Snoop Dogg – “Iz It a Crime?” review

Here we have the 21st studio LP from Long Beach emcee, songwriter, media personality, actor, entrepreneur, record executive & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg. His 1993 debut Doggystyle produced his mentor Dr. Dre is widely regarded as a west coast essential, but his output since has been hit or miss whether it be Tha Last Meal & Tha Blue Carpet Treatment almost reaching the same caliber of his debut or Da Game is to be Sold, Not to be Told & Bible of Love falling flat on their faces. He purchased Death Row Records from MNRK Music Group days ahead of the Super Bowl LVI halftime person hence why he’s B.o.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row) since. Missionary last winter drew mixed reception because of some delusional fans expecting it to be another Doggystyle, coming off the Altar Call compilation to ask Iz It a Crime?.

After the intro, the title track featuring October London on the hook samples “Is It a Crime?” by Sade asking how many out there are still living by the code whereas “Joy” crosses over soul & boom bap to talk about it being that time for him to fuck up the streets making a feast out of the crumbs he was given. “Unsung Heroes” works in some cool organ melodies responding to people criticizing him for his half hour DJ Snoopadelic set at the Crypto Ball in January when even I myself found that odd due to the video he shared on Instagram in 2017, but then “Sophisticated Crippin’” sampling Marvin Gaye courtesy of DJ Battlecat talking about his 3+ decade legacy.

“Can’t Wait” featuring LaRussell finds the pair linking up so they can get shit poppin’ together over a g-funk instrumental from Nottz just before “Can’t Get Enough” featuring Jane Handcock cooks up a smooth R&B & west coast hip hop duet portraying 2 lovers who’re quite obsessed with being in each other’s company. “Keep It Moving” brings the g-funk vibes back in the fold thanks to Rick Rock talking about never stop pushin’ leading into “Just the Way It Iz” featuring Wiz Khalifa teaming up on top of a moody Soopafly beat to not change shit in their lives.

Akeem Ali easily delivers the worst feature on the entire album during “You Want My All” kinda sounding like a Lil Wayne knockoff when I’m sure Uncle Snoop could’ve easily got Weezy himself on there if he wanted to while Charlie Bereal takes a shot at g-funk behind the boards on “What’s Hattnin’?” giving a shoutout to everyone who’s been with Tha Doggfather from the very jump. “Spot” reunites with Pharrell for a pop rap joint reminiscent of “Beautiful”or “Perfect” with a modern twist & “ShutYoBitchAssUp” disses Suge Knight.

“Cold Summer” switches it up with a synth-pop cut & the vocal performances predominantly sung by it’s own producer mR. pOrTeR formerly of D12 while “Snoop Will Make You Dance” returns to a g-funk direction for a good old fashioned west coast party anthem. “Life’s Journey” feels like a bit of a response to his daughter Chocc fresh off dropping her debut EP Journals to Johnny last winter & becoming a mother a few months ago while “Me N O.G. Snoop” featuring Sexyy Red still remaining one of the most polarizing, controversial & popular artists in hip hop today talks about their ties to the Crips & the Bloods respectively.

Getting the final leg of Iz It a Crime? started, “Let