The D.O.C. appreciation thread.

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plocc
plocc Members Posts: 921 ✭✭✭✭
I've been listening the Noone Can Do It Better album lately and it dawned on me that dude was the westcoasts equivalent of the eastcoasts Rakim, but without the 5% references. Lyrically, he was a beast. He had the total package. The voice, vocabulary, wordplay, clarity, rhythm, wit, subject matter, and flow. I'd like to hear what some of yall opinions are.
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  • Stew
    Stew Members, Moderators, Writer Posts: 52,234 Regulator
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    No One Can Do It Better is in the Vault. The people spoke
  • KNiGHTS
    KNiGHTS Members Posts: 4,435 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    You can't deny this post. Honestly, the ? still goes hard 20+ years later.
  • yeah i rap so don't
    yeah i rap so don't Members Posts: 3,874 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    One of the nicest guys I've met who is a rapper.
  • ineedpussy
    ineedpussy Members Posts: 7,252 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    what the d.o.c? ? ?
  • yeah i rap so don't
    yeah i rap so don't Members Posts: 3,874 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    drtycity wrote: »
    what the d.o.c? ? ?

    You should have been banned a long time ago
  • 32DaysOfInfiniti
    32DaysOfInfiniti Members Posts: 4,152 ✭✭✭✭✭
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  • DarthRozay
    DarthRozay Members Posts: 20,570 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Dopeness. It's really too bad he didn't get a full chance to have a rap career. One album and he gets his vocal chords ? up. Imagine a regular DOC on albums like The Chronic and 2001.
  • jono
    jono Members Posts: 30,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    No One Can Do It Better is a certified classic. It is the single in the top 3 greates west coast rap albums ever, and the best produced by Dr. Dre.
  • Disciplined InSight
    Disciplined InSight Members Posts: 13,478 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2012
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    Appreciated.

    The opening page basically explained everything about The D.O.C. I've already known. Dude's flow was untouchable until that accident.
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @plocc damn homie, u beat me to the punch i had a hip-hop 101 thread for D.O.C. in the works, so i am going to add to this thread to keep it alive for a bit.
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    My take on D.O.C. is that he's in my top 10 greatest emcee of all times and one of the greatest emcee in hip-hop. If D.O.C. wouldn't got in that car crash, we will be talking about who's the greatest of all time DOC, RAKIM, JAY-Z, BIGGE OR PAC.

    like you said DOC had the lyrical abilities, cadence, flow, story telling, subject matter, voice, wit, and the pen game. When he flipped his voice for Funky Enough that shows how talented he is, using a Rasta voice on point and it didnt sound force at all.

    DOC have a hip-hop classic in No one can Do It Better, wrote for 5 classic albums Eazy Duz It, Straight outta Compton, Niggaz4life, The Chronic and ? ... That's 6 Classics under his belt.
  • bindayvez79
    bindayvez79 Members Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
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    The Formula is my favorite rap song off all time. No one can do it better is my favorite album off all time. Raw as hell without all the cussing. I think nwa on the grand finale cursed more than doc did on the whole album. too bad he crushed his larynx cuzz dude was on his way. Much respect to The king of kingz.
  • king hassan
    king hassan Members Posts: 22,739 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    That album dropped my sophmore year in high school, stayed in rotation. We used to pile in the Twins Lincoln Continental with the moon roof and blast ? ? all the time. Smoking dollar joints and drinking MD 20/20, good times
  • konceptjones
    konceptjones Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 13,139 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2012
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    I remember working at a fast food joint the day the video for "Funky Enough" dropped on MTV and BET. I went in for my shift and that's all EVERYONE was talking about at work. The single wasn't even in the stores yet and Buy Rite Records, Sam's Jams, and all the record stores around Detroit were gettin' slammed with calls for just the single. I remember listening to Straight Outta Compton while waiting for the single to drop and realizing that The D.O.C. was on that album. On the song "Parental Discretion Iz Advised" The D.O.C. spit some lines that suddenly made sense:

    "...On the mic is the D.O. to the C. this is an intro
    I know the DOC makes you want to take a ?
    So buy a bucket cause upcomin is my album
    And for the record, meanin my record, check it
    Listen to the single and you'll be like, yo, I gotta get it
    "


    When school started a few weeks later, Half the cats were in Raiders and Kings hats and black full length leather trenchcoats like The DOC wore in the video.

