h T ' Thursday, October 24, 2013 - 38 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom the b-side Thursday, October 24,2013- BREAKFAST , From Page 1B A wayto start the day Every morning, one or two volunteers arrive about an hour early to begin the hot meal prep- aration, with the others arriv- ing at 7 a.m. to set up. Coffee, juice, milk and water provide rehydration, while oatmeal or grits make up most meals. Jars and jars of peanut butter and jelly are beneath the counter. Many family-sized containers of grits and oatmeal are in a Many pastries are donated to the breakf nearby room. More food is pre- pared and refilled throughout the hour. Building community one The patrons line up outside the meal at a time church and enter once everything is set up. They accept coffee, juice, The breakfast program is pastries and hot cereal from dedi- more than just a free meal; it cated servers while serving them- gives people a community. It selves cold cereals and toast. Many gives people a place to be and a choose to save some food, and the group of people to know who are breakfast program provides bags experiencing similar hardships. for pack-your-own lunches. On Mary said she not only appre- Wednesdays and Sundays, the ciates the warm room and the very popular hard-boiled eggs are food but also the volunteers and on the menu;they travel easily and the other participants. pack a lot of calories. "It's kind of like a meeting People come and go through- place for everyone, and no one out the hour, with most arriving judges anyone. We're all here, during the first half. At 8:30 a.m. down on our luck, and we all sharp, plates are collected, and have our own stories," Mary most people quickly leave. The said. volunteers dry dishes, clean up For many low-income indi- and leave by 9 a.m. viduals, the difference between Having an early morning having a place to live and not breakfast program allows for having a place to live is the people who have jobs to still safety net of friends and fam- take advantage of it, Chase said. ily. Many who become home- Also, making breakfast is less less don't have that available to expensive and simpler than them. The breakfast program lunch or dinner. and the community it fosters Some patrons appreciate the allow for some of that commu- early hours, saying that forcing nity and the safety net to poten- them to wake up to get breakfast tially be established. is a great incentive to start their Anne Piehl, a University alum days. Without the incentive to and a weekly volunteer, said get up at 8 a.m., breakfast-goer the vast majority of people who Nick said he might just sleep partake in the breakfasts live in late. The early morning program single-member households. helps him structure his time. He "Finding a place where has an Electronic Benefit Trans- there's community, I'm sure, fer card, and the program lets is huge in their lives," she said. him stay on budget. "It's got to be." Homeless individuals - espe- Carl works at a grocery chain, cially early in the mornings - but comes to St. Andrew's before can struggle with finding places work to help him stay afloat. to stay. Mary has taken advan- He only recently started eat- tage of the free breakfasts on ing there, but views its commu- and off for several years. She nity as a great resource to learn is currently staying at a local about benefits. homeless shelter and said every- "You do have a sense of com- one has to leave in the morning, munity here," he said. about when the free breakfast Carl said he worries others program starts. might view the program as a "It's a place to go at 7 o'clock permanent crutch instead of in the morning when it's dark a stepping stone to move up. out," Mary said. "It takes up Chase estimates that between some of your time, which is a one-third and half of the pro- good thing." gram's patrons are regulars who The legend of Snoop's 'Dogsye ASTEN HUFFORD/Daly ast program by Ann Arbor bakeries. have been coming consistently for a year or more. The rest, she said, come and go - a month here, a week there. "Theygreet each other; they'll help each other," Chase said. "They look out for each other, and they know each other." Many of the people who eat the breakfasts don't have con- sistent schedules or places to stay. The breakfast program may be one of the only places where they know they will be every day. Mary mentioned how she sometimes might not see a friend for six months, but they can come together at St. Andrew's and reconnect. "We are able here to allow for people to stay for an