Happy 35th Anniversary to The D.O.C.’s debut album No One Can Do It Better, originally released August 1, 1989.
The story of the D.O.C. is one of the more noteworthy “what if’s” in hip-hop history. It’s the story of one of the best lyricists of the late ’80s who released one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever, No One Can Do It Better. After the album hit the shelves in the summer of ‘89, it was completely reasonable to believe that The D.O.C. would end up becoming one of the greatest to ever touch a mic. Instead, he ended up sidelined through the “prime” of his recording career, after his primary instrument, his voice, was mangled in a horrific auto accident.
Born Tracy Lynn Curry in Dallas, Texas, The D.O.C. first released music as part of the Fila Fresh Crew under the name Doc-T. The group recorded numerous songs produced by Dr. Dre, who they’d met while he was visiting Dallas to DJ. Some of these tracks, including The D.O.C.’s solo exhibition “Tuffest Man Alive,” were released on the 1987 album N.W.A and the Posse. The Fila Fresh Crew broke up shortly afterwards, which allowed The D.O.C. to initiate his solo career.
The D.O.C. relocated to Los Angeles and continued to work with Dre and N.W.A, writing many of the verses by both Dre and Eazy-E that appeared on the 1988 classics Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It. However, while he watched the group enjoying the fruits of their success, he began to itch for his own turn in the spotlight. He got his time to shine soon after when he released his debut album, No One Can Do It Better.
Aiming to craft No One Can Do It Better as a stylistic departure from the work he’d helped create for his Southern California compatriots, The D.O.C. considered himself a lyricist first and foremost, and wanted his songs to be more evocative of the artists that he idolized, like Run-DMC, Rakim, and Public Enemy. As an emcee, The D.O.C. rarely cursed, which is striking for a member of the world’s most dangerous group’s camp. Though he also draped himself in L.A. Kings gear, he favored rocking Africa medallions over gold chains. And with No One Can Do It Better, he proved himself to be an emcee’s emcee.
The album, recorded over a period of three weeks, was produced entirely by Dr. Dre, and it features some of his strongest work behind the boards. While he utilized Ultimate Beats and Breaks based production, densely packing in samples and adding bridges and breakdowns, he also orchestrated select tracks devoid of sampling, opting instead to reimagine classic breaks and funk tracks with an in-house band.
The D.O.C. burst onto the national scene with “It’s Funky Enough.” Part of what makes the song work so well is the beat, which is an extremely, um, funky replaying of Foster Sylvers’ “Misdemeanor.” It’s also notable due to The D.O.C.’s stylistic decision to kick his rap using a heavily-effected dancehall patois throughout all four of the song’s verses. The D.O.C. has said that when he first heard the beat, it sounded “Jamaican” to him, and he just spontaneously started rhyming using the accent. Gangsta rap’s long tradition of integrating dancehall chatting likely started here, and The D.O.C. utilizes the style the best.
The D.O.C. was also extremely adept at describing his pursuit of greatness, once explaining that No One Can Do It Better was an “albums full of freestyles” and that he “wasn’t really talking about anything other than ‘I’m good.’” However, many of the tracks detail his obsession with creating something truly unique, and being the person who helps hip-hop take its next evolutionary lyrical step with his skills. Many emcees throw around terms like “take music to another level,” but The D.O.C. displayed a relentless commitment to the endeavor.
Listen to the Album:
Tracks like “Mind Blowin’” and “The Formula” exemplify this approach to his lyrical content. “The Formula,” one of the best tracks of the era, showcases The D.O.C. as an emcee’s emcee. Doc has said the idea for the song came to Dre in a vision, with Doc dropping lyrical bombs over some Marvin Gaye. The beat, based around a sample of Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” from his 1971 magnum opus What’s Going On, is one of Dre’s smoothest and overall best productions. The song is a clinic by The D.O.C., as he flows effortlessly and expounds on his ability to generate transformative dope lyricism, rapping, “Creative, so I’ll never be regarded as a regular / More than just a little bit better than my competitors / You should never underestimate the fashion / I hold for the stage whether I'm cooling or thrashing.”
The album’s title track is another excellent lyrical exhibition, as The D.O.C. was great at meshing his no-nonsense style over a laid-back beat. In terms of the live instrumentation-based tracks on the album, the title track is among the best (it’s hard to beat “It’s Funky Enough”), and the turntable-work on the chorus is well-executed. The song’s second verse is the strongest verse that The D.O.C. kicks on the album, as he lets off a stream of interlocking lines, rapping, “Knowledge is the key, and hard work is the fee / For me to be The Great at the start and remain to be / A threat, ’til the opposition is warned / Taking as long as a song, cause I was born / With instincts to kill, a grave mentality / Over the edge and you say you want to battle me? / At your own risk, approach and be hosted / And in the end you may win or be roasted.”
The D.O.C. focuses chunks of the album on his partnership with Dre, and makes it a point to recognize his producer’s intrinsic role in the album’s success. “The D.O.C. and The Doctor,” the album’s second single, is an unruly dedication to the emcee’s commitment to blessing Dre’s musical creations. “Let the Bass Go” covers similar ground, but features The D.O.C. rhyming at his most leisurely, flowing over a sample of Isaac Hayes’ “No Name Bar.”