    The album dropped, the video for "The D.O.C. and the Doctor" came out and the ? was a wrap: The D.O.C. was officially was the man.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdgC6w0gL4

    This album had only one peer; Eric B and Rakim's "Follow The Leader". That's saying a lot for '89.

    The day we heard he was in a car accident and ? up his vocal chords was, for me, worse than the day that Pac was killed.

    "No One Can Do It Better" is a 5 mic classic. This is indisputable.
  • ohhhla
    ohhhla Members Posts: 10,341 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I like how Kane's 1st 2 LP's get ignored, but it's ok.

    He sucks anyways.
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    459d6e90f5fd9d47.jpg

    The D.O.C. - It's Funky Enough (TRACK 1)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKZVsiGYsc

    No One Can Do It Better is The D.O.C.'s debut album, released on June 16, 1989. It reached number-one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for two weeks, while peaking in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified gold by the RIAA three months after it was released, and platinum on April 21, 1994. This was the only solo album The D.O.C. was able to record before a car accident resulted in crushing his larynx, permanently changing his voice. He would not release another album until 7 years later, with Helter Skelter (1996).

    The D.O.C. - Mind Blowin' (Album Version) (TRACK 2)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYvPjwcW-QQ

    Idolizing East Coast acts such as Run-D.M.C., The D.O.C. always showed more of a lyrical style, not talking about guns, drugs and violence. The album received a Parental Advisory sticker because of the final track on the album ("The Grand Finalé"). Most of the songs were influenced and sampled from funk artists such as Marvin Gaye, Parliament, and Funkadelic, but one track in particular was influenced by other genres, "Beautiful But Deadly", a rock-hip hop track, influenced by Run-D.M.C. with a heavy guitar riff throughout the song (it borrows from Funkadelic's Cosmic Slop).
    tumblr_ky244lkn3Y1qz7l0ao1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&Expires=1353188323&Signature=SEs7jz7uCLmx%2FjtRF%2Fog%2BeCjjT0%3D

    The D.O.C. - Lend Me an Ear (TRACK 3)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeCJTWP7wFw

    All five then-current members of N.W.A contributed to this album. Beats were produced by Dr. Dre, with Eazy-E being the executive producer and DJ Yella co-producing "The Grand Finalé".[citation needed] Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy all provide vocals for "The Grand Finalé", while Ren also provides vocals for "Comm. 2". Yella performs on "Comm. Blues", "Comm. 2" and "The Grand Finalé" as a drummer.

    thedoc-2.jpg

    The D.O.C. - Comm. Blues (TRACK 4)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCbZauVdPA0

    No One Can Do It Better also features additional vocals by Krazy Dee (who also co-wrote the N.W.A song "Panic Zone" from N.W.A. and the Posse), J. J. Fad, Yomo & Maulkie and Michel'le, who were all part of Ruthless as well. Andre "L.A. Dre" Bolton and Stan "The Guitar Man" Jones, who play keyboards and guitar on some of the tracks respectively, also worked for the label.

    The D.O.C. - Let the Bass Go (TRACK 5)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmm_CwbFRh8

    No One Can Do It Better was praised by most music critics. Chris Rock ranked No One Can Do It Better 11th on a 2005 list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums ever.[10]
    Allmusic - "It's a shame that the D.O.C. never got the chance for a proper follow-up, but in No One Can Do It Better, he at least has one undeniable masterpiece."


    The D.O.C. - Beautiful But Deadly ft Legendary NWA Guitarist STAN "The Guitar Man" (Track 6)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VENENdjqXqk

    LA_Weekly_DOC_7-2011_109.jpg

    RapReviews - "It's hard to adequately describe how much of an unbelievable pleasure it is to listen to "No One Can Do it Better," an album that not only exceeds the expectations anyone had for D.O.C. at the time but which goes down as an unqualified classic in the history of hip-hop."