hour and sit," Mary said. "I do see a sense of community; I do see people sitting together in this group or that group." Serving all The breakfast program serves a huge spectrum of people of all ages and races and needs. Each breakfast is extremely diverse with many different ages and races represented. The needs of each individual also vary sig- nificantly. Many have alcohol or drug addictions, and some have mental disabilities. Deal- ing with this large sample of humanity all in one room does sometimes cause issues. Halfway through one break- fast, Chase stood up and loud- ly blew a whistle. Everyone respectfully got quiet and lis- tened; this had clearly happened before. Chase announced some- one had drawn graffiti in the bathroom and that it might be closed if the behavior doesn't stop. Some sighed while others groaned. All those interviewed said the program was kept very calm and safe. Any issues are quickly dealt with. The number of people fed daily ranges from 70 to 140, Chase said. There doesn't seem to be a clear trend, and it's very hard to predict the number of mouths to feed and so the yearly expenditure changes a lot. According to Chase, the organization is in the process of attracting more corporate donors and grants so that the program doesn't have to rely on small personal donations as much. Whether the program is fund- ed by church members or cor- porate grants, all those in need will be able to fill their stomachs and reach a friendly community for years to come. "They're doing something right," Carl said. "I mean they've been doing it since '82, so they're doing something right here." Snoop Dogg may be known for his acting roles, various product endorse- ments, hilarious lingo and jaw- dropping marijuana intake, but once upon' a time - 20 years ago as of next month - the rapper then known as Snoopp Doggy Dogg changed hip hop with his JACKSON debut album HOWARD Doggystyle: The signifi- cance of Doggystyle on Snoop Dogg's career, West Coast gangsta rap, Dr. Dre and hip hop as a mtsical genre, among other things, is momentous. Before he was Snoop, Calvin Broadus was a 22-year-old, drug-dealing Crip from Long Beach, Calif. However, upon being discovered by Dr. Dre and placed on the now-legendary track "Deep Cover," Snoop's nasally voice, complex flow and undeniable swagger had the hip-hop world buzzing. His hype only increased with his show-stopping performances on Dre's classic album The Chronic, where he appeared on many of the album's songs and ghostwrote most of Dre's raps. Coming into 1993, the anticipa- tion for Doggystyle was unbe- lievably high. The album carried over Dre's signature G-funk sound from The Chronic, drawing influ- ences from funk bands such as Funkadelic, Parliament and Zapp & Roger, as well as find- ing inspiration in West Coast Los Angeles culture, full of women, weed and weather. By working only with Dr. Dre on the project, Snoop established a cohesive sound that is still uncommon in hip hop. This cohesive sound, though, didn't only depend on Dre. Working on his first record, Snoop had the ability to really collaborate with anyone he wanted and used that freedom to bring in the only people he knew. Daz, Kurupt, Nanci Fletcher, RBX, Jewell, Lady of Rage, Warren G and Nate Dogg - all long- time friends of Snoop - joined forces in a completely natural way to form Doggystyle. This myriad of guests not only gave the album its unique sound, but also challenged Snoop lyrically. Artists like Kurupt and Lady of Rage especially were renowned lyrical assassins, and some of the best verses of Snoop's career come on songs where he trades bars with them. OK, you get it; this was an important album, Dr. Dre did some cool stuff on it and Snoop became famous, whatever. But why is Doggystyle still considered by many as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and one of the best albums released in the 1990s? Why, though his career took off, hadn't Snoop ever made an album this good? Why can't I just write entire columns full of rhetorical questions (I so would if I could)? Let's start with a couple songs. "Gin and Juice" might have one of the most memo- rable choruses in rap his- tory: "Rollin down the street, smokin' indo, sippin' on gin and juice / laid back / with my mind on my money and my money on my mind." "Gin and Juice" is a view into Snoop's ideal house party, filled with Seagram's gin, ladies from Long Beach and Compton and "some bubon- ic chronic that made me choke." Doggystyle is full of gems like this - the smash single "Who Am I (What's My