Devin the Dude - The Dude - Rap-A-Lot Records - 1998

I’ll never forget the day… Summer of ‘98. I was at the Tower Records at a time when CD’s had fully taken over cassettes and vinyl and this Tower was huge. There was the main area you walked into which was the size of a warehouse filled with every genre you could think of and each CD rack loaded from A-Z with new and old titles. On any day, you would find those aisles filled with people looking to pick up a new CD to play in their cars, Sony Discmans, or in their boombox at home. While the radio played the hit songs, music heads wanted to go deeper into projects from their favorite artists and find new songs that didn’t have radio play. Back in the 90’s, you could find me living in that rap and hip hop section looking at the front and back of any album that caught my attention.

Outside of those CD racks, there was a full wall of magazines and with rap and hip hop alone, there was The Source, Rap Pages, Murder Dog, Ego Trip, Vibe, Urb and others where you could see ads from new albums dropping, interviews with your favorite artists, and reviews of albums and singles from each magazine’s editorial staff. You could also find me in this section standing and reading through every magazine. The staff kind of got annoyed with me there all the time and when they’d approach me to tell me I needed to buy the magazines I was reading, I would low key snap at them and tell them to chill and that I was going to buy something.

On this day in ‘98 I did have $20 in my velcro flap wallet which also had my school ID, driver’s license, and maybe some school pics of my homies. Ahhh the good ole days. It was June in 1998 and I was getting ready to go off to college in August. Rap and Hip Hop were everything to me and I was always on the hunt for new albums because well… I was a fiend. On that day, I flipped through those CD racks and made it to the D’s when the album artwork of a new CD caught my attention… I didn’t really know the artist but he was sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper with a joint in his mouth… His name was Devin the Dude and the album was, The Dude.

Looking at the back of the CD cover showed you more artwork, how many songs were on the album, who was featured, the executive producers of the project, and the record label that helped this project see the light of day. The front of the album artwork would catch your attention but it was the back of the CD that was the main selling point to determine whether I should spend the $20 bucks in my pocket on a new CD. The back of this CD showed Devin the Dude in a casket? Taking a nap? Wild… On the front smoking a doobie on the shitter and on the back he’s just out… Yup… I was intrigued. A lot of tracks… Features from Spice 1 and Scarface. And then I saw that logo I knew so well… RAP-A-LOT RECORDS. This was the same label that put out the Geto Boys, Scarface, and Do or Die so if they were affiliated with this guy named Devin the Dude, I was in. I bought that CD in June of 1998.

After I hit that cash register with my twenty spot, I walked towards my Volkswagen Fox while trying to get my fingernail under the plastic packaging to rip it off. Then I had to go to the annoying sticker on top of the CD and use that same finger nail to peel off this sticker which always left lame residue on the case of my new CD. As I got closer to my car, I pulled out my detachable face CD player out of my back pocket and snapped it in place on my stereo when I was in my car. I turned on my car…. Ejected the CD that was in there… Probably DJ Quik Rhythmalism at this time. I ever so gently inserted that CD in my Pioneer deck and turned up the volume so my Boston Acoustics speakers would hit… I was always a high end guy with the sound as I didn’t want my trunk rattling…the po po’s would always pull over cars with the thump because they were disturbing the peace… funny times.

As the CD played, I sat in my car reading through the liner notes of the CD. In liner notes and the additional ads for prominent record labels, they would give you a view of albums they had already released along with a sneak peak of what else was coming from the label in the future. Some of these albums would never come out but the label was just trying to plant a seed to what was coming. This was always the buy in I needed to stay loyal to my favorite record labels like Rap-A-Lot, Death Row Records, Rawkus Records, Ruthless Records, Aftermath, Sick Wid It, No Limit Records, Black Market Records, and more.

I looked through all of the tracks seeing if I recognized any of the producers. N.O. Joe was a name I recognized from UGK’s Ridin Dirty album from ‘96 that I owned and loved so hit produced tracks became ones I was excited to hear. That first song came on and it was an intro that led into an actual song. Within the first minute of “The Dude” I was laughing and it set the tone of who this new guy (to me) was. Devin the Dude had a southern drawl with a slow flow that was catchy. The beat was funky. Devin seemed to be super chill… mega stoner… here was the intro.

Now that I was one track in it was time to actually run a full loop around the parking lot going 2 miles per hour unless somebody was behind me where I’d give them a polite wave and speed up… speedbumps? I hit them at the slow angle like I had a dropped Civic or Legend… My car wasn’t low at all… I was all in on acting like it tho… Song 2 was “Sticky Green” with the Scarface feature which yup… that song was dope… Song 3 was the Spice 1 feature on “Don’t Wait”… not my fav song to be honest but a Spice 1 feature is pretty major… especially seeing a Cali artist working with a Texas artist was dope. Spice 1 was from Texas originally so this was fitting. Here’s “Sticky Green” to keep the article flowing.

Then it was time for song 4…. I was now out on the main streets taking the scenic route going nowhere with Devin the Dude blasting in the whip… Song 4 tho…. SONG 4 THOUGH… It’s a song that is Top 10 for me without a doubt… On some days it’s my favorite song ever. “Do Whatcha Wanna Do” was produced by N.O. Joe and I was in awe as the song played. It was easy to follow along with Devin’s lyrics because of that slow flow so I could easily pick up on what he was saying… and he had something to say… no fluff. talking about respecting your elders while doing some beatbox type scratching was so fresh. Devin then showed me his singing chops which were perfection… Not many artists would handle their own hooks but here Devin was doing literally everything on the track outside of making the beat. His hook? “Do what the fuck you wanna do…. Say what the fuck you wanna say…” Easy peasy… 10/10 hip hop track here. 5 mics in The Source type vibes. If you don’t know this track, pls stop bullshitting… GO LISTEN NOW. A damn shame that this only has 5M streams on Spotify… the kids need to be up on this one.

“Do Whatcha Wanna Do” set the tone for the entire album. Devin the Dude and Rap-A-Lot had a hood classic on their hands… Album artwork? Fire. Dope record label? Yup… Features you knew? Yessir. Beats? Without a doubt… Devin showing off his full range of artistry? 100%. This album had something for everybody… Let me just keep running some of the classics. “See What I Can Pull” fam?

Let’s not forget “Boo Boo’n” which cmon… classic.

Will never forget Devin on the Up in Smoke tour with Dre, Snoop and everybody dropping “Bust One For Ya”… He actually rocked a throwback Padres jersey at the concert here which was legit.

“Mo Fa Me”….

“Write & Wrong” was one of the favorites of the crew. And this Devin album as a whole was bumped by alllll of the homies. Everybody loved Devin here in San Diego and anytime he came to town we packed the venue.

“I Can’t Quit” followed up by the finale “Georgy” was a perfect ending to a classic album. But wait… Is it a classic to all of yall? Probably not… But maybe some of you have never really given this album a full run so please do that… and press rewind.

Devin the Dude has 400K monthly listeners on Spotify and that’s a shame… He should have an easy milli for his catalog of dope albums, features, and hood hits. If Devin was from Cali and had that Aftermath push, would have he blown? I think so… But the past if the past… Today give Devin Copeland a spin. Whether it’s my favorite “Do Whatcha Wanna Do” or any of his other smashes, he has tracks for every mood. And just remember… Press Rewind.