If rap fans want to know how the West was won, they need look no further than Death Row Records. The label, which was launched by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight after the rapper's departure from N.W.A. and Ruthless Records, would go down in hip-hop lore as one of the most notorious crews to ever place their imprint on music. But of the many legendary spitters to have called Death Row home, few had as big of an impact as Tha Dogg Pound.

Comprised of bi-coastal rep Kurupt and Long Beach native Daz Dillinger (formerly known as Dat Nigga Daz) -- along with de facto member Snoop Dogg -- the duo made appearances on Dr. Dre's landmark solo debut, The Chronic, as well as Snoop's 1993 classic, Doggystyle. Tha Dogg Pound officially made their debut on the Doggystyle single, "Doggy Dogg World," and  later released their own debut album, Dogg Food, in 1995, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, to the tune of 277,500 copies sold. The album would also stoke the brewing war between the East Coast and West Coast with the video to their single, "New York, New York," which featured Snoop Dogg knocking over buildings in a show of disrespect to the city.

The LP would eventually sell over three million copies and be hailed a classic, but internal beef in the crew would derail Tha Dogg Pound and result in the rappers going their separate ways. Daz and Kurupt would eventually patch things up and release two albums under the name D.P.G., but Tha Dogg Pound wouldn't return to the scene as a full unit until 2006, when Snoop rejoined the crew. The three joined forces for the Cali Iz Active album on June 26, 2006, the long-awaited follow-up to their 1995 debut.

Peaking atop the Independent Albums chart, Cali Iz Active was well-received and helped set in motion the West's eventual climb to being a major player in hip-hop on a major scale. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Cali Iz Active, XXL speaks to Daz Dillinger about how the album came together, his memories of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., as well as plans for an upcoming biopic centered on the ups and downs of Tha Dogg Pound.

XXL: When did you and Kurupt decide to start working on Cali Iz Active?

Daz Dillinger: We really started working on the album in, like, '05 after we got our issues out of the way of beefing We did a couple of independent albums before then, Dillinger & Young Gotti: The Saga Continuez, which was just me and him on the album, you know, let's get ourselves together and drop an album first, then we're gonna get with Snoop and drop Cali Iz Active.

Cali Iz Active was released on Snoop Dogg's label, Doggystyle Records, through Koch. How did y'all link back up with Snoop to get that deal done?

Well, you know, we was beefing, as we say. But I see Snoop all the time and he was like "Daz, do this [album]" and he had a situation on the table and it's about getting money. How can we benefit from this, you know what I'm saying? So he came with the deal, he got all the producers and everybody that I wanted, he wanted, and Kurupt wanted and we put it together and dropped the bullshit so we could get to the good shit.

You handled a majority of the production on previous Dogg Pound albums. What made you decide to take a step back and allow outside producers to handle the beats on Cali Iz Active?

I was getting paid as executive [producer]. We was all executives on that album. And I own the name Tha Dogg Pound so that's what it is. For you to get a Daz beat, you got to pay. I don't want no $1,500 or no $2,000 or none of that shit. That's studio time, mixing shit, making it sound good. I gotta get paid for doing my beats and they wasn't trying to pay me for the beats so I was like fuck it, I'll just be an artist. Now, when it comes to a new Dogg Pound album that we're working on, I'm producing it -- when it's on my label and I own it.

So the label wasn't trying to pay you for the beats?

I really wasn't in a beats state of mind; that's another negotiation thing. I didn't choose nothing. Snoop did all the choosing. The only thing we did was put it together when he told us to come in there. It was like a football play; he the quarterback, we the wide-receivers. Throw me the ball, I'm gonna score the touchdown. I'm running niggas over.

The album's lead single was also its title track, "Cali Iz Active." What made y'all choose that as the song in particular to roll out the project with?

If you notice, there's an old song, [Royal Cash's] "Radio Activity." Snoop really liked that song and we was coming off on it and it was a West Coast thing. We wasn't really thinking bout this side, that side, we just thinking about West Coast, bringing everybody together 'cause the West Coast was in a sham, man. Everybody was feuding and shit like that. I was feuding with a lot of people. It was gung-ho, you know what I'm saying, internally and externally so people didn't really know what was going on. So we had just put together that Western Conference [together], that was then. It's called protocol, putting things together.