Name?)" is classic G-funk, while "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" features maybe the best Nate Dogg verse of all time. Dre's UFO synths, funky bass and thumping drums cre- ated the perfect soundscape for Snoop's syncopated, rhythmic flow. For all its party music, however, Doggystyle is still known for its incredible lyri- cism. Kurupt absolutely slayed every song he jumped on. Take "Serial Killa": "It's time to escape, but I don't know where the fuck I'm headed / Up or down, right of left, life or death / I see myself in a mist of smoke / Death becomes any nigga that takes me for a joke," he spits on the song's first verse. The lyrics are explicit, vio- lent and sexist, and Snoop received his fair share of criti- cism for the album's content. Even today, the lyrics of some songs are tough to read out loud, as they celebrate a society in which women are simply objects utilized for whatever a man wants in the moment. What Snoop would say to this, and I agree, is that he was sim- ply narrating his life story. You have to understand that in his culture - 1990s Long Beach gang life - this is simply how it was. This isn't an excuse, but it does help understand why Snoop said the things he did. Hip hop is the genre that it is due to this transparency: Rap- pers rap about what they see and what they live. Snoop's tale of life on the streets certainly shocked the public, but you can't say he wasn't telling the truth. This point is only reinforced by one of Doggystyle's most famous tracks, "Murder Was the Case (Death After Visualiz- ing Eternity)." Around the time of the album's release, Snoop was charged in connection with an actual murder. Though he was eventually found innocent, the trial had a profound effect on him, and he released these feelings in his music. More, Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy actually made a short film in 1994 starring Snoop called Murder Was the Case, which featured music from Snoop and a story about Snoop's death and resurrection by making a deal with the devil. Snoop's storytelling is at an all-time high here: "As I look up at the sky / My mind starts tripping / A tear drops my eye / My body temperature falls / I'm shaking and they breaking try- ing to save the Dogg." Other classics, like "Lodi Dodi," "Tha Shiznit," "Serial Killa" and "Gz and Hustlas," among others, still remain in many listeners' rotation (including yours truly's). Dog- gystyle embodied not only life through Snoop's eyes, but also life in general for a man in his young 20s, tryingto figure it all out. In addition, Snoop, along- side N.W.A., 2Pac and others, broughtback the West Coast at a time when the only "legitimate" hip hop was seen to be from the East Coast. Though the East- West feud between Puff Daddy's Bad Records (with The Notori- ous B.IG.) and Suge Knight's Death Row Records (with Snoop and 2Pac) ultimately had tragic consequences, it greatly height- ened hip hop's popularity dur- ing a crucial era in which hip hop was still being debated as a serious art form. So, what about Snoop? Since 1993, he's endorsed Adidas, made songs with Katy Perry and briefly changed his name to Snoop Lion. He's released 10 more studio albums, 17 com- pilations and 127 singles, and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Yes, he's been suc- cessful. Nonetheless, Doggystyle remains his best reviewed and highest selling project and will most likely stay that way. Dre's presence was crucially absent from Snoop's next album, 1996's The Doggfather, due to Dre's falling-out with Suge Knight. Snoop then released three sub- par albums on Master P's No Limit Records and bounced around from Priority to Gef- fen to Phanrell's Star Trak in the last 10 years. A few of his albums, including The Dog- gfather, 2002's Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss and 2006's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, are still qual- ity albums, and his numerous appearances on Dr. Dre's sextu- ple-platinum, landmark album 2001 are some of the best guest spots in rap history. Today, Snoop is a public figure known by preteens and gangsters alike, a man of a million identities who is as much pop as he is rap. That's fine. I'm happy for Snoop. I still enjoy his other music ("Beautiful" is one of my favorite songs ever). But still, nothing compares to Doggystyle, a G-funk masterpiece filled with misogyny, partying, West Coast lingo and a whole lot of that genuine Snoop Doggy Dogg flavor. Howard is letting the Doggs out. To bring them back, email jackhow@umich.edu.