Last week, Nate Dogg passed away. His death came a day before the NCAA Tournament, and with basketball on the brain, I took to Twitter to remember Nate, consider his catalog, and simulate a basketball fantasy in which his songs were treated like college basketball teams. I thought that an isolated hour last Wednesday would be the entirety of my formal Nate Dogg reminiscence. However, I have had a Nate Dogg playlist pumping through my speakers all week, and I am a gifted procrastinator. Why apply to jobs when you can make PowerPoint slides?
Above, you will find a video from Jay Smooth that nicely captures most of my feelings about Nate. I can only imagine everyone's shock that Jay has once again found such a sincere, thoughtful, amusing way to express what sound like pitch-perfect ideas. Below, you will find an actual Nate Dogg Tournament Bracket which I have created. This is what it looks like:
Click to enlarge
You can download the PPT here should you like to: a) fill one out by hand, or b) fill it out in PowerPoint and then send it back to me. If you choose Option B, I will compile responses and post results. The email address is straight.bangin (at) gmail (dot) com. I also have posted YouTube videos of all the play-in matchups. The tournament field, broken out by seeds, looks like this:
1) Warren G, "Regulate"
1) Tha Dogg Pound, "Let’s Play House"
1) Snoop Dogg, "Ain’t No Fun"
1) Pharoahe Monch and Mos Def, "Oh No"
2) Dr. Dre, "The Next Episode"
2) Dr. Dre, "Xxplosive"
2) Freeway, "All My Life"
2) Westside Connection, "Gangsta Nation"
3) Fabolous, "Can't Deny It"
3) Snoop Dogg, "Lay Low"
3) Ghostface Killah, "Ooh Wee"
3) Snoop Dogg, "Bitch Please"
4) Snoop Dogg, "Gz Up, Hoes Down"
4) Obie Trice, "The Set Up"
4) 2Pac + Outlawz, "Teardrops and Closed Caskets"
4) Tha Dogg Pound, "I Don't Like to Dream about Getting Paid"
5) 50 Cent, "21 Questions"
5) Eminem, "Til I Collapse"
5) The Game, "Special"
5) Jadakiss, "Kiss Is Spittin'"
6) Ludacris, "Area Codes"
6) Mobb Deep and 50 Cent, "Have a Party"
6) Shyne, "Behind the Walls"
6) 2Pac, "How Long Will They Mourn Me"
7) The Game,"Too Much"
7) Ludacris, "Child of the Night"
7) Warren G, "Game Don't Wait"
7) Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, "Lollipop"
8) Snoop Dogg and Redman, "From Long Beach 2 Brick City"
8) Warren G, "Nobody Does It Better"
8) The Game, "Where I'm From"
8) Jadakiss, "Time's Up"
9) Snoop Dogg, "O.G."
9) Snoop Dogg, "Crazy"
9) Tha Dogg Pound, "A Doggz Day Afternoon"
9) LBC Crew, "Feels Good 2 B DPG"
10) Redman, "Merry Jane"
10) Memphis Bleek, "Need Me in Your Life"
10) 2Pac, "Thugs Get Lonely Too"
10) 50 Cent, "Girl Come Over"
11) Mobb Deep, "Dump"
There is a loose S-curve which the committee compiled. The committee has one member, he is unscientific, and he is primarily invested in having fun. To wit, why are there 41 songs in this tournament? It just seemed right. So enjoy, and participate if you'd like.
To the opening games...
8) Snoop Dogg and Redman, "From Long Beach 2 Brick City"
vs.
9) LBC Crew, "Feels Good 2 B DPG"
By seeding, I would take the slight upset. However, LBC Crew might be undervalued because the album from which this track comes is a from-the-vaults exercise in nostalgia. It's working.
6) 2Pac, "How Long Will They Mourn Me"
vs.
11) Mobb Deep, "Dump"
Is there a word for when a song title perfectly describes it? "Dump" would qualify. Nate deserved better.
7) The Game, "Too Much"
vs.
10) 50 Cent, "Girl Come Over"
Game's tempo and sneaky track overwhelms the plodding 50 song, especially be creating points off of turnovers and running.
8) Jadakiss, "Time’s Up"
vs.
9) Snoop Dogg, "O.G."
Close game. Nate wins it for Jada down the stretch by playing more of an all-court game, not only hitting a clutch three and making his free throws, but poking the ball away from Snoop as he made his way into the lane for a potential game-tying runner.
7) Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, "Lollipop"
vs.
10) Redman, "Merry Jane"
Upset! Succumbing to alumni pressure and the creeping suspicion that inexplicably he could be replaced by Bruce Pearl, Coach Brick City allows Reggie to come back after a Brandon Davies-like suspension for an honor-code violation involving...drugs. Duh.
8) Warren G, "Nobody Does It Better"
vs.
9) Tha Dogg Pound, "A Doggz Day Afternoon"
Watch out for this Eight Seed. "Nobody" has four senior starters, three players 6'9" or taller, and Nate's feature role, which is reminiscent of his work on "Regulate." Very dangerous mid-major that might be seeded too low.
7) Ludacris, "Child of the Night"
vs.
10) 2Pac, "Thugs Get Lonely Too"
8) The Game, "Where I'm From"
vs.
9) Snoop Dogg, "Crazy"
7) Warren G, "Game Don’t Wait"
vs.
10) Memphis Bleek, "Need Me in Your Life"
The tournament committee, reassessing Bleek's body of work, relegated him to the Nate Dogg NIT and let Warren G move on as a matter of principle.
