Disco de Nate Dogg: “Music & Me [PA]”

The second album from Nate Dogg, Music and Me, is a great example of the unsurpassed musical skills of Nathanial Hale. Music and Me has a great supporting cast which includes: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Xzibit, Lil Mo, Pharoahe Monch, Kurupt, Fabolous and Tha Eastsidaz.

1. I Got Luv - Great song. Nate Dogg comes off smooth in a old school type of beat. 8 out of 10

2. Backdoor - A classic Nate song. He sings about how women don't have to take a man's abuse and games. 8 out of 10

3. Keep It GANGSTA - The second single off the album. Personally, this is by far the worst track on the album. And this is even with Xzibit and Lil Mo. Poor production ruins this track. 3 out of 10

4. I Pledge Allegiance Intro - Just an intro. Serves its purpose. 6 out of 10

5. I Pledge Allegiance - Nate teams up with Pharoahe Monch in an effort to recreate the magic of "Oh No." A decent song, nothing really extraordinary. 6 out of 10

6. Your Woman Has Just Been Sighted - Nate and Jermaine Dupri come together to make a classic song about not getting caught on guys night out. JD handles the production and creates a bouncy beat that is sure to make the clubs. 10 out of 10

7. Your Wife - Nate and Dr. Dre collab on this song, which has Nate and Dre being the recipients of affairs. A typical Dre laid back Dre beat compliments Nate very well. 9 out of 10

8. Can't Nobody - Nate and Kurupt show up on this song, which has a beat very reminicent of P Diddy's "Bad Boy For Life." The song is one of my favorites right now, very bouncy. 10 out of 10

9. Another Short Story - A typical soulful Nate song. Nate is solo on the effort, and he shines through. 8 out of 10

10. Concrete Streets - Another solo effort here. Nate again proves that he can hold his own by himself. 8 of 10

11. Real Pimp - Ludacris joins Nate on this track and really steals the show. Ludacris is quickly becomming one of my favorite rappers, and how could he not with lines such as "Now you got a frog in your throat like Ms. Piggy giving head." 7 out of 10

12. Ditty Dum Ditto Doo - Nate teams up with Snoop and Tha Eastsidaz on this effort, and the result is magic. Up and coming producer Fred Wreck handles the production here. A great party song. 9 out of 10

13. Music and Me - The title cut finds Nate again by himself. And again, he comes off sounding great. 10 out of 10

14. I Got Luv Remix - The first single off the album. Same as the first track, but added to the mix are Fabolous, Kurupt and BRETT. The result is a nice compliment to the first track. 8 out of 10

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. After being a Nate Dogg fan for years, and seeing him star in song after song, but getting no credit because of those songs being on other people's albums. Its great to finally see Nate get the credit he deserves.

There is an extra song called "One Night Stand" with Angie Martinez and Simon Vegas.

One of the best songs I heard in years!

The BEAT together with his VOICE WOOOHAAAA!

The big question was, could Nate Dogg put together a sophomore album on the level of the amazing G-Funk Classics, Volumes I & II? The answer would be yes, he could. Although both beat-wise and material-wise overall, this album is not quite as great as his first, it definitely rivals it. Nate Dogg's voice is still smooth, and there are many mentionable songs on this album. Production comes from Bink Dogg, Megahertz, Jermaine Dupri, Battlecat, Dr. Dre, and others. He also has a wide variety of guests but also holds it down nicely on the solo tip often. Though this is much more commercially appealing than his previous album, it still is extremely good and is one of the better albums to come out this year. Kurupt, Dr. Dre, Xzibit, Lil' Mo, Ludicris, Pharaoh Monch, Jermaine Dupri and Snoop Dogg also guest, along with others.

