Back at it again with another timeless banger,  ‘Keep Their Heads Ringin’ has a solid Vintage Sound. Dr D.R.E needs no introduction, he’s been certified in the sound lab since the 80’s and on this banger he surely had all the elements of the dope-sound periodic-table at his disposal ?.

Keep Their Heads Ringin is nothing short of a phenomenal tune. Lyrically, Dre embraced the gangster rap bars but dropped some pretty basic rhymes at the end of each line. However being a ‘ducer’ first, Dre has never claimed to be a rapper and has never been renowned for his lyrical abilities.

Ultimately, the beat tipped the scale and slipped this bad boy onto ‘the classics’ shelf.  Dre followed through with the g-funk sound popularised by his debut Chronic album but this time something was different.  The tempo was dropped to about 91bpm and the tune features Dre’s signature West Coast whistle but the synthesizer sounds a little higher pitched than some of his earlier work. To add depth, Dre fused some heavy bass and low octave sleigh bells which gave the instrumental a dark edge. Remember Dre was in his Death Row era at this point and as we now know, things certainly had turned dark over there.

To add depth, Dre fused some heavy bass and low octave sleigh bells which gave the instrumental a dark edge. Remember Dre was in his Death Row era at this point and as we now know, things certainly had turned dark over there.

NWA had the first Hip-Hop Album to Carry a “Parental Advisory Label

In line with the g-funk movement, Keep Their Heads Ringing sampled lyrics and vocals from The Sequence’s Funk You Up. The song also featured a sample from the legendary rapper KRS-One ’s ‘Mad Crew’ and a touch of angelic vocals from a fellow Death Row affiliate, Nanci Fletcher which strangely added to the dark elements of this tune.

On almost every Dre track, you best expect at least some melodious keys and a banging drum kit and this number is no exception. The song was on the soundtrack for the comedy classic,  Friday starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. Listening to this song in the car, you almost feel like you are back in 95 in a low-rider hitting them switches. Definitely a cruising banger!

Ring ding dong!

Ring-a-ding ding dong!

S.A will keep your head ringing.