weeks and “coded” twice—as in bounced back from the types of medical emergencies that send most of us kicking and screaming to the upper room.
A brush with death is exactly the kind of thing that will make you reevaluate your life and dump your bar cart into a landfill, and thanks in part to his renewed zeal to one day walk his granddaughters down the aisle, we get Tales From My Hood, a collaborative album nearly 30 years in the making.
In 1998, when Kurupt descended from the heavens to bless us with the synth-soaked, khakis-and-Chucks anthem “We Can Freak It,” a religious awakening took place: the skies parted, lowriders broke out speaking in tongues, and every Dodger hat from Calabasas to Nickerson Gardens sprouted a halo of its own.
Reverend Deacon Pastor DJ Battlecat dabbed his thumbs in holy oil, laid hands on his MPC, and put a motherfucking anointing in that beat.
Hallowed be thy name.
Such is the theology of G-Funk.
Tales From My Hood picks up where that delicious alchemy left off, kicking off the gangsta party with the bouncy “Sneaky Attacc,” in which Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Charlie Bereal threaten unspeakable amounts of biblical violence against whoever stole the “K” from the song title. Thankfully, “Me N The Boyz” restores order for the rest of us law-abiding citizens, courtesy of a “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” sample that’s equal parts P-Funk, pool party, and Crenshaw Boulevard.
Another standout that longtime fans of all things Dogg and Pound might recognize is “Mystic River.” Originally leaked on Blue Ivy’s internet in 2007, it went quadruple platinum on every iPod and burned CD north of Mexico. But since Kurupt doesn’t always come when you call, but he’s always on time, our long-lost orphan has finally found its way home and earned a proper release almost two decades later.
And it’s glorious.
Though Daz’s chants in the chorus have been kicked to the curb—presumably due to his ongoing feud with his cousin, Snoop, who just so happens to own the label this album was released on—the song’s carefree DNA remains intact. However, it’s been renovated with soothing vocals that offer a warm hello and an almost angelic goodbye.
As with all things DPG, there’s a gratuitous amount of bloodshed, blue bandanas, and at least one posse cut pledging its unwavering allegiance to misogynoir. But the belle of this 11-track ball is the sinister “Mindstate,” which opens with a Molotov cocktail from Ill Camille before Kurupt, BJ The Chicago Kid, and Charlie Bereal riddle what’s left of the body with bars and bullets. BJ’s menacing chorus blends beautifully with Josef Leimberg’s haunting horns, as the crooner channels D’Angelo to remind everyone, “I’m that motherfucker,” before Charlie’s bluesy guitar solo lands the coup de grâce.
I know Compton’s Most Wanted already gave us some Music to Driveby, but if I’m ever in the mood to kill the headlights and unleash approximately 78 rounds of hellfire from the passenger side of my best friend’s ride, “Mindstate” will definitely provide the soundtrack to do so.
That said, while Battlecat’s production throughout the album is nearly impeccable, the end result isn’t. His mutant ability to resurrect long-lost regional sounds—as in produce West Coast rap music that actually sounds like West Coast rap music—can only carry his cripwalking cohort so far. This uncomfortable truth is laid bare on “Love Letter,” where Kurupt flaps around like a dying fish on the only beat to wash him ashore.
I hate that the extensive history of Dogg Pound discord robbed us of whatever boisterous gangsta party Daz would’ve brought to the table. But if Kurupt’s book of sobriety requires that this chapter be free of acrimony, then sacrificing their family reunion is the cost of healing he’s earned.
At least we finally got “Mystic River.”