Lady Of Rage, RBX & Dogg Pound Locked It Down Again 20 Years After Death Row (Video)

In less than a month, it marks 25 years since Dr. Dre brought out The Chronic. Hip-Hop has been partying ever since to an album that put Snoop Dogg on center stage but made some breakthrough introductions by way of Tha Dogg Pound, RBX, and The Lady Of Rage. For lovers of lyricism, “Stranded On Death Row” was the calling card to understand bi-coastal microphone assassin Kurupt Tha Kingpin, “Narrator” RBX, and Rage (who had made her first appearance on Chubb Rock’s “Bring ‘Em Home Safely” in early 1991). Daz, the other half of Tha Pound did not appear (but showed out with a Rage and Kurupt ensemble on non-album video cut “Puffin’ On Blunts And Drankin’ Tanqueray.”

X, Kurupt, and Daz Dillinger are still rollin’ together. They have done some concerts and touring in the 2010s. Back in 2011, the collective told fans that they’d formed a group, The N’Matez and were at work on an album, Stay Of Execution. They even launched a label, seemingly sharing the equity, years after linking up on Dr. Dre and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records. The group’s name was a play on the label where they all built their first fan-bases (notably, Kurupt would return for a brief executive/artist stint in the early 2000s) While nothing more seemed to come of the N’Matez, the quartet managed to drop one video single, “Trajical.”

In the video, apparently shot overseas, Rage is the first one to headbutt the beat, with her afro-puffs intact. She uses slick punchlines with short bars that complement the beat. RBX’s amazing voice is sinister as ever, as Snoop and Daz’s cousin put up one of his bigger spots of the last decade. X’s delivery is nimble, as the former football player (Suge Knight’s UNLV teammate, no less) tackles the track. Kurupt comes in next using a menacing style of delivery where the Philly-born MC pushes his cadences. Daz closes out the show, with that melodic vocal. For Gangsta Rap Heads, the chemistry is “magical,” while the chorus warns, to all haters, this is “trajical.”

Heads proved they were capable of waiting six years between the double-platinum Dogg Food and self-released Dillinger & Young Gottia full-length Rage LP LPs from Tha Pound. For Rage, it was not until 1997 that Hip-Hop was blessed with her (still only) official LP—more than three years after her breakout solo single. RBX, who was the first act to bounce from Tha Row, released his 1995 The RBX Files debut to a warm commercial response. These artists do deliver, and here’s hoping The N’Matez’ Stay Of Execution finally gets called.

For those seeking updates, Daz is currently at work on a collabo album with Goodie Mob’s Big Gipp. Late last month, he told Cypress Hill’s B-Real about who supplied the “chronic” for those sessions where “Stranded On Death Row” was created. Meanwhile, Kurupt and hit-making producer Fred Wreck are working on Scuba Dust, ahead of his sequel to BlaQKout with Death Row family alum, DJ Quik. The Lady Of Rage recently appeared in a video single for MC Eiht & DJ Premier’s LP.