The Hard Way (213 album)

The Hard Way is the only studio album from American hip-hop trio 213, which consisted of Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Nate Dogg. It was released on August 17, 2004, on Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle Records, Warren G's G-Funk Entertainment, Nate Dogg's Dogg Foundation Records, and TVT Records.

Reception

The Hard Way received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic especially praised Warren G for "rapping tougher and more gangsta than usual." The album debuted at top on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

"So Fly" was released on July 6, 2004, at first single from the album. The song reached at number 2 on US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

The official debut retail single was "Groupie Luv", which was also accompanied by a promo video. It was directed by Chris Robinson and was filmed in Snoop Dogg's own house (see also Still a G Thang). It is also the video debut for dancer Criscilla Crossland. "Groupie Luv" topped at number 26 on Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.

Track listing

Notes

"Twist Yo' Body" features backing vocals performed by Dion.
"Rick James" (Interlude) features vocals performed by Dave Chappelle.

Sample credits

"Keep It Gangsta" contains an interpolation of "Black Cow" performed by Steely Dan.
"Groupie Luv" contains an interpolation of "Chameleon" performed by Herbie Hancock, Paul Jackson, Harvey Mason and Bennie Maupin.
"Another Summer" contains excerpts of "Intimate Friends" performed by Eddie Kendricks.
"Gotta Find a Way" contains excerpts of "Rejoice" performed by the Emotions.
"Joysticc" contains an interpolation of "Juicy Fruit" performed by James Mtume.
"Mary Jane" contains excerpts of "It's Time" performed by the Jungle Brothers.
"MLK" contains an interpolation of "Riding High" performed by Faze-O.
"My Dirty Ho" contains an interpolation of "The Rain" performed by Oran "Juice" Jones. It also samples Lacrimosa (Requiem) in Requiem (Mozart).
"So Fly" contains excerpts of the recording "So Gone" performed by Monica and excerpts of "You Are Number 1" performed by the Whispers.

Personnel

Artists

213 – primary artist (all tracks)
Snoop Dogg – primary artist (all tracks)
Nate Dogg – primary artist (all tracks)
Warren G – primary artist (all tracks)
LaToiya Williams – featured artist (track 8)
Boki – featured artist (track 11)
Dion – background artist (track 2)
Dave Chappelle – skit (track 13)

Technical personnel

Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
Nate Oberman – engineer (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 14–17, 19)
Shon Don – engineer (tracks 2, 4, 6–9, 16–18, 20), mixing (track 8, 12, 14, 20)
Geoff Gibb – engineer (track 12)
Dave Aron – mixing (tracks 3–5, 7, 9–11, 15–18)
Steve Baughman – mixing (track 2)
DJ Pooh – mixing (track 6)
Nomad – mixing (track 19)

Record producers

Fredwreck – production (tracks 1, 13)
Hi-Tek – production (track 2)
Quazedelic – production (tracks 3, 14)
B Sharp – production (tracks 4, 11, 15)
Tha Chill – production (track 5, 11)
DJ Pooh – production (track 6)
Nottz – production (track 7)
Kanye West – production (track 8)
Josef Leimberg – production (track 9)
Lil ½ Dead – production (track 10)
Niggarochi – production (track 10)
Terrace Martin – production (track 12)
Marlon Williams – production (track 12)
Michael Angelo – production (track 16)
J-Hen – production (tracks 17, 18)
Missy Elliott – production (track 19)
Jelly Roll – production (track 20)
Soopafly – additional strings (track 7)

Additional personnel

Benjamin Wheelock – design
Anthony Mandler – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Weekly chart performance for The Hard Way

! scope="col" | Chart (2004)

! scope="col" | Peak<br />position

!scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

|style="text-align:center;"|9

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+Year-end chart performance for The Hard Way

! scope="col" | Chart (2004)

! scope="col" | Position

! scope="row" | US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)

| style="text-align:center;" | 85