Thug Ride is a Dirty South Crunk hip hop album by thug rapper White Dawg, released in 1999 (see 1999 in music).

"Restless" (which appears on the album as "Young & Restless") was released as a single in 1999 and reached the top 20 of the Billboard rap charts, peaking at #18. The Thug Ride album was released in 1999 but was distributed poorly and failed to chart. Still, the album sold over 30,000 copies, many in small record stores across the South.

Although it was not widely heard, Thug Ride remains well-known among some hip hop fans, primarily due to White Dawg buying many full-page ads in The Source magazine to advertise for it. Reviews for the album were mostly positive. One could today view Thug Ride as an ahead-of-its-time example of the Crunk subgenre that would later find mainstream success with the likes of Lil Jon and others. The album is also notable for White Dawg's use of the word "nigga" to describe himself, something which was considered taboo for a Caucasian rapper.

Many tracks on the album feature Dozia Slim, who serves as what one could call White Dawg's "hypeman." The lyrics of Thug Ride are full of animosity and cursing, but deal with topics as diverse as race, gender, class, and religion in the life of a working-class individual in America.

Track listing

1. "Trademark (Interlude)" - :04
2. "Bounce & Jump" - 4:12
3. "I Could Fuck You" - 3:06
4. "Bring It On" - 3:25
5. "Skraten' Up, Pt. 1" - 4:33
6. "Wuz up B*tch" - 5:15
7. "Lay 'Em Down" - 3:33
8. "It's All Gravy" - 3:37
9. "Young & Restless" - 4:48
10. "Get 'Em" - 0:40
11. "This Is How We Ride" - 4:25
12. "Live Sex (Interlude)" - 1:19
13. "Who Run Shit" - 4:42
14. "Is It Wrong" - 4:39
15. "Games Players Play" - 4:39
16. "666-13" - 3:50
17. "Yes Sir" - 3:21
18. "7 Days a Week" - 3:59
19. "Skraten' Up, Pt. 2" - 3:50
20. "I Just Wanna Get High" - 5:03

Song summaries

The album begins, like many rap albums, with a short intro track, titled "Trademark (Interlude)." This track is only four seconds long, and consists of White Dawg loudly belching, then saying the word "trademark."

It is quickly followed by the album's first real song, the energetic "Bounce & Jump." In the song's chorus, over a beat which samples the theme song to the television series Tales from the Crypt, White Dawg angrily commands listeners to bounce and jump if they want to smoke his marijuana. In the verses, he pays homage to many southern rap conventions, using terms such as "tear da club up."

Track 3 is "I Could Fuck You," a duet with White Dawg and a female rapper extolling the virtues of oral sex over regular sexual intercourse. One line is: "You don't need to get all sweaty in bed / Because all a nigga wants is some slow head."

Next is a mostly instrumental track titled "Bring It On." White Dawg and Dozia Slim shout over an epic beat.

One of the album's highlights is "Skraten' Up, Pt. 1," featuring underground rapper Blac Haze . Many have praised the beat White Dawg produced for this song as one of the best examples of his early work. In this song, White Dawg states "watch us true players skraten' up on these bitches!" and "Broward thugs and we don't give a fuck! / That's why we tell these hoes 'Skraten' Up, Skraten' Up!!'" while Blac Haze intimidatingly mentions, "I never pulled a pistol on a nigga unless I shot him." The two give shout outs to many areas in the South and across the nation in the song's chorus, telling each city to "skraten' up."

Track 6, "Wuz up B*tch," is considered controversial by some and feminists have derided its lyrics as sexist. Over a danceable club beat, White Dawg sings the chorus: "Wuz up bitch? Wuz up bitch? I see you poppin' that pussy, but can I fuck bitch? All you soft-ass lames tryin to fall in love, I wanna take her to the crib and fuuuuuuuuu..."

"Lay 'Em Down," like "Bring It On," is a mostly instrumental track.

White Dawg's first big hit was the track "It's All Gravy," in which he to impressive effect takes a traditional southern saying and uses it as commentary on many of life's aspects. The phrase "it's all gravy" roughly correlates to the traditional hip-hop slang "it's all good" -- that is, when confronted with a potentially stress-inducing situation, use of the phrase indicates an act of overcoming, of refusing to let the situation get one down.

"Get 'Em" is a brief interlude which serves as an introduction to the next track, "This Is How We Ride." In "Get 'Em," White Dawg commands fellow thugs to shoot at one of his enemies. The shooting begins, and the track is filled with the sounds of gunfire, sounding like a warzone. Then White Dawg comes on with the eery chorus: "This is how we ride, all my thugs ride.... This is how we ride, all my thugs ride!" White Dawg seems to make the point of being as disgusting as possible in the lyrics, using similes involving diarrhea and urinating on toilet seats.

Another interlude follows, entitled "Live Sex." This erotic track starts with White Dawg stating, "We got the bitch on tape," then for over a minute is the soundtrack of him engaged in sexual intercourse with a female, emphasizing the sounds of her moaning. It ends with him saying, "Now get the fuck out, bitch!"

Track 13 is called "Who Run Shit," and White Dawg attempts to assert the dominance of himself and his posse with the chorus "Who run shit? We run shit! Who run shit? We run shit! Who run shit? We run shit! Who run shit? We run shit!"

While most of his tracks about females tend to merely focus on the physical aspects of relationships, "Is It Wrong" could be called a love song. But White Dawg quickly returns to form with "Games Players Play," beginning the track with a sing-song interpolation of "My Fair Lady" in which he sings: "Watch a nigga pimp some hos, pimp some hos, pimp some hos... watch a nigga pimp some hos, pimp that pussy!"

"666-13" is a track about the two scariest numbers, 666 and 13, and as can be expected, the song has a dark feel. White Dawg uses production techniques to warp his voice into a demonic howl.

Another popular track is "Yes Sir," featuring Dozia Slim, who comes with the memorable line: "Open up a can of whoop-ass on your bitch-ass / Wanna fuck a thug? Bitch, give me head and cash." White Dawg screams on the addictive chorus: "You heard what I said?!?!" and is answered by many voices: "Yes sir, yes sir!"

"Skraten' Up, Pt. 2" is much like the first "Skraten' Up," in that it ends with a long list of cities White Dawg and Dozia Slim wish to give props to, telling each to "skraten' up." However, the production to this song has a feel that can be described as more "epic." White Dawg's first verse evokes the imagery of the world of a thug and all its various aspects: "Mash grind, dollar sign / Thug love, get it crunk / Smokin' hay, gettin' drunk / Dirty South, Goes in the mouth." He also mentions his true passion in life: "All I want to do is thug."

However, his more introspective side emerges once more in the album's final track, "I Just Wanna Get High." White Dawg contemplates all that has gone wrong in his life, talks with God, and debates committing suicide.

Personnel

• Amy ? - harmony
• Gus ? - guitar, harmony
• John ? - harmony
• Blac Haze - performer
• Boo-Man - harmony
• Brain - harmony
• Crysta - harmony
• HLWDStyle - crowd noise
• J-Roc - crowd noise
• Jimbo - crowd noise
• Ralph - harmony, crowd noise
• Rye Rye - harmony
• Stevie D - crowd noise
• TC - crowd noise
• Yung Gun - crowd noise

Production

• Producers: White Dawg, Jimbo
• Executive producers: Greg Marks, James Schaeffer
• Mixing: Jimbo, Jimbo, White Dawg

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

External links

• White Dawg-- Official Web Site
• White Dawg - Skraten' Up (Part One) Lyrics