#20: The D.O.C. — No One Can Do It Better (1989)
Compton, CA — Ruthless Records
As we reach the 20th review mark, we once again meet Texas native and California dweller D.O.C. I say “once again” because we’ve seen him in N.W.A’s Parental Discretion Iz Advised’s opening verse, which if I remember correctly set a great tone for that track. This debut album of his was released mere months before he was involved in a near-fatal car crash where his throat got crushed and he was left with serious speech problems, and it took him seven more years before he was able to release the second and last album where he rapped. This is not a guy I’ve really jammed before, so I’m going in mostly blind, but apparently many of his contemporaries considered him the single most talented and influential figure in the gangsta rap scene, be it through his own work or through the ghostwriting he did after the accident.
One could expect this to be similar to N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton, and one would be correct. From the production that’s all done by Dr. Dre to the general way of rhyming and writing, this has Attitude written all over it — however, in a somewhat lighter, groovier manner, especially in the first tracks - It’s Funky Enough, Mind Blowin’ and Lend Me An Ear showcase his potent voice and delivery and fluid flow. The beats, in that classic early Dre style, are dancey and fast, but not obnoxiously so, and usually maintain a subtle, tasty groove even at their hypest; similarly, funky breakdowns and choruses (chori?) are abundant all throughout, and some hints of the G-Funk to come can be found here and there, most of all in The Formula.
What impresses the most about D.O.C.’s performance, then, is the ease with which he rides and swerves around Dre’s beats, and not just the mellow, laid-back ones — hell, I’d even say the faster one are where he shines the brightest. There are a couple of moments in Mind Blowin’ that quite simply blew my mind (hee hee) with some incredibly dynamic shifts in flow and cadence within the space of no more than half a dozen bars, and he seldom lets the ball drop flow-wise all throughout. There is something that in retrospect I should have mentioned already, which is this thing about how a good rapper will not just create complex rhymes and flows, but actively use them to support each other, accenting strong parts of one through the other and vice versa. And, I gotta say, D.O.C. is pretty good at this — his choice of words and cadence seems to work itself perfectly, which is only further accentuated by the already mentioned quick and ever-changing flows. His flow and delivery are not slick and mellifluous like some of his east coast counterparts’, being rather fast and hyped-up, but that doesn’t mean he can’t manage to make them complex and interesting. I might be reaching a little too far here, but I think I can kinda see some of his seeds in later artists that would become famous for their own speedy flows, like Eminem and Tech N9ne.
Some music critics from that time seemed to think his lyrics were somewhat inferior, which is something that I don’t really understand — sure, they’re not incredibly varied, but the writing is skillful enough and he consistently makes it work in almost all tracks; there are even some amusing little jabs and subversions of rap clichés from that time. He seems to be regarded as a significant exponent of the gangsta rap scene, which makes sense considering the general aesthetics and direct associations, but it doesn’t really show in his writing itself. He never really raps about that violent murda shit like N.W.A. or Ice-T — hell, he doesn’t even curse at all as far as I can tell — , rather keeping himself to more generic self-referential themes, albeit with some mildly violent, menacing rhetorical tropes here and there.
What caught me the most about all of this, apart from Dre’s great production, are the solid, steady — might I even add, efficient — rhyming and the fast, mind-bending flows he manages, as well as the raw but not exaggerated energy and hype he applies. As stated, soon after this album he was in a serious car accident that left his throat permanently damaged and made it basically impossible for him to rap ever again, thought he did make a career out of ghostwriting some years afterwards — we’re bound to come across some more of his stuff when we check out Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle, among others. He did try to go back to proper rapping eventually, but it didn’t really work out and the album he released is generally dismissed even by him and his close associates. I cannot help but wonder what would have been made of him had he not lost his voice after that goddamn accident in november ’89; but, quoting the Allmusic retrospective, “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”.
Favorite tracks:
Mind Blowin’ — Not quite a party anthem but almost there in terms of hype, this is maybe where his rhyming and flowing are at their greatest, including those little parts where he does like half a dozen different flows within a space of a couple bars or so. Very slick and pleasant without letting go of his characteristically fun energy.
No One Can Do It Better — Probably my favorite beat on this record, it’s where Dre’s programming shines the most: the drums are nastily funky and the overall production is rich and dense but not overwhelming, and D.O.C.’s rhyming is at another high point here.
Portrait Of A Masterpiece — OK, if this was released today I might consider it kinda corny and dumb, but to see such level of speedflowing while not even in the 90s yet is pretty impressive. He doesn’t really drop the ball at all (even if he does ask Dre for a little break at some point, cause he raps so fast he starts to run out of breath!), and his writing is quite cool as well, being an extant example of that thing I was talking about where the flow and rhyme effectively help support each other. “Let’s take a trip but not of the physical/ Sense of direction on a kid who’s artistical/ Through a gallery of thoughts, of course it’s dope/ Hangin’ tough like the name on my rope/ Watch it be weary instead of steppin’ wit the boys/ A musical massacre of inadequate noise/ By the new authority ’cause of majority/ Of peers who hear will award superiority”.
Least favorite track:
The Formula — The slower beat doesn’t let D.O.C. really flex his muscles to the fullest, and the overall vibe, while aiming at “contemplative and laid-back” instead of “hyped and fun”, manages to hit only “dreary and corny”. And, while I have nothing against the G-Funk sound (proto-G-Funk in this case), it doesn’t really work here and is mostly awkward and goofy.
