"Nothin' But a G Thang"

Dr. Dre
(Death Row, 1992)

Aside from Biggie's identical-sounding anthem "Big Poppa," this cut's legacy is grim: umpteen crummy G-funk albums, white kids callin' one another "beeyatch," and David Arquette bouncing in a hydraulics-enhanced Caddy in a 1-800-COLLECT ad. But before all that, there was a razor-sharp rimshot, Snoop Dogg's mesmerizing menace, and Dr. Dre's sampler surgery, which jacked a symphony of sighs, bumps, and grinds from late-'70s funk because (as the LA uprising demonstrated) looting don't mean shit unless it's flagrant.

-- Alex Pappademas