The album starts out with the classic "I Got Love", which is an amazing single with its nice Donny Hathaway-by-way-of-Ray Charles sample. The horns are good and Nate gets down on here. "Backdoor" is also classic Nate, and wouldn't sound out of place on his first album. The song is about him wanting a woman who's stuck with a man who treats her badly and Nate can save her. There are nice trombones, a definite tight beat. "Keep It G.A.N.G.S.T.A." is a bouncy song featuring Lil' Mo and Xzibit, with a funky West Coast beat and nice verses from Nate Dogg and Xzibit. However, it's not one of my favorites, the song gets repetitive after a while. "I Pledge Allegiance" is a nice track with a good horn-keyboard beat supplied by Mel-Man, and a good appearance from Pharaoh Monch. It brings back that great G-Funk flavor. "Your Woman Has Just Been Sighted" is a decent song, produced by Jermaine Dupri. However, though it's funny and somewhat smooth, the beat isn't G-Funk and doesn't go as well with Nate Dogg's style. The chorus is nicely done, and Jermaine's verse is not bad. "Your Wife" features a nice beat from Dr. Dre (who barely produces anything nice these days), but he also puts in a nice verse. Nate sounds nice on this track. "Can't Nobody" is a funk-track taking it back to 1986 with Kurupt, who also puts in a nice performance. It has an old-school feel and organs in the background, though not amazing, it's a good track. "Another Short Story" is classic Nate, at his finest, with a superb emotional beat and a smooth feel. You can tell he put his heart into this track, a definite rewind song. "Concrete Streets" is also a great song, full of energy and a great beat produced by Battlecat. Nate has kind of a jazz feel on this song, and also gives a shoutout to 213. "Real Pimp" features Ludicris, and has a fairly annoying beat but Nate sounds good on it, and though I never liked Ludicris much at all, he puts a decent verse in. "Ditty Dum Ditty Doo" is a cool laid-back song featuring Snoop Dogg and The Eastsidaz, with the classic G-Funk keyboards, produced by Fred Wreck, who's been making nice beats for a long time. Snoop, Tray D and Nate shine especially on this track. "Music And Me" is a nice, laid-back solo song from Nate Dogg, where he goes back to his roots, music. It's a nice change of subject matter from always talking about women. "I Got Love Remix" is also very nice, it has the same beat as the original, but Fabolous and Kurupt both put down very good verses. Especially Kurupt, he totally tears this up, and Nate comes off nicely. Too bad B.R.E.T.T. only talks in his verse and isn't on the same level of energy, but he doesn't ruin the song by any means.

Overall if you're a fan of Nate Dogg this is a must-have, I would rate it on a full product about 4.5 stars. But considering what's been going on in hip-hop this year, Nate delivered a classic album. There are a couple weak spots on this album but there are about eight amazing tracks on this album, and none of them are truly bad. The problem is the production is not G-Funk on certain tracks, and it just leaves you wishing it was a little less superficial at times. However, Nate still has it, don't underestimate him. Definitely a worthy album to spend money on.

We all know that Nate D-O-GG is the voice on the chorus of so many club hoppin tracks (Area Codes, Can't Deny It, B Please), but how many know that is album isn't Nate's first solo outing?

He dropped an album, actually a double album, a few years back that went HIGHLY unappreciated. It was a solid solo cd that alot of people never knew about. Now, Nate has paid his dues and wants to show his diversity on this bangin album.

From the jump off, you can tell Nate is in top-form. "I Got Love" is smooth r&b jam that Nate carries the whole way. Among the many certified bangers on this cd, "Keep It G.A.N.G.S.T.A" is the definition of a west coast/Dr. Dre beat. This song is one of the top five this year and IS Nate Dogg's best song.

If there is one downside, which can definitely be overlooked, it's the plethora of guest appearances. From JD to Dr. Dre. From Ludacris to Snoop Dogg. Obviously all these artist are paying Nate back since he made their songs hits. (ex. Ballin Outta Control). It just seems at times that Nate is reducing himself to ONLY singing the hooks and letting others rap the verses. Sure, Nate Dogg is no lyricist like Rakim, but he's not as horrible as Nelly. It seems like Nate doesn't like to sing the verses, and he only likes singing the hooks, which i think no one would complain about. However, it would be nice to see him sing by himself more often, cause he can carry songs by himself (ex. Pledge Alligence, I Got Love)

In the end, if you can appreciate what Nate does, you need this album. If all you have heard from him is "Area Codes" and "Can't Deny It," you REALLY need this cd. It is a great album that should not, but most likely will go overlooked.

Star-Studded cast = great cd

This cd is one of the best that I own. The CD has great beat (...). I Got Love is great, but many others that will not get airtime (too explicit lyrics) are very good as well. I bought this before I left for a bball tourny and listened to it the whole 4 hour drive, COULDN'T GET ENOUGH!