{"id":842090,"date":"2026-08-02T09:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T09:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842090\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T09:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T09:05:20","slug":"kurupt-and-battlecat-come-full-circle-with-new-album-tales-from-the-hood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842090\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurupt and Battlecat Come Full Circle With New Album ‘Tales From the Hood’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kurupt<\/a> and Battlecat have rejoined forces to release new album Tales From the Hood \u2014 stream it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Released on Friday (July 31), the 11-track project, which features the likes of Snoop Dogg<\/a>, BJ the Chicago Kid<\/a>, D Smoke<\/a>, Soopafly, Jane Handcock and more, revisits the sound, culture, and authenticity that helped define West Coast rap<\/a> in the early-mid \u201890s.<\/p>\n

The album, which arrives via Death Row Records<\/a>\/gamma., is the first time the Dogg Pound rapper and iconic producer have worked together in an official capacity in over two decades, dating back to their work on Kurupt’s debut solo album, 1998’s Kuruption!, in particular, the classic cut “We Can Freak It.”<\/a><\/p>\n

“He was the first producer I worked with when I first went solo,” Kurupt said of Battlecat, speaking to Complex at the Los Angeles release party for their new album. “He was there to help elevate me and take me to that next level, and he’s doing it again right now. He’s taking me there with a whole project we’ve been dying to do for quite some time.”<\/p>\n

Snoop Dogg, who besides being a longtime friend and collaborator of both Kurupt and Battlecat, played quarterback on Tales From the Hood, initiating the collaboration and putting it out via his Death Row imprint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“When Snoop said he wanted to use me exclusively to produce this album, it blew my mind because he could use anyone he wants,” Battlecat told Complex, before sharing his thoughts on the album as a whole. “The vibe reminds me of Gang Starr<\/a> in that it\u2019s a very unique two-man combination. We weren’t following that, but that’s what it reminds me of. Jazzy Jeff<\/a> and the Fresh Prince<\/a> \u2014 that’s another one. You know? Those two duos ain’t no joke.”<\/p>\n

Tales From the Hood features an array of tracks that offer variety throughout, but there’s one record in particular that stands out above the rest because of its history: “Mystic River.” The collaboration first surfaced nearly 20 years ago, and it’s now been given its long-awaited official release \u2014\u00a0much to the delight of Young Gotti.<\/p>\n

“I love that record,” Kurupt explained. “It’s a journey through my mind and a travel through time, and it’s just a whole different caliber song that has lasted through time. It feels brand new still to this day.”<\/p>\n

He added: “When [Snoop] Dogg [brought the idea of the album] to the table, it felt good to still have ‘Mystic River.’ It means something to me because that\u2019s where we started at.”<\/p>\n

Tales From the Hood also marks Kurupt’s eighth collaborative project since the release of his 2010 solo effort, Streetlights. In the past 16 years, he’s dropped albums with The Hrsmn, Diirty OGz, C-Mob, and, of course, his Dogg Pound running mate Daz Dillinger<\/a>. He also has a joint album coming out later this year with Rakim and Masta Killa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking on why he loves collaborating so much, Kurupt put it down to the brotherhood. “To be honest with you, the camaraderie is everything to me,” he explained. “For this album, it’s me and DJ Battlecat. It’s about both of us. You know what I’m saying? I’m the rapper, he’s the DJ. We’re taking it back to the original form of hip-hop.”<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s gonna be a Kurupt album by itself coming eventually, but not now. We’re having fun,” he added.<\/p>\n

The camaraderie that Kurupt loves so much is very present in the connection he has with Battlecat. The respect they have for each other translates not only into great music but a friendship that seems unbreakable.<\/p>\n

Making sure to give his collaborator the flowers he deserves, Battlecat called Kurupt “extraordinary” and “a blessing,” adding how much of an impact he’s made on his life and artistry. “It’s a blessing that I finally have a someone who can be the voice of me through my struggles as a young man coming out of the ghetto.”<\/p>\n

He added: “I never thought I would have someone like him in my hands. It’s like magic. In fact, it\u2019s bigger than magic ’cause it’s sent from the man up above. He put someone very delicate and powerful around me so I can have a voice in music.”<\/p>\n

Kurupt and Battlecat’s Tales From the Hood is out now via Death Row Records\/gamma. Stream it here<\/a> and check out the tracklist below.<\/p>\n

1. “Intro”<\/p>\n

2. “Sneak Attacc” Featt. Snoop Dogg & Charlie Bereal<\/p>\n

3. “Me N Tha Boyz” Feat. Snoop Dogg<\/p>\n

4. “Special” Feat. Jane Handcock & Blaqthoven<\/p>\n

5. “Mystic River”<\/p>\n

6. “Wat U Do to Me” Feat. Snoop Dogg. D Smoke & Charlie Bereal<\/p>\n

7. “Love Letter” Feat. JANE HANDCOCK<\/p>\n

8. “West Coast Muzik” Feat. Butch Cassidy<\/p>\n

9. “Mindstate” Feat. Ill Camille, BJ The Chicago Kid & Charlie Bereal<\/p>\n

10. “I Don’t Luv Her” Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid, Soopafly & Akeem Ali<\/p>\n

11. “Gunna” Feat. RBX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kurupt and Battlecat have rejoined forces to release new album Tales From the Hood \u2014 stream it here.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-842090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}