But The D.O.C. also excels at kicking fast-paced raps over similarly uptempo beats, which he does frequently throughout No One Can Do It Better. The best of these is “Lend Me An Ear,” which is bolstered by Dre’s most complex production. Tracks like “Whirlwind Pyramid” and “Portrait of Masterpiece” feature The D.O.C. furiously working to keep pace with the frenzied musical backdrop, and never falling behind.
The album’s sole misstep is “Beautiful But Deadly,” the rock-influenced jam that features a replaying of Funkadelic’s “Cosmic Slop” guitar riff and extensive solo work by Stan “The Guitar Man” Jones. While “Cosmic Slop” is one of the greatest songs ever, something gets lost in translation with the reinterpretation. It doesn’t help that The D.O.C.’s interpretation of the subject matter, concerning a devious, black widow-like woman out to steal unsuspecting men’s material wealth, has aged poorly.
Fittingly, “The Grand Finale”—a collaboration with Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Eazy-E—brings the album to a close. Musically, it features Jones and crew expertly replaying Parliament’s “Chocolate City,” but all four emcees really shine on the track. The legend goes that Cube crafted his verse, then after hearing what the others were going to kick, completely re-wrote it, inspired by the others to step up his game. His opening verse is a highlight of the track, as he raps, “My medley is deadly as a pin in a hand grenade / 5 seconds before you get played / You can’t throw me, I guess you’ll blow up / Ever see a sucker scattered? It’d make you throw up.” Not to be outshined on his own track, The D.O.C. comes correct, noting that the listeners are “tripping off the man with the swift hand movement / Proving if you're grooving then it's cool when he be doing it.”
Sadly, soon after No One Can Do It Better dropped, tragic circumstances intervened and nearly cost The D.O.C. both his career and, more importantly, his life. While driving home on the freeway after a late night video shoot, he fell asleep at the wheel, causing his car to veer off the road. He was thrown from the vehicle, bouncing numerous times on the road before almost flying off an overpass. He miraculously survived the wreck, although he required 14 hours of plastic surgery and remained in the hospital for weeks. Though the damage to his face was repaired, his vocal chords were severely damaged during the EMT’s efforts to get a breathing tube down his throat, nearly costing him his ability to speak. Thus, his career as an emcee was cut short just months after he began to ascend to super-stardom, and he never developed into the genre-dominating superstar he seemed destined to become.
But even after the accident, The D.O.C. remained a vital part of the N.W.A crew. While the group existed, he continued to write lyrics for both Dre and Eazy, while lending his now gravelly rasp to skits throughout the album. After Dre left the N.W.A camp, The D.O.C. came with him, proving instrumental in the creation of Future Shock Records, Dre’s imprint that (briefly) preceded the existence of Death Row Records.
The D.O.C. remained by Dre’s side at Death Row and was essential in helping develop the label’s talent roster. Later, he tried his hand at production, contributing to albums by both MC Breed and The DFC. And, even after Dre advised him to never try to rap again, he released a pair of post-accident albums, Helter Skelter (1995) and Deuce (2003). While this made for a heartening comeback story, in terms of quality, the music couldn’t compete with No One Can Do It Better.
Who knows how hip-hop history would have been altered if The D.O.C. had not been in the car crash that night. Would he have replaced Ice Cube in N.W.A? Would Dre never have picked up the mic after leaving N.W.A, opting instead to stick with producing for The D.O.C.? Would The Chronic ever have existed even as a producer-driven compilation showcasing young talent, and if so, would The D.O.C. have been the centerpiece instead of Snoop Dogg?
Overall, The D.O.C. says he has moved on from the hypothetical speculations. In an interview with legendary radio personality Sway, he said he spent so much time in his life trying to get back to where he was before the accident, that it put him in a dark place for years, leading to depression coupled with drug and alcohol abuse. “Trying to hold on to that old thing kept me from going forward,” he added.
Besides, The D.O.C. has acknowledged that the accident drove him to work as hard as he did with artists like Snoop, helping guide him to superstardom of his own. The D.O.C. has reached the point in his life where he’s accepted his “damaged” voice as the best voice that he has, and is now concentrating on helping the next generation of artists in Dallas find their respective voices. Furthermore, he has a teenage daughter with fellow Dallas native Erykah Badu, a longtime friend of his, that the two are raising together. The dynamics of The D.O.C. and Badu’s relationship are complicated, and a subject that the two rarely speak about publicly.
Recently it appears that The D.O.C.’s vocals have begun to seriously improve. Since 2015, he’s been saying his voice is returning. Over the years, he has gone through extensive speech therapy and now says he can speak/rap in his own voice when he concentrates. A little less than a year ago, Badu posted a video on her Instagram profile of The D.O.C. singing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone” in hushed, dulcet tones.
No matter what the future holds, The D.O.C. clearly made the best he could out of a horrible situation and blessed us all with a little musical greatness, which is a feat precious few have achieved. The fact that he’s still revered by the titans of hip-hop offers testament to the staying power of No One Can Do It Better. And while it’s easy to lament what could have been, what we as listeners received—and still have—is more than enough.
LISTEN:
Editor's note: this anniversary tribute was originally published in 2019 and has since been edited for accuracy and timeliness.