Snoop Doggy Dogg: Murder Was The Case (CD Single) (1993)

Alright y'all. Maybe it's me, but I think it's time foe some of dat LBC dope ass muthafuckin' G Funk shit--know what I'm sayin'? I'm about to give ya somethin' that I know you gonna like.

I don't know how common or uncommon this is, but I know I only saw it once (I haven't even seen it catalogued anywhere). This is a CD Single featuring three similar (but different) versions of the Murder Was The Case track, plus Who Got Some Gangsta Shit and the one and only 21 Jumpstreet. The last two were taken from the Murder Was The Case soundtrack, which I was plannin' on postin' last year before I got badly sidetracked. Anyway, right about now I wanna break it down foe all y'all 'cause I think y'all need tah know somethin'. As much as I like givin' ya music, I like tellin' thangs that would otherwise probably go unknown. And since this is an all West Coast blog, there's no better place to give it tah ya. So here we go... It's gonna take a lot of reading on your part, but it'll be worth your while--I promise.

When a record company is going to release and album they let the artist work in the studio. The artist records the tracks to DATs. They often times dub
their shit to tapes so that they can go home and listen to shit to see what needs to be altered or improved. Or just to let other people listen. When they are ready to move on with the album, the company gets involved and starts handling all the legal work (sample clearance, royalty percentage, copyright, etc.). Right away the company presses the album to vinyl, because believe it or not the record executives actually listen to everything they release. (It was cheaper to press to a vinyl than a CD back then.) They also press vinyls to prepare for promotional use. Then, when all the legal shit is square and everything is straight they move forward with pressing CDs. CD pressing is an enormous commitment by the record company and involves massive production. So they want to make sure that everything is legit and straight before they waste there money pressing millions of CDs (you must remember, CD production was more expensive back then). But if the shit isn't right or if the artist's contract expires or if the artist leaves the record company (like Dre did), the album isn't released.

Most of the unreleased albums from Death Row are stored on high quality DATs, but many did make it to vinyl and tape, some even to CD. THERE IS SO FUCKIN' MUCH. Alot of people think they know alot about Death Row, but even they would shit themselves if they knew how much more there is. It's like there's 10 times as much unreleased as there is actually released. It must be understood that the Death Row inmates were young, talented and eager. Everyone was puttin' shit down and makin' records, almost too fast for the company to arrange releases. Every artist that got signed tried to sign their own people, so on and so on. Very few people know the scale of this shit.

Everything will be uncovered eventually. Top Dogg, The Realest, J-Flexx, etc. have been brought to us by For The People Entertainment. The guy who
started that company has connections within Death Row. He pays people who have access to the recordings to leak them to him. Suge does not approve of For The People Entertainment. Other shit like MC Hammer and 2nd II None have been leaked by individuals who are either DJs or insiders at Death Row.

But you notice that all the shit that has leaked in good quality have always been the lesser albums--the albums that aren't really that good. All the really good shit, Suge kept locked up completely. Everything that has leaked so far, has been owned by Suge, but also by the artists who recorded it and their associates as well. So most likely they leaked it. But I know for sure that all of it is leaked by people on the inside. They sell it privately, and it eventually leaks to the Internet. Very few people ever take credit for leaking it because they fear Suge.

The following is a real life example:
A dude, EMz, who worked for Interscope's Rap/Urban Music Department gave his boy a copy of Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tray Dee's 21 Jumpstreet, the friday before the Murder Was The Case soundtrack dropped. Since SWV (featuring Joe and Allen Gordon Jr.)'s Anything (off the Above The Rim soundtrack released earlier that year) leaked to radio, they were ready to release it as a single. It already was one of the most played songs at the time.

By the time They dropped it as a single, due to how much it was played on the radio, everyone had already taped it directly off the radio, and the single didn't sell well. So from that point on Suge was very protective of shit leaking. Suge gave the warning, but EMz took it upon himself to give fans a sneak preview of what was to come on the Murder Was The Case soundtrack. So he gave his boy at 92.3 who had a radio show at midnight on Friday nights permission to play the record once, when the offices were closed and Suge wouldn't be listening.

While The DJ who had the tape was editing out the curses, DJ Theo, who had a show from 2 to 6 was jealous the other dude had the exclusive Snoop, so while dude was editing the tape, Theo snatched it up on the sneak tip and and announced he'd be playing it after the commercial. This was while the work day was still going on, so the radio station was being played at Death Row's offices. The dude EMz, called pleading to Theo not to play the song, but Theo str8 didn't give a fuck and hung up on EMz. Then when he got back from commercial, Theo played parts of the phone call with him and EMz, and then played 21 Jumpstreet.

As expected, Suge and his gang marched into Interscope's offices that next week, went to EMz office, screamin' at him, giving him the usual ultimatum: either Resign or take a beating. However knowing Suge, he could have quit and still got that ass whipped. Luckily, his superior Fade Dunaway (who once took a severe beating by suge himself) saved EMz ass by walkin' in and tellin' EMz that thangs weren't workin' out and that he had to go.

So basically it's people on the inside. Alot of people leak shit because it makes them seem significant in the rap game (even though everyone loses the source anyway). Plus the shit is tight. People figure they can make money off of it.

I hope you all learned somethin' from that. Now I'm gonna write this track listing and finish this up while bangin' out 21 Jump Street. SHOTZ GOES OUT TAH THA LBC!



Track Listing:
01 Murder Was The Case (Main Version) (Feat. Dat Nigga Daz)
02 Murder Was The Case (Remix) (Feat. Dat Nigga Daz)
03 Murder Was The Case (Extended Remix) (Feat. Dat Nigga Daz)
04 Who Got Some Gangsta Shit (Feat. Lil' C-Style; Tha Dogg Pound; Young Swoop)
05 21 Jumpstreet (Feat. Carl "Butch" Small; Nanci Fletcher; Tray Dee)

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