The DOC: Not as Support

During the late ‘80s, the west coast sought to define itself as a unique portion of the rap community. With the east coast sporting a ten year head start the endeavor seemed to be something of an uphill battle.

Very soon, though, both Ice T and NWA wound up being two of the biggest names in the genre. Resultantly, a unique perspective on the genre was solidified. And while both the east and west coasts were indebted to funky stuffs, the west coast didn’t find the jazzy samples that its cross country counter parts utilized to be all that useful.

The production that Dr. Dre and his cohort eventually settled upon wasn’t detached in anyway from Boogie Down Productions (KRS One’s first group) and its brethren, but there was something of a nervous and more temperamental bent to the music.

As a part of the NWA Posse, Dre recruited a Dallas based trio called the Fila Fresh Crew that included the personage of the DOC. And while all involved in that Texas group made the trek across country to Los Angeles, it was only the DOC that ended up impacting the genre at all – and it was only in the most minor of ways.

Subsequent to contributing his songwriting to an NWA project and a compilation, the DOC and Dr. Dre headed into the studio during 1989 to begin work on No One Can Do It Better. The album’s today regarded as an early highlight from the west coast even as a few cuts, upon first listen, sound as if it may have been recorded by any number of east coast folks – Rakim included.

“The Portrait of a Masterpiece” not only finds the rapper’s timbre coming off like something from his east coast counter part, but the production that Dre makes use of doesn’t quite sound like his own. Granted, at this early date, everyone can’t be expected to have solidified his career spanning style, but the similarities between this track – no matter how incredible the DOC’s flow is – and Rakim is staggering.

The DOC would go on to release no less than five singles from No One Can Do It Better. And while that might seem like overkill, most of those cuts wound up in the top five of the rap charts despite Dre’s g-funk still being in its nascent state.

Unfortunately, a rather serious car accident would derail the DOC’s career before the emcee was able to return to the studios to record a proper follow up. And while another disc of his would surface during the second half of the ‘90s, it was met with less than positive reviews. Thanks to the DOC’s association with Dre and that entire west coast family, though, the Dallas native would make a career out of penning lyrics for others and has had his work appear on innumerable number one albums.

With his rapping career seemingly over, the DOC hasn’t really attempted to remain in the public eye. Relatively recent reports, though, figure that some new surgery might repair the damage his voice incurred from that car accident. We’ll see.