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G-funk, or gangsta funk, is a type of hip hop music
Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rapping which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans....
 that emerged from West Coast
West Coast hip hop

West Coast hip hop is a style of hip hop music that originated in California in the early 1980s. It has since grown into a sub-genre of hip hop and has developed several creative centers, most of which are in communities in California....
 gangsta rap
Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap is a term coined by the mainstream media to describe a certain genre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths....
 in the early 1990s. G-funk (which uses funk music with artificially lowered tempo
Tempo

In musical terminology, 'tempo' is the speed or pace of a given musical piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece....
s) incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of p-funk
P-Funk

P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed....
 tunes, and a high portamento
Portamento

Portamento is a musical term originated from Italian language primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitch and its emulation by instruments such as the violin, and in 16th century polyphony writing refers to an ornamental figure....
 sine wave keyboard lead.

Unlike other earlier rap acts that also utilized funk samples (such as EPMD
EPMD

EPMD is an United States hip hop group from Brentwood, New York, New York. The group's name is an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars" , referencing its members, rappers Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith ....
 or The Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad

The Bomb Squad is an influential hip hop production team, known for their work with Public Enemy . The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track....
), G-funk often utilized fewer, unaltered samples per song .






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G-funk, or gangsta funk, is a type of hip hop music
Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rapping which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans....
 that emerged from West Coast
West Coast hip hop

West Coast hip hop is a style of hip hop music that originated in California in the early 1980s. It has since grown into a sub-genre of hip hop and has developed several creative centers, most of which are in communities in California....
 gangsta rap
Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap is a term coined by the mainstream media to describe a certain genre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths....
 in the early 1990s. G-funk (which uses funk music with artificially lowered tempo
Tempo

In musical terminology, 'tempo' is the speed or pace of a given musical piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece....
s) incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of p-funk
P-Funk

P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed....
 tunes, and a high portamento
Portamento

Portamento is a musical term originated from Italian language primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitch and its emulation by instruments such as the violin, and in 16th century polyphony writing refers to an ornamental figure....
 sine wave keyboard lead.

Unlike other earlier rap acts that also utilized funk samples (such as EPMD
EPMD

EPMD is an United States hip hop group from Brentwood, New York, New York. The group's name is an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars" , referencing its members, rappers Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith ....
 or The Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad

The Bomb Squad is an influential hip hop production team, known for their work with Public Enemy . The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track....
), G-funk often utilized fewer, unaltered samples per song . Music theorist Adam Krims has described G-funk as "a style of generally West Coast rap whose musical tracks tend to deploy live instrumentation, heavy on bass and keyboards, with minimal (sometimes no) sampling and often highly conventional harmonic progressions and harmonies".

There has been some debate over who should be considered the "father of G-funk." Adam Holmes is generally believed to have developed the sound; the first hints of the whiny syn-leads and Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic

Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk music collective headed by George Clinton . It specialized in the style of music known as P Funk and performed under the names Parliament and Funkadelic , but also in a score of List of P Funk members....
-style bass grooves in Dr. Dre's
Dr. Dre

Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to tho...
 work appeared on N.W.A's single "Alwayz Into Something" from their 1991 album Efil4zaggin
Efil4zaggin

Niggaz4Life , was the 4th and final studio album by Gangsta rap group N.W.A., released in 1991. It was their final album, as the group disbanded later the same year after the departure of Dr....
. Dr. Dre's first true G-funk single, however, was 1992's "Deep Cover
Deep Cover (song)

"Deep Cover", also known as "187" , is Dr. Dre's debut solo single , featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg, which is his debut in a single, for the soundtrack from the film Deep Cover ....
", the title song from the movie soundtrack of the same name, which also introduced the world to Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg

Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg , is a Grammy Award-nominated American rapper, record producer, and actor....
. When Dre's 1992 Death Row Records
Death Row Records

Death Row Records was a record label that was founded in 1988 in music by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of West Coast hip hop's biggest Rappers, including Tupac Shakur, Dr....
 debut The Chronic
The Chronic

The Chronic is the solo debut studio album of hip hop music producer and rapping Dr. Dre, released December 15, 1992 on his former own label, Death Row Records, and distributed by Priority Records....
 was released in 1992, the album was immensely successful, and consequently made G-funk the most popular sub-genre of hip hop. Many opponents, however, have claimed that Dr. Dre developed his sound after hearing Above the Law's debut Livin' Like Hustlers
Livin' Like Hustlers

Livin' Like Hustlers is the debut album by the Rap music group Above the Law , released in 1990. It was a major critical success and, in 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums....
, before it had come out.

See also