You, Kurupt and Snoop hooked up with Diddy, whom you had previous friction with due to the rift between Death Row and Bad Boy Records, on the track "It's Craccin All Night." How did that collaboration come out?

We cool with Diddy, he the homie, and Snoop Dogg quarterbacked that. And that was the first time with us doing some East Coast/West Coast stuff with Diddy.

What was the studio session like? Where you all present during its recording?

Nah, we laid our verses and I think Puffy laid his verse in New York. But we was all on Skype and stuff like that at the same time, ya dig.

What was the vibe like when y'all was building on the song?

I mean, just coming with the chorus. I can project and hear people on the song, so I really heard him on the song, you know what I'm saying, so we made it like that. You know, build everything around so all he has to do is drop his verse and then the song is done.

"Heavyweights," which is produced by Ryan Leslie, is a song that instantly stands out from the pack. How did that particular track come together?

Snoop Dogg. All those beats you hear come from Snoop Dogg. The ones we made internally was the ones with Battlecat. All the ones that you hear on there from different producers was just email beats. The ones you hear with Battlecat is all in-house, made right there on the spot.

How did you come up with the concept for the track as far as the writing?

Snoop Dogg comes with the hook and then we follow lead. Great storytelling, great MCing, Daz and Kurupt. It get no better than that. And then Snoop with the icing on the top. Let's hit the road.

One of the most vicious verses on Cali Iz Active comes courtesy of Lady of Rage, your former Death Row label mate you once rapped alongside with on cuts like "Stranded on Death Row." What made you bring her in to record a verse on "Keep It Gangsta?"

That was all of us together, you know, we always big up our sister. We always try to work as a family and just keep everyone in the mix, we all we got. We tour every day so we see a lot of each other and they know this is how we gonna eat. So come on in here and jump on this song. She came in the studio. She had already said I don't smoke [laughs]. It was smokey in there, everybody trying to make her to hit [the blunt], she don't hit it, but she catch a contact. We just figured if we blow enough of this shit, she'll catch a contact [laughs].

"Don't Sweat It" is another song that may jump out to listeners and serves as a Death Row reunion of sorts, with appearances from RBX and the late Nate Dogg. What are your memories of the creation of that track?

It was some Dogg Pound gangsta cripping in there, man, you know what I'm saying? We was recording at the Cripping Kitchen, Snoop's studio that he had in Hollywood. Just that name alone. Plus RBX -- my first cousin -- and me and Snoop first cousins. It's a family thing and everybody in there, it was a DPGC thing, you know what I mean.

"Don't Sweat It" was also one of the last times Nate Dogg was featured on a Dogg Pound track. What is one of your favorite memories of him?

Well, we had a show in Oakland, Calif. back in the days and the promoter didn't have our money right so we didn't go on the show. So the city of Oakland, they started rioting and tearing up, and the dude didn't have our money. So he say he got the money downstairs, so it's like we walking downstairs into a basement. He laughing like, "I just wanna get a picture" and all this shit.

And then we get in the office and he counting the money and Kurupt backs up into the light switch and the lights go off and all you know, me and Nate Dogg pull out the jammie, me and Nate got the pistol to the nigga, you know what I'm saying? We ain't know what was going on, we just know the bullshit [laughs]. 'Cause, you know, Nate Dogg was a robber. A bank robber. Check cashing robber. We can talk about that now [that he's dead], you know what I'm saying? That was his forte. He'd go hold up a check cashing spot and then come back with the loot! He was left-handed, you know what I'm saying? So, I'm right-handed and me and him together, we the force of Tha Dogg Pound, me and Nate Dogg. When it comes to the muscle and the power, that's me and Nate Dogg. Snoop and Kurupt might wanna talk, but we coming in there and we whooping ass and we got a bunch of other boys that's in here that's gonna be whooping some ass.

It's no secret that Tha Dogg Pound is affiliated with the Crips, which you show your allegiance to with a shout out to Tookie Williams on "It's All Hood," as well as songs like "Throw Up Da C." How would you say your association with the gang lifestyle has influenced or inspired Tha Dogg Pound's music, even having been removed from it during the period you made Cali Iz Active?

