Normally this would go in the Demos section, but I've yet to see a complete rip of it. Over The Counter is an album/demo that has baffled me for a while now. The story goes it's made up of pre Dr. Dre songs and early Death Row demos. My personal feeling is it's fake. There is no way this was out on Death Row in 1991 like it says in the credits on the back cover. I do however, think that this may be a compilation of pre Dre/early Death Row demos that was put together. Somebody went to great lengths to make this seem real. Songs even have stories behind them which is interesting on some rap nerd shit (it could all be bullshit though!). The problem is I don't know anybody with the whole album and as far as I know there are only these 6 songs floating around.
Snoop Doggy Dogg
"Let 'Em Understand" - a diss song aimed at Domino
"187 (It's On)" - this was the original inspiration for "Deep Cover""Do You Remember" - supposedly the most played song from Over The Counter at radio
"True To The Game" - he did this with some dude named DJ Glaze, basically a freestyle
"The Message" - recorded before Death Row, a freestyle over "The Message"
"Country Blues" - recorded before he was on Death Row, a freestyle on "Pay Ya Dues"
Like I said, the Over The Counter album doesn't actually exist so we'll just call these demo tracks. If anybody has a copy of Over The Counter then send me a link and prove me wrong! But that won't happen because it's a hoax. But it's a pretty good hoax complete with a beat up album cover, a track list with producer credits (click HERE to see it), and a back story. Wanna here it? Here it goes.
"When Snoop was talking with Cold 187 (Above The Law) he was promised a deal. So Snoop waited..... and waited..... and waited. Nobody ever got back with him. In result, Warren G took 213 to Dre. After Dre heard "Sooper Dooper Snooper" he hooked up with Snoop quickly. About the same time, Cold 187 called Snoop. He told him they had a song ready for his vocals called "Never Missin' A Beat" (the first minute or so of that track was to be for Snoop). But it was too late, Snoop turned him down. Another song "Pimpology 101" was intended for Snoop. Those two tracks were slapped on the album at the last minute as instrumentals.
So Snoop was with Dre. Dre was very, very, very impressed by Snoop's smooth, calm, and charismatic demeanor. He wanted an album out immediately. So they went to work. Although, they failed to realize that they had no way of distributing the resulting album. At that time very late in 1991 Dre & Suge managed to hook up a weak deal directly with Time Warner. But the problem was that Dre was rushing everything before it was legal. Death Row was not yet officially a Record Company. It was more like a Record Organization of Dre's respective partners.So, Dre and Snoop record a few songs featuring many of the labels early artists such as RBX, CPO, D.O.C., Chocolate and everyone else. It featured producers such as Dre himself, Warren G, Chocolate, and DJ Glaze. Not all the songs were created at Death Row though. Some were recorded during Snoop's wait on Cold 187 and before Snoop's introduction to Dre. A couple were songs that Snoop really liked and wanted to include, recorded with Dj Glaze and Foesum in early 1991 that otherwise would never have been heard. He wanted these songs included also because he had hoped to bring the group Perfection (Foesum) onto Death Row because they were desperately searching for a stable deal. They were the only group that were apart of Snoop's cirlce that never got their chance like RBX, Daz, Kurupt, and Malik got. Due to Foesum's contracts with their record company and due to their own unorganized practices, they were never given a chance by Dre. "Let 'Em Understand Perfection" was the only chance they were given on Death Row.Time Warner was not legally capable of Distributing the album, so it was shelved. Only promo tapes were pressed and given to LA radio station but never given authorization to play it. But knowing them they played the shit anyway. The song "Do You Remember" was the song most played by radio stations before they were stopped."There it is. The mystery of Snoop Doggy Dogg's Over The Counter album that came out in 1991 on Death Row Records. Allegedly. That story came from some dude named AnnonymousOne from Internetland so take it for what it's worth. Once again, if you have this make believe album (and also the "Sooper Dooper Snooper" song that Dre supposedly tripped over) then send it over!
