Priority Records Continues 25th Anniversary Celebration with Creative Chairman Snoop Dogg at The Helm

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Priority Records continues its 25th anniversary celebration with the July 13 release of a new CD and digital compilation showcasing the legendary gangsta rap label's most influential artists and recordings. Snoop Dogg, Priority's Creative Chairman, has selected tracks and written new liner notes for Snoop Dogg Presents: My #1 Priority, including 17 classic tracks from the vault and a new recording by Snoop of Low Profile's classic, "Pay Ya Dues," the sole single from the group that featured the talents of W.C. (later of Westside Connection) and DJ Aladdin. Beginning June 29, the new "Pay Ya Dues" (Snoop Dogg G-Mix) will be available for digital single and ringtune purchase from all major digital service providers.

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Snoop Dogg Presents: My #1 Priority features classic tracks from west coast rap legends, including N.W.A, Eazy-E, Mack 10, and Ice Cube, as well as crucial but lesser-known artists, including Mia X and Young Bleed. The compilation showcases the diversity of sounds and styles within the now universally-known gangsta rap genre.  Beginning Tuesday, July 6 and continuing through Monday, July 12, Yahoo! Music (www.music.yahoo.com) will host an exclusive streaming audio premiere of the new collection.

In addition, Priority's 25th anniversary reissue series, "U.S.D.A." ("Uncut Snoop Dogg Approved"), will continue with the July 13 CD and digital release of four more classic, Snoop-recommended albums: Ice Cube's Death Certificate, C-Murder's Trapped In Crime, TRU's Da Crime Family, and Snoop Dogg's own Tha Last Meal, each with newly-written liner notes by Snoop Dogg.

Ice Cube's 1991 solo debut, Death Certificate, debuted at #1 on Billboard's Hip-Hop Albums chart and reached #2 on The Billboard 200.  The album hits hard as an expression of Cube's anger, at his former N.W.A band mates and at society-at-large, and features the single "Steady Mobbin'."  An instantly platinum-certified classic upon its release, Death Certificate is often included in 'Greatest Albums Of All Time' lists.

Snoop Dogg writes in his new liner notes for Death Certificate, "One of the hardest rappers in the history of hip-hop, and one of the hardest albums in the history of hip-hop.  It was Cube waking up and putting some religion in his music and giving an opportunity to some young rappers from the west. The Boogie Men and Steady Mobbin', all the things they was doing, and just making their sound. It showed that Dr. Dre wasn't the only producer on the west coast at the time. They was giving him a run for his money with this album, which made a lot of noise and made a lot of hip-hop history to show that Ice Cube would be here to stay."

C-Murder's third album, Trapped In Crime, released in 2000, also topped Billboard's Hip-Hop Albums chart and hit The Billboard 200's Top 10.  The album includes the single, "Down 4 My N's" and featured guest performances by Snoop Dogg, Master P, Jermaine Dupri, Fat Joe, and Mystikal.  

"Trapped In Crime is a great record that was put together very swell from top to bottom," writes Snoop Dogg in his new liner notes. "It's a real hard, edgy, southern gangsta rap record. You know, stories told from the mind of a young gangsta rapper. It changed hip-hop in a real special way because it showed that No Limit had depth, and that Master P was for real. He had a team, and C-Murder was one of the main players."

Released in 1999, TRU's fifth studio album, Da Crime Family, peaked at #2 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and at #5 on The Billboard 200. The double album featured two singles, "Tru Homies," which peaked at #6, and "Hoody Hooo."  

"This album was hard because it was a double disc from Master P, his brothers, and his whole family, you know?," writes Snoop Dogg in his new liner notes. "They was representing, just trying to show what the south was about, and putting a different sound in the music industry. It solidified No Limit early on, to show that they could make quality double disc CDs and also back it up with great movies."

Snoop Dogg's 2000 album, Tha Last Meal, was his last release under the No Limit banner, and it reached the #1 spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Chart and #4 on The Billboard 200.  Recorded with an all-star line-up of producers, including Dr. Dre, Soopafly, Battlecat and Timbaland, the album contains the hit singles "Snoop Dogg (What's My Name, Pt. 2)" and "Lay Low."

"This was my last record on No Limit Records, so it gave me a chance to really sprout out and become who I was, put a record together the way I felt, and work with the people I wanted to work with," writes Snoop Dogg in his new liner notes.  "Master P and I made great music together, and this record right here put me in a strong position. This record had heat on it, man."

Priority Records' year-long 25th Anniversary catalog campaign launched February 23 with the release of a new CD and digital compilation primer, Snoop Dogg Presents: The West Coast Blueprint, including 16 classic tracks from the vault and a new recording by Snoop of Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self," and the first three Snoop-recommended titles in the label's commemorative "U.S.D.A." ("Uncut Snoop Dogg Approved") classic albums series, Eazy-E's Eazy-Duz-It, EPMD's Strictly Business, and Master P's Ghetto D, each with newly-written liner notes by Snoop Dogg.  

Go to www.priorityrecords.com to watch a clip of Snoop Dogg performing "Check Yo Self" from Snoop Dogg Presents: The West Coast Blueprint, recently filmed during a "Big Boy's Neighborhood" / Power 106 remote broadcast from Capitol Studios in Hollywood.

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SOURCE Priority Records/EMI