Death Row years (1992–1997) Before
The Chronic album came out, Kurupt and Daz were solo artists. Having heard the chemistry they had while recording the album,
Dr. Dre suggested they form a group. The two went on to feature on
Doggystyle and various features and soundtracks as Tha Dogg Pound. Between 1993 and 1994, the group assisted
Hammer on his
The Funky Headhunter album (such as the song "Sleepin' on a Master Plan" and others), along with
Suge Knight and the Whole 9. In 1995, they released their debut album
Dogg Food under Death Row Records. and went on to reach twice platinum status. "
Let's Play House" was the biggest hit, breaking into the Top 50 of the
Billboard Hot 100, while "
New York, New York" was an MTV favorite; in the video for the latter, Kurupt, Daz and Snoop stomped Godzilla-like around the Big Apple, taunting their East Coast rivals. In the October that followed, towards the end of the same year,
Tupac Shakur had been bailed out of jail by Death Row's Suge Knight in exchange for releasing his following four albums on Death Row Records. In 1996, Tha Dogg Pound were featured on 2Pac's Death Row Records debut album
All Eyez on Me with Kurupt featured in "Got My Mind Made Up" and "Check Out Time" and Daz Dillinger producing the hit songs "
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", "
Ambitionz az a Ridah", and "
I Ain't Mad At Cha". They made an appearance on Snoop Doggy Dogg's album
Tha Doggfather.
Kurupt and Daz leave Death Row (1998–2001) In January 1998, Kurupt left Death Row but remained in Tha Dogg Pound. Kurupt released two solo albums in 1998 (
Kuruption!) and 1999 (
Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha) that had Daz Dillinger and the rest of DPG on them. However, in 1998, Daz was making noise of his own over at Death Row and released his only Death Row album (
Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back). Afterward, he made his own label called Mobstyle Muzik, in which he had his first taste of the independent scene. Mobstyle's first release
Poppa Snoop Presents Mobstyle Muzik Volume 1 failed and Daz returned to Death Row. He later started up DPG Recordz along with Christopher "Big C-Style" Bowden through Death Row Records. Daz also eventually parted ways with Death Row in December 1998 and released his first independent album
R.A.W. in 2000. That was followed by the D.P.G. album from Tha Dogg Pound entitled
Dillinger & Young Gotti. After Tha Dogg Pound's full departure from Death Row, Suge Knight claimed ownership of the name "Tha Dogg Pound" and any tracks recorded prior to them leaving. To avoid a legal battle at the time, Daz changed their marketing name to D.P.G. short for Dogg Pound Gangstaz. The struggling Death Row Records failed to promote Kurupt's album
Against Tha Grain and the duo began to feel remorse for one another. Kurupt left Death Row and reunited with Daz. The duo started rapping together again and even made a new album together entitled
Dillinger & Young Gotti II: Tha Saga Continuez. After
The Western Conference in 2005 the two of them agreed to revitalize the DPGC by working together once again on an album with
Snoop Dogg,
Soopafly,
Nate Dogg,
Warren G,
RBX,
Lady of Rage and Lil' ½ Dead with Snoop taking over the producing and distributing tasks for it. Tha Dogg Pound then released a joint venture reunion comeback project the next year in 2006 called
Cali Iz Active under the aegis of Snoop Dogg's
Doggystyle Records with the main single "Cali Iz Active" featuring Snoop Dogg and a wide range of new producers throughout the album. Tha Dogg Pound released the album
Dogg Chit independently on March 27, 2007, touting it as a sequel to their debut. In August 2007 it was announced that the duo was in the process of signing to
Cash Money Records; their next album was announced as
Westcoast Aftershocc. The pair released the singles "Ch-Ching" and "Mystic River" from the album, but when the deal stalled, they postponed the project in favor of a separate album,
100 Wayz. Tha Dogg Pound began putting out singles for the latter album as early as 2008, releasing "Cheat" featuring
Pharrell and following up with "They Don't Want It" featuring Soopafly, and "Get My Drink on & My Smoke On." Although
100 Wayz was expected for release that year, it was postponed due to a dispute with
Koch Records head Alan Grunblatt; instead, they released the album
That Was Then, This is Now, which included the singles originally intended for
100 Wayz, in late 2009. After putting out the compilation album
Keep on Ridin in May 2010,
100 Wayz finally saw release in July of that year. Since then, the duo announced several projects, including
Dillinger & Young Gotti III: Get Paid, a collaboration album with
Pete Rock, and a re-announcement of the album
Westcoast Aftershocc for 2011, as well as several solo projects from Kurupt working with various producers, from
DJ Premier and Pete Rock to
Fredwreck. However, their only releases of late have been Kurupt's solo album
Street Lights and two projects from Daz Dillinger. Recently, tha Dogg Pound has been involved in various side projects; Kurupt announced the formation of supergroup 1st Generation, made up of himself,
King Tee,
Sir Jinx, Gangsta of tha Comradz and
MC Eiht and producer Tha Chill of
Compton's Most Wanted. Both Kurupt and Daz have formed a supergroup called the N'Matez consisting of themselves, the Lady of Rage, and RBX. In December 2011, Tha Dogg Pound put out the single "Forever in a Day," featuring Snoop Dogg, although they have not announced whether it is attached to a specific project. A few days later, the duo announced that their next group album will be entitled
Alumni and is set to be executive produced by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, who will be co-producing and/or mixing several of the beats. The album will mark the first time a member of Tha Dogg Pound has collaborated with Dr. Dre since Kurupt's appearances on the producer's album
2001, and the first time Dre has collaborated with Tha Dogg Pound as a duo since he mixed their debut album,
Dogg Food. On December 2, 2012, Tha Dogg Pound released a collaboration mixtape with
Snoop Dogg titled ''That's My Work Vol. 1''. In 2021, Tha Dogg Pound were prepping to release their
Dogg Food II album with the lead single "Let's Roll" debuted in late 2020. Their follow-up single "Nice & Slow" was released in July 2021 and featured
Snoop Dogg. In 2023, Daz Dillinger shared on social media that the album would be released soon on Dogg Pound Records. As of April 2024, the album is yet to be released.
Back on Death Row (2024–) In April 2024, a new song, titled "Smoke Up", was released featuring
Snoop Dogg. The end of the song's music video promoted a new album, titled
W.A.W.G. (We All We Got), that would be released on Death Row Records in June 2024. On May 31, 2024, the album was released ahead of schedule on all major streaming platforms. == D.P.G.C. ==