G-funk

G-funk (Gangsta-funk or Ghetto-funk) is a type of hip hop music that emerged from West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk (large

G-funk (Gangsta-funk or Ghetto-funk) is a type of hip hop music that emerged from West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk (largely derived from slowing the tempo down of funk music) incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-funk tunes, and a high portamento sine wave keyboard lead—a feature that became the genre’s notable trademark. Additionally, unlike other rap acts at the time (such as EPMD or the Bomb Squad) that sampled heavily, G-funk often utilized only one or two samples per song .

This genre was characterized by a generally hedonistic subject matter including violence, sex, and drug use, and a slurred “lazy drawl” that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence. G-funk became the premier subgenre of mainstream hip hop for a span of nearly four years (from the release of Dr. Dre's landmark debut, The Chronic, in 1992, to the collapse of the Los Angeles-based label, Death Row Records, in 1996).