    The D.O.C. - Doc & The Doctor
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdgC6w0gL4
    The-D.O.C..jpg
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    In 1998, the album NOBODY CAN DO IT BETTER was listed in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums

    "No One Can Do It Better"(TRACK 8)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PYXlWgJf7U

    5_mics_classic_poster-rd54a2381bb134fdd9fb532ae5445d6d8_imu_400.jpg
    The D.O.C.

    No One Can Do It Better (1989)

    Along with being the principle architect of N.W.A’s menacing, groundbreaking West Coast sound through much of the late ‘80’s and early 90’s, Dr. Dre was also an influential talent broker, whose 1989 introduction of Texas-born lyricist the D.O.C. preceded high-profile discoveries such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem.

    However, the D.O.C.’s confident debut, No One Can Do It Better, was not the typical ? With Attitude threat. Clearly, he was a streetwise rhymer more interested in battling MCs than busting caps on wax, as evidenced on tracks such as “The Formula” and “The D.O.C. & The Doctor.”

    The platinum album’s barrage of groove-heavy live guitar, drums and keyboard synthesizers allowed space for his authoritative vocal presence to sine (“It’s Funky Enough”) – vocals that were tragically cut short after a life-threatening car accident. Yet, along with the extensive writing credits on The Chronic, No One Can Do It Better remains an influential work revered by ? rap aficionados.


    Whirlwind Pyramid (TRACK 9)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au6uOjK6Ghw

    For the third installment of Forgotten Classics, we’re going back to 1989. Without The D.O.C, there is no N.W.A. The Texas native became one of the most prolific ghostwriters in hip hop, helping write classic tracks on albums such as Straight Outta Compton & The Chronic. In 1989, The D.O.C. got his shot in the spotlight with his classic debut No One Can Do It Better. With Dr. Dre behind the boards, The D.O.C. shined with a lyrical prowess unlike any member of N.W.A. (even Ice Cube). Tracy Curry looked poised to become an all-time great before an unfortunate car accident damaged his vocal chords. Despite this blow, The D.O.C. continued to help Dre and even recorded two more albums. He was even introduced to a whole new generation (who may have never heard of him otherwise) through placements on Grand Theft Auto & EA Sports soundtracks in the mid 2000. When you revisit tracks like “Mind Blowin” or “Whirlwind Pyramid,” it’s easy to see why The D.O.C. looked destined to be in everyone’s top 10 of all-time. No One Can Do It Better may not be as well known as The Chronic or Straight Outta Compton but it’s on the same level, if not higher. News of a possible vocal chord reconstruction for The D.O.C. has many, including myself, excited that we may once again get to hear this legendary emcee on wax the way he was meant to be heard.

    mqdefault.jpg

    "Comm. 2" (TRACK 10)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZTxrJUaJ-Y

    The DOC
    No One Can Do It Better
    Ruthless, 1989

    The DOC’s debut, No One Can Do It Better, though billed as a solo, is really the work of a duo, as much Dr. Dre’s opus as DOC’s. The content of the album might be puzzling to those whose introduction to DOC came through his association with NWA. The narrative world created by NWA was vast, like the real-life Los Angeles they drew from, populated by small-time thugs, ? , gangs, and crooked cops. No One Can Do It Better, on the other hand, creates a universe that exists almost entirely inside the recording studio. The songs alternate up-tempo, late-eighties fast rap styles with mid-tempo tracks that provide a preview of the West Coast G-Funk aesthetic that would develop shortly afterwards. DOC uses his hoarse but still imposing voice to good effect, and his rhymes are consistently dope, though not mind-blowing. The album’s thesis becomes clear in the skits and interludes, during which the listener gets numerous glimpses of the interactions between DOC and Dre. The album tries to convince the listener of its spontaneity through staged presentation. Further scrutiny of the lyrics only confirms these suspicions: DOC mostly raps about rapping well over flawless drums provided by Dre. The only time he really leaves the studio is to describe a treacherous vamp over badly aged wailin’-ass guitars and eighties rock drums on “Beautiful But Deadly.”


