Snoop Dogg is a Long Beach, California icon that really doesn’t need a proper introduction at this point. We all should know by now that he solidified himself as such with his heavy contributions to his mentor Dr. Dre’s seminal 1992 solo debut The Chronic along with his own equally groundbreaking debut album Doggystyle the following year. Then came the infamous murder charges Snoop faced in the mid-90s, of which he was later acquitted of. He would then come back with his sophomore album Tha Doggfather, but would leave Death Row Records not too long after it came out & would go on to release a trilogy of albums with No Limit Records. My personal favorite of them being Tha Last Meal. When his time with the tank came to an end, Snoop would form his own label Doggystyle Records & would go hopping to one major distributor after another to release 11 more albums. This includes an album under a joint venture with Priority Records/Capitol Records, a trilogy with Geffen Records (the first of which being in association with Star Trak Entertainment), 2 albums with just Priority themselves, a reggae album with his wife’s imprint Boss Lady Entertainment in conjunction with Mad Decent/VICE Music/RCA Records in 2013 & a synth-funk album with i am OTHER Entertainment/Columbia Records in 2015 produced by longtime collaborators The Neptunes. However since 2017, he’s mostly been rebuilding his Doggystyle label with the independent powerhouse EMPIRE Distribution backing him up with the exception of a gospel album being released by RCA Records last March. And with the recent addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the WWE Hall of Famer is celebrating with his 17th full-length album.
“What U Talkin’ Bout?” speaks on doing things his way over an electro-influenced instrumental whereas “So Misinformed” ponders the legacy of slavery & it’s corresponding diaspora over a laidback beat from DJ Battlecat. “Let Bygones Be Bygones” recalls his Death Row days with bittersweet pride over a g-funk beat leading into “1 Blood, 1 Cuzz” pays tribute to the late Nipsey Hu$$le over yet another Battlecat instrumental that recaptures Snoop’s g-funk roots.
As for “Countdown”, we have Uncle Snoop getting on his Crip shit over a prominent Ohio Players sample that Swizz Beatz laces just before “I C Your Bullshit” looks to rattle the trunks of every car blasting it talking about looking past all the cap coming his way. “Turn Me On” featuring Chris Brown is sappy lust tune with a bouncy Jazze Pha beat while “Blue Face Hunnids” talks about gangbanging over a nocturnal DJ Mustard instrumental
“New Booty” smoothly spits some game to all the new Crips while “Take Me Away” featuring Wiz Khalifa is of course a weed anthem as Russ provides a generic beat & an annoying hook. “Do It When I’m In It” with Ozuna & Slim Jxmmi sees the 3 getting raunchy over a Latin-influenced beat while“1st Place” gets victorious over a spacious DJ Green Lantern beat.
Moving on from there, “Focused” samples “Focus” by H.E.R. talking about feeling concentrated while “Rise to the Top” with Swizz Beatz & Trey Songz sees the 3 talking about maintaining successful over a mellow instrumental. “Wintertime in June” featuring the late Nate Dogg sees the 2 talking about past relationships over a colorful Fredwreck instrumental & after the “Doo Wop Thank Me” interlude, the song “Main Phone” with Rick Rock sees the 2 talking about money over a hyphy beat.
“Do You Like I Do” featuring Lil Duval is a weird attempt at reviving new jack swing while the song “I’ve Been Looking For You” is a soothing synth-funk cut. “Little Square UBitchU” with Anitta disses an unnamed punk over a Middle Eastern influenced beat while “Ventilation” with Azjah & $tupid Young is essentially the musical equivalent of Steve Buscemi dressing up as a teenager on 30 Rock. The title track at finishes the project reflects on his his accomplishments over yet another g-funk beat from Battlecat.
As a whole, this was a decent body of work focusing on Snoop’s legacy in the midst of him entering his 4th decade in show business & it lived up to my expectations of at least surpassing Bible of Love in terms of quality. I appreciate how he tried to be eclectic trying to make something for everybody with a retrospective theme on 1 hand & on the other, it didn’t need to be 75 minutes long & there are only slightly more hits than there are misses in an hour & 15 minutes.
Score: 3/5
Legends Will Never Die 