No One Can Do It Better


No One Can Do It Better is the debut studio album by The D.O.C., released on August 1, 1989 by Ruthless Records and Atlantic Records. It reached number-one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for two weeks, while peaking in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA three months after it was released, and Platinum on April 21, 1994. This was the only solo album The D.O.C. was able to record before a car accident resulted in crushing his larynx; in recent years, however, he has been undergoing vocal surgery. He would not release another album until 7 years later, with Helter Skelter, also released by Warner Music Group, but on Giant label rather than Atlantic.

Album information

Idolizing East Coast acts such as Run-D.M.C. and Public Enemy, The D.O.C. always showed more of a lyrical style, not talking about guns, drugs and violence. The album received a Parental Advisory sticker because of the final track on the album. Most of the songs were influenced and sampled from funk artists such as Marvin Gaye, Parliament, and Funkadelic, but one track in particular was influenced by other genres, "Beautiful But Deadly", a rock-hip hop track, influenced by Run-D.M.C. with a heavy guitar riff throughout the song.
All five then-current members of N.W.A contributed to this album. Beats were produced by Dr. Dre, with Eazy-E being the executive producer. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy all provide vocals for "The Grand Finalé", while Ren also provides vocals for "Comm. 2". DJ Yella performs on "Comm. Blues", "Comm. 2" and "The Grand Finalé" as a drummer.
No One Can Do It Better also features additional vocals by Krazy Dee, J. J. Fad, Yomo & Maulkie and Michel'le, who were all part of Ruthless as well. Andre "L.A. Dre" Bolton and Stan "The Guitar Man" Jones, who play keyboards and guitar on some of the tracks respectively, also worked for the label.

Critical reception

From contemporary reviews, music critic Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said that the first three songs have music that is funky, multi-dimensional, and engaging, but the rest of the album's funk diminishes and leaves listeners having to focus on D.O.C.'s inferior lyrics. Daniel Weizmann of LA Weekly stating that The D.O.C. noting him a good rapper whose rhymes "spring out like meancing jacks in the box just when you think he's about tread over the same old rap cliches." noting that it has "bravado and loathing and deep sexual phobias " while it still had "grace and elocution and literary richness." Weizmann also praised Dr.Dre, declaring him "a sound-collage artist to a degree no other producer in rap even touches" and that "If the rappers in front of Dre weren't so often obscene, and if the act of sampling and mixing were taken with the slightest bit of seriousness as an art, I'm positive Dre would be considered the Phil Spector of his generation." J.D. Considine wrote in The Baltimore Sun prasied the album, stating that "what really gives this album an edge is the fact that he never pulls his punches, infusing each track with an impressive ferocity".
In a retrospective review, Allmusic stated, "It's a shame that the D.O.C. never got the chance for a proper follow-up, but in No One Can Do It Better, he at least has one undeniable masterpiece."

Track listing

Cut tracks

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums 49

Certifications