There was an era in which rap artists didn’t appear in videos shot in 2:35 scope with the obligatory “Hype Williams Presents” flying at you in bold text from either a solid white or black background. Rappers appeared on the streets of struggling neighborhoods and in local eateries. More often than not, they’d drive around in cars that cost more than their living quarters and smoke weed every day (R.I.P. Nate Dogg). These videos were shot on the cheap, excuses for house parties and hanging out with friends, hoping to somehow make an impact. Dr. Dre’s pivotal “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” video is a perfect representation of such a time.

By this time, the good Doctor was living pretty well. He had made some money from his time in N.W.A., but his protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg (as he was, almost unbelievably, known before dropping the “Doggy”) had yet to achieve the fame he enjoys today. The video opens with Dre walking through a house to pick up Snoop, who sits on a bed in his messy room with a three-foot-tall ironing board before him. He stands up and puts on his hat in front of his cracked blinds. In the video’s first 10 seconds, there is already more authenticity on display than 99% of rap videos today.

The music landscape has changed dramatically over the past 20 years and not just from an economic viewpoint. In the early ’90s, guitar bands appeared in big-budget videos while rap artists appeared in their homes dressed in jeans and flannels. With few exceptions, the genres have swapped places over the past two decades. The video for Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” doesn’t necessarily represent an innocent time (keep an eye out for a young Warren G. rolling something at the 1:48 mark), but certainly a simpler time.

Revisit the video at Cluster 1!