    The Formula (TRACK 11)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_JM94I__s

    Most of the other songs have held up better over time, and some, such as the title track, feel fairly modern, but the album is far from timeless, irrevocably reflecting its own period regardless of its futurism. The beats are mostly programmed drums with replayed riffs in the place of samples. The prevalence of interpolations could have been a business decision that resulted from Dre’s unwillingness to pay sample clearance fees, but there was clearly also a desire to have a clean, spare sound. Where there are short samples used, on the hooks of songs like “Funky Enough,” they stand out for their impreciseness. Even if the idea to the aptly-titled “The Formula” came to Dre in a dream, as DOC claims, it was truly a mathematician’s fantasy. This deliberate aspect is really where the album stands out from the exuberant improvisations of many of its contemporaries. Although DOC has claimed that the songs were recorded without an overarching plan in mind, there is none of the carefree straight spitting that characterizes albums like Lord Finesse’s debut from the same year. Like many quests for perfection, this album narrows its focus, and while there are few overt missteps, its mechanism holds it back. This is not to say that there is no fun to be had here – the chemistry between the protagonists is undeniable, and the result is good music and a near-classic album. In the incoherent world of rap, however, DOC and Dre are actually too coherent, too focused, and their creation sometimes feels more lifelike than live.

    Portrait of a Masterpiece (TRACK 12)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjiBstIH4ZI

    113736788.jpg

    The Grand Finale feat. N.W.A. (TRACK 13)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIbYfKiW81o
  • Trollio
    Trollio Members Posts: 25,815 ✭✭✭✭✭
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  • moyo
    moyo Members Posts: 1,766 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    One of the greatest what-ifs in hip hop history. If DOC woulda never got into that car accident I wonder how his career would ha e turned out.
  • Mr. Caesar
    Mr. Caesar Members Posts: 80
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    There was an article published on D.O.C. that described his style pre-accident almost perfectly; saying he sounded as if he had fire-breathing lungs. He had one of the greatest voices of any emcee in the game, and lyrically, he was almost peerless. And to think he was only 20-21 years old at the time.

    It's sad that that freeway crash robbed DOC of his voice; but it's miraculous that he even lived through it. I read that he went through the windshield when the car crashed; and Dr. Dre said when he visited him in the hospital, DOC was so disfigured, Dre could only recognize him by his haircut.
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    respect the D.O.C.;
  • Bodhi
    Bodhi Members Posts: 7,932 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2013
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    D.O.C. is my favorite MC beside Rakim and Scarface. Top 3 of all time.
  • waterproof
    waterproof Members Posts: 9,412 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Oceanic wrote: »
    D.O.C. is my favorite MC beside Rakim and Scarface. Top 3 of all time.

    @Oceanic word up, i got's to give respect when respect is due, word up....top 3 of all times you know your ? , i got him around 7 or 8 just because he's like hip-hop's Gayle Sayers but his impact was great, that Rakim, Kane and other great emcee's took notice and i remember they was like this new cat is a threat because he took it further than Ra and Kane and had a different element..

    My GOAT LIST

    1)PAC
    2) NAS
    3) RAKIM
    4) MELLE MEL
    5) MOE DEE
    6) KANE
    7) krs-1
    8) THE DOC
    9) ICE CUBE
    10) GRANDMASTER CAZ
  • TheGOAT
    TheGOAT Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 15,916 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Been bumpin his old stuff non stop since I saw Straight Outa Compton.

    Peep this "lost interview" he details some crazy stuff in here

    Part 1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnwsHqPe7bU
    Part 2
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkUhFhtmrOI

    also I just saw a new Jerry Heller interview and even Jerry said the DOC is the greatest rapper to ever live
  • TheGOAT
    TheGOAT Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 15,916 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The Formula is my favorite rap song off all time. No one can do it better is my favorite album off all time. Raw as hell without all the cussing. I think nwa on the grand finale cursed more than doc did on the whole album. too bad he crushed his larynx cuzz dude was on his way. Much respect to The king of kingz.

    The DOC just said the other day the Formula is his personal favorite too.


    My favorite off that album has to go to Portrait of a Masterpiece
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4nlPf14cM