Two girls for every boy
I bought a ’30 Ford wagon and we call it a woody
(Surf City, here we come)
You know it’s not very cherry, it’s an oldie but a goody
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, it ain’t got a back seat or a rear window
But it still gets me where I wanna go
And we’re goin’ to Surf City, ’cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, ’cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy
In 1963, Jan and Dean described the dream life for a California teen: cars, fun, sun, surfing, and two girls for every boy.
Then later in 1963, JFK was assassinated. This epochal event was followed by the Jan Berry’s real life Dead Man’s Curve, Pet Sounds, MLK and RFK’s assassinations, Altamont, Watergate, the 70’s energy crisis, Reagonomics, crack cocaine, Straight Outta Compton and Rodney King. And this takes us to 1993.
Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo
Sippin’ on gin and juice, laid back
With my mind on my money
And my money on my mind
In 1993, Snoop Doggy Dogg described the dream life for a California teen: cars, weed, gin and juice, money, and having swagger for days.
Snoop expounded upon this dream life in his debut album, “Doggystyle,” which featured one of the greatest rap (or pop, for that matter) singles of all time, “Gin and Juice.” Snoop’s laid-back delivery combined with Dr. Dre’s production gave listeners a sanitized version of life in the Long Beach streets. Listeners were bobbing their heads and humming without realizing the danger lurking behind the ultra-cool lyrics, laconic drawl and pristine production.
As G-Dogg states in the album opener, “Bathtub,” Snoop and his friends’ days were spent smoking, watching big screen TVs, and making money. It is a pretty bleak existence, and even Snoop hints at getting out of the game. Yet, casual listeners would not pick up on the dread in Snoop’s voice because the music is so catchy.
Dre’s production took listeners back to ‘73 with his use of bass, percussion and strings. “Doggy Dogg World” features vocal contributions from 70’s soul group, the Dramatics with a blaxploitation-lite video to match. Yet, the brilliant and melodic production has more in common with Berry Gordy’s sixties Motown records than George Clinton’s seventies Parliament/Funkadelic records.
This is perfectly fine, but remember, Clinton wanted to free listeners’ minds knowing their asses would eventually follow. On the other hand, Gordy wanted to break down racial barriers and cross over to white America. Ultimately, Dre and Snoop wanted the same.
It makes sense. They were just giving the audience what they wanted. In 1988, Dre was able to free listeners’ minds with NWA and Straight Outta Compton because they had little to lose. They were relative unknowns with an extremely regional base.
Five years later with the help of Dre, Snoop, NWA, and countless others, gangsta rap was the mainstream. Millions wanted to hear dangerous gangsta tales presented in a nice, clean, and safe way. Dropping less than a year after The Chronic, this was Dre and Snoop at their highest level of popularity. Could they have gone the way of Parliament/Funkadelic and made a bold, risky album reflecting the actual danger of life on the streets? Yes, but it would have cost them a ton of money and influence.
Almost thirty years later in 2022, Snoop is still very much a part of pop culture hanging with Martha Stewart, Kelly Clarkson, Andy Samberg, and BTS. Does he still have the same pull, staying power and crossover appeal if he tried to free listener’ minds back in 1993 with his debut album? Probably not.
So, what we are left with is a new American dream life for California teens in the growing up in the nineties: cars, weed, gin and juice, money, and having swagger for days. While it sounds 180 degrees the opposite of Jan and Dean’s teenage dream, Jan and Dean and Snoop were giving the audiences the dream lives they wanted to hear. Who were they to point out that it was all a fantasy?