Murder Was the Case

Murder Was the Case
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	October 15, 1994
Recorded	1993-1994
Genre	West Coast Hip Hop, G-Funk, Rap
Length	68:30
Label	Death Row/Interscope
Producer	Dr. Dre Dat Nigga Daz Sam Sneed Soopafly DJ Quik Devante Swing

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Murder Was the Case is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection after making a deal with the Devil. The album topped the Billboard 200 on the number one spot on November 5, 1994 with 329,000 one week sales as well as on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart.

The following week it stayed on top with 197,000 copies sold and was certified Gold. The album is certified 2x platinum with 2,030,000 copies sold. The single "What Would You Do" was included on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in the 38th Annual Grammy Awards in 1996. The album was re-released with a bonus DVD containing 3 music videos on July 11, 2006.

Tupac Shakur was paid $200,000 dollars by Death Row Records owner Suge Knight to record a track for the album. The track was recorded but it was not used on the official soundtrack release. The rumored recording is debated between the song "Pain" which was later used for the Above The Rim soundtrack, "High Til I Die Interscope Version", which was later re-recorded for the Sunset Park album while 2Pac was on Death Row Records, and the Unreleased Version Of R U Still Down. R U Still Down is similar to the version that was released on the 1997 2Pac album "R U Still Down". However, the song has a different beat, unreleased first verse, female chorus, and has re-recorded second and third verses that are similar to verses 1-2 on the R U Still Down album version.

Reception

• Rolling Stone (12/29/94-1/12/95, p. 178) - "...[It] isn't the trailblazer that Dre's The Chronic was last year. But it is rap very nearly as strong. Featuring West Coast stalwarts...and new discoveries..., Dre and Dat Nigga Daz present gangsta- and R&B-infected fare that slams..."
• Entertainment Weekly (11/11/94, p. 76) - "...confirms...Dr. Dre as the new king of pop. In addition to the ominous remix of Snoop's title song, Dre reunites with Ice Cube...Dre's G-funk sound may be the hardest in the land, but it's also the most gut-wrenchingly soulful..." - Rating: A
• Q magazine (1/95, p. 258) - 3 Stars - Good - "...While most ears will be tuned to the bile'n'beats of `Natural Born Killaz'...the best track here is from Snoop's young protege, Nate Dogg....One of West Coast rap's more imaginative albums."
• The Source (1/95, p. 85) - 4 Stars - Slammin' - "...while Jodeci duets with Tha Dogg Pound and an all-star cast to try their hand at the G-Funk sound, Dre begins plotting his next move...heavy-metal bass meets chunky keyboards..."
• NME (12/24/94, p. 23) - Ranked #8 in NME's list of the 10 best compilation albums of 1994.
• NME (10/15/94, p. 53) - 7 - Very Good - "...anyone expecting this to signal Dre's decline is kidding themselves. Murder Was the Case shows the old dogg has plenty of new tricks..." ^[2]

Track listing

Samples

21 Jumpstreet

• "Nobody Can Be You (But You)" by Steve Arrington

Who Got That Gangsta Shit"

• "P.S.K. What Does It Mean" by Schoolly D

Come When I Call

• "Let Me Love You" by Michael Henderson

Woman to Woman

• "Woman to Woman" by Shirley Brown

Dollaz & Sense

• "I Like (What You're Doing to Me)" by Young & Company

Eastside-Westside

• "Dazz" by Brick

Singles

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Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Credits

• Executive Producer: Suge Knight
• Soundtrack director: Dr. Dre
• Overseer: Dat Nigga Daz.
• Recorded at Can-Am Studios
• Mixed at Dr. Dre's studio
• Death Row Engineers: Kesten Wright, Tommy D, Daughtery & Danny Alfonso.
• Photographers: Yoko Sato, Simone Green

Cover versions

• Jeremy Messersmith with Andy Thompson performed a cover of "Murder Was the Case" at The Cake Shop in Minneapolis, MN for a 'Murder and Death' concept show on 1/10/2010.

• South Park Mexican's song "Woodson N' Worthin" is a cover of "Murder Was the Case".

• Don Vito and Mad DPS covered the song on the 2008 compilation album [i]The Triple-Six Mixtape[/i].

See also

• Number-one albums of 1994 (USA)

References

External links

• Review

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1994 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1994 (U.S.)