Daz Dillinger lets the dogs out on an upcoming album that will reunite him with vocal partner Kurupt. Since Death Row Records owns Tha Dogg Pound moniker under which the two released their first album, 1995's Dogg Food, the new Dillinger & Young Gotti will pair the rappers under the name DPG.

The album will be released May 1 on Daz's DPG Records. The California resident hopes to expand his independent company into a formidable industry power.

"We're going to work this independent like a major," said Daz, who rapped on Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and produced several songs on Tupac's All Eyez on Me (1996). "We're trying to show these big labels we can move something small and make it big. We own this record, and this is what everybody's been waiting for for like five, six years." Longtime friend Xzibit appears on "Gangsta Like," while Daz and Kurupt rap about street life on "My Heart Don't Pump No Fear" and females on "Gitta Strippin'." DPG will release a video for the single "Coastin'." "Whatever came across when we put the beat up is what we rapped about," said Daz, who also produced the album. "The songs just came automatically. We've got 41 songs that didn't get on the album. I just put the hard ones on there." Daz and Kurupt's visibility received a boost recently via their appearance on Jay-Z's "Change the Game" remix, featured on DJ Clue's The Professional Part 2. DPG appears on Beanie Sigel's upcoming The Reason (June 12), and Daz said he's flirting with the possibility of recording a solo album for Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label.

All this exposure will come in handy as DPG prepares its next round of material.

"I'm independent, so I'm using all of this to my advantage," said Daz, who decided to go indie following his departure from Death Row two years ago. "I'm using all of these tactics for the street, independent hustle and making it large." Daz will appear on and produce some of Kurupt's Space Boogie, coming this summer on Kurupt's Antra label. He's also working on his third solo album, This Is the Life I Lead, as well as on a host of "DPG America" albums.

"I'm going from state to state and messing with the local tycoons that's rapping," said Daz, who launched DPG Records with last year's R.A.W. This year DPG released Long Beach 2 Fillmoe with the Bay Area's JT the Bigga Figga. "I've got a distribution deal where I can come out with a record every Tuesday as long as I get it ready," Daz continued. "I'm going to do a DPG Texas, a DPG Colorado ..." Daz's label will also release rock records eventually and plans to tap into the lucrative New Orleans rap market.

DPG are already planning their next album, The Gangster Sh--. "How Dr. Dre and Snoop have their chemistry, we can do the same thing," Daz said. "Their fans are our fans. We're going to pick up the trails they did. It's just two dogs sniffing, finding their way back home."