Best Album For…Uh, We Forget
Dr. Dre | The Chronic ($10 @ Amazon.com) | 1992
Even though it’s laaaaaid-back, this solo debut from the N.W.A. mastermind was just as hard-edged as Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet — but thanks to its SoCal roots, it’s just a tad more summery. The east-coast/west-coast divide started to get ugly not long after The Chronic was released, but for a minute there, the difference between the two was as simple as an infusion of classic ’70s soul samples and a a few cubic acres of medicinal-grade weed.
