guests: Agerman of 3xcrazy, mississippi, cool nutz, y.p. squeek nutty bug, keek the sneak, others.

Moving back several years, we get the first Mr. D.O.G. album, called "Wet". And the title of the album is referring to his nickname 'Aquaman' that was given to him considering his style, Cause according to some, his flow sounds, well, sounds 'wet'. So what we got here are the first few steps done by someone that is now a recognized name in the North West circles. And without any surprises, this album is almost overloaded with guest appearances, as already the first cut "Playa Playa" features Y.P., Squeek Nutty and Cool Nutz on the rhymes and Keisha R. on the chorus. The beat by Mike Wingo is actually quite nice, with it having the space to be smooth and of a relaxed style. "Str8 Smashin'" is keeping things solid, while on this solo cut there might be just too much attention on D.O.G.'s, who is having a hard time having us get with his awkward flow. Lyrically this is going the undisputed rider rhetoric, while the Squeeze beat is keeping things simple and limited to only a couple of musical elements.

Proving that D.O.G. can do different is "4 Da Homies", where he restrains himself and keeps things more straight forward. That might exactly be the reason why this cut did give D.O.G. his first local hit. However, that can also be due to the musical Eugenius beat, or the heartfelt singing by Mississippi. "Kennel Music Thang" again keeps us cool with it progressing in less serious ways. This actually features a rather happy vibe, that D.O.G. uses to straight up rep on the mic verses. Something that is almost accomplished again on "Wet", that was produced by D-Luv of Hole In The Chest Productions, while "Aquaman" is asking for a test run on your car's hydraulics, while we here Above The Law's "Murder Rap" sampled in the back.

We can't really criticize the beat on "Get Off My Line", but the flows spit by D.O.G., Keep The Sneak and Agerman of 3XKrazy are just different for difference's sake, without them gaining much, if anything from their eclectic oddness. The second hit comes on after the first: "Gettin' Paid" (or as it's actually written in the cover: "$Gettin' Paid$") features Y.P. and the two are doing much of all that is horrible about this brand of rap. This cut also makes it on here a second time, with the alternative version being called 'Underground Mix', and the beat being much better. "Cold World" is then trying to be evil, it however being mostly boring and restricted to be over-synthesized. It further lacks the thump, lacks the rider quality, what would pretty much be the only thing that could get us pumping this. However, lyrically we get glimpses of thoughtfulness, while they are not much more than short flashes though.

This album is old. However that isn't what makes it unimpressive. It mostly is adding nothing new to the brand. And even that nothing new is not done in very interesting ways. What then again takes us back to one of the earlier statements, that these were of the first steps that D.O.G. did. Hence our complaints could be explained with the cat just not yet having fine tuned his style. And as we've already reviewed his newer album, we do can say that things did get better there. What then leaves this album with having some sort a North West history, as well as a nostalgic relevance, but little else.