I meet a lot of people that's influenced by us and as we get older, the influence from us, we can change people into doing better things, but back then, it was all cripping. It was a lot going on as youngsters and kids and stuff like that, but just influencing the world through the music and being a crip. And like I said before, we cripping 'til we die, that's what we known for.

Once you're in, you're in. Like Tupac was a crip and Suge Knight went and turned him to a blood. When you look at the Thug Life [album], what did you see in there? You ain't see no red in thug life, right? Tupac had blue rags on, right. Then when he got on Death Row, they wanted him to represent Death Row, cause we wasn't representing Death Row. We represent Dogg Pound. Dogg Pound is crips, Death Row is bloods. And I told Tupac when he got out of jail, "Don't let this gang-banging shit come between us" when we did "Ambitionz Az a Ridah." 'Cause I knew where it was going.

Yeah, things were real back in the days so a lot of that adds up.

The rap game has been good to me. Like I said before, I reached the pinnacle of rap, ya dig? I done did songs with everybody you can think of that meant something. I got some undercover songs with Biggie we did, like, a little freestyle, but I gotta find 'em, they on ADATs. When Pac died, I went and served Biggie and Ma$e two ounces of weed in Hollywood and we was in there just kicking it, talking. Chopping it up. That's when they did [sings "The World Is Filled..."] 'cause Ma$e wrote Puffy part. You know, Biggie was my friend. When he [used to] come down and used to do the little morning shows and stuff on the radio, I used to go meet him over there.

What would you say are your favorite songs from Cali Iz Active?

My favorite? "Kushn N' Pushn" and "Hard on a Hoe," the one with me, Kurupt, RBX and Nate Dogg.

Cali Iz Active peaked at No. 1 on the independent charts, which was your only release as a group other than Dogg Food that topped the charts. What did that accomplishment mean to you and Kurupt after having nearly 15 years in the rap game to your credit?

I didn't even know that, you the first to tell me that shit. It feels good, you know what I'm saying, and it's just hard work. I just look at life and say 'man, we did that.' But it's really about you handle your business. Are you saving your money, are you preparing your business, are you looking for your songs, you know what I'm saying? All that type of shit. Preserving your legacy, you know what I'm saying. I look at Tupac and Nate Dogg, man, everybody fighting over their shit and this and that. I got all my shit together, you know what I'm saying. I miss those guys, man. If Tupac was here, it wouldn't be a lot of this shit going on. Everybody you seen came up after that, it would've been over.

What was that period like when Cali Iz Active dropped? Can you remember any memories or shows from that era?

Me and Kurupt, we was on tour with Ice Cube and we was rocking so hard, they used to come tell us, "Can y'all calm it down 'cause y'all giving Ice Cube a run for y'all money" [laughs]. But we was just touring, man, and these people was looking for us. You know, like if you get sued or something like that? The server dude was looking for us and he was talking to our manager and he was like, "Yeah, we're looking for Daz and Kurupt," and he had a Dogg Pound hat on, like, "I don't know those guys!" And then we looking at him and we walked right past the dude, like, "Hey, I think they're over there!" And then he ran over there and we're like, "That fucker don't even know who we are [laughs]."

Looking back 10 years later, where do you feel Cali Iz Active stands among your other work?

It's up there. It's up there with Dogg Food. It's up there with a lot of my independent albums. I look at it as a body of work, a catalog. And when I do this Dogg Pound movie, this D.P.G. for Life movie after the Tupac movie, you'll really get to know about us. The shit that we did that you don't know about. Everything you see in these movies everyone making, you know about. You already know what's going. If you look at that Tupac movie, you gonna look at it, but you already know where it's coming from. Like ours, you don't even know where it's coming from cause we never told that story.

When can the fans expect that?

2018. I'm still writing it up, making it look good. I got all the actors and shit. A lot of people out there be playa hating, man, you know what I'm saying, and other shit like that. So right now, I'm hustling, I'ma pay for it myself and I'ma get all of it, just like an album. Make an independent album, you do all the shit, you press it up, you get the money. But I'm gonna sell it on phones and shit like that. Direct to the people and get that money 'cause if the movie theaters and shit ain't gonna let me in, I gotta go the other route, you know what I'm saying?

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