Happy 20th Anniversary to Tha Eastsidaz and their eponymous debut “The Eastsidaz”. Thea Eastsidaz was a hip hop trio consisting of Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee, and Goldie Loc. Tha Eastsidaz album was at number 8 on the US Billboard 200 when it debuted and sold 100,000 copies its first week and eventually went on to go platinum selling over one million copies. The albums lead single was “G’d Up” produced by Battlecat.
Snoop Dogg departed from Death Row records in1997 and he formed “The Eastsiders” with Crooked I and Li’l C-Style. They released the song ‘Feels So Good’ on the soundtrack for the film Ride (1998 film). The group briefly had a contract with Virgin records but no other songs were released. “Tha Eastsidaz” has a few other songs that were leaked on the internet in 1999 but no album. The group kind of broke up but it wasn’t until 2000 when they would come back with a new line-up made up of Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee, and Goldie Loc. The name was also officially changed from “The Eastsiders” to “Tha Eastsidaz”
After signing on to Snoop’s Doggystyle Records, distributed by TVT, they released their debut album, Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz; which was a hit and eventually went platinum with songs like “G’d Up” and “Give It 2 Em Dog” set the tone for west coast gangsta album. They went on to be featured on “Lay Low,” a hit single from Snoop Dogg’s album Tha Last Meal. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to the horror film Bones, which starred Snoop as the title character. The next year, they released their second album, Duces ‘n Trayz: The Old Fashioned Way. The album was critically well-received, but only certified gold.
Tha Eastsidaz also appeared in two films, they were featured in the 2001 film Baby Boy and their self-titled direct-to-video crime film, which was a success in retail sales despite the extremely low-budget production thus was certified double platinum. The group would go on to break up around the time they were recording the second album. Snoop left in the middle of making the album while Tray Deee would go on to be sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder. Snoop Dogg and Goldie Loc would go on to reunite and release a joint album IV Life Family. Goldie Loc would also go on to be involved in The Warzone with MC Eiht and Kam.
In 2014, Tray Deee would be released from California Men’s Colony, where he had been incarcerated since 2005 on the attempted murder charges. Tray Deee and Goldie Loc performed as Tha Eastsidaz at “Krush Groove 2014” buy Tray Deee has stated that it is unlikely that there will ever be another Eastsidaz album. Snoop Dogg went on to become a global icon and is still releasing music.
Salute and congratulations to Tha Eastsidaz and their 20th year anniversary of the album “Snoop Dogg Presents The Eastsidaz,” thanks for the classic hits. Check out the classic album below
