Music Video: N.W.A. - Express Yourself

It is high time I got some Dr. Dre on this blog. N.W.A. is undeniably the originators of so-called gangsta rap, but more than that, Dr. Dre is a genius who will go down in history as one of the most revolutionary musical visionaries of the 20th century. And no, I am not exaggerating.

A whole book could be written on Dre’s approach to music and the music industry. His innovative producing of rap songs— sampling P-funk records, mismatched background noises, and the like for a melodic and new style that matched perfectly with MC’s like Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Eminem, etc. etc.

Further, he has single-handedly set the tone for rap, and no producer has had the reach and influence over music (all music) that Dre has had over the past 10 to 15 years. Through vehicles like Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent, Dre brought his “West Coast” rap and gangsta rap classifications and made his sound the definitive one for the entire U.S. This is on top of his work with artists like Foxy Brown. Nas and AZ (The Firm) and many, many, others.

On top of all that? His music is just incredible. Plus, this video has cameos from artists like Ton Loc and a great phone conversation between Dre. and Gorbachev.

And all this time people have been crediting Reganomics with the fall of communism. Someone should send Dr. Dre a thank you letter.