Beloved for his butter-smooth hooks, Nate Dogg was the go-to guy for choruses in the decade before Akon, T-Pain, and their ubiquitous AutoTune antics. While never a solo superstar, he is an integral part of hip-hop history, and one of the most instantly recognizable voices in rap music. Released in 2001, Music & Me is the closest he ever got to a proper solo album (his double-LP debut was hampered by industry shadiness, and his third record never saw the light of day), and it gives us another batch of relentlessly funky selections that balance gangsta posturing, weed celebrations, and musings on the fairer sex. Production is bouncy and Cali-centric, with contributions from Fredwreck, MegaHertz, Mel-Man, and Dr. Dre, among others. Because Nate is known mostly for his singing, he enlists an extensive crew of emcees, including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, Xzibit, Tha Eastsidaz, and Pharoahe Monch. The lead single "I Got Love" never really broke through on the charts, but several tracks are classic (if somewhat slept-on) Nate; check out "Another Short Story," "Dum Ditty Dum," "Real Pimp," and "Your Woman Has Just Been Sighted."