Snoop Dogg Resurrects 213

Superstar rap trio 213 never managed to get an album released before each of the three members - Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G - broke out with solo careers. But the Long Beach, California, group has resurrected the name 213 (the telephone area code for their hometown) and will release a debut album, The Hard Way, on TVT Records on July 20th.

Started more than twelve years ago, 213's recorded output was sparse. Warren G passed along a Snoop tape to his half-brother Dr. Dre, who invited Snoop to rap on his title song for the film Deep Cover. The buzz further built when Snoop landed a prime spot on Dre's solo debut The Chronic (1992), setting the stage for Snoop's own record-setting debut Doggystyle in 1993. By that point, Warren G and Nate Dogg had already made moves towards their own solo careers and 213 was effectively finished.

The three often talked about getting the group back together, a plan which was finally realized last year, when they recorded more than thirty songs, with production by the likes of the Neptunes, Battlecat and Hi-Tek. "I've been waiting to do it for so long," G told Rolling Stone last year. "I used to tell Snoop that it would be one of the biggest projects we've ever done."

Among the songs 213 recorded was "Long Beach Is a Motherfucker," one of the first songs they ever put to tape. "Back in the Day" also finds 213 looking back. "We break it down about how we used to do it," G said. "Back then, it was me Djing and Mcing and Nate and Snoop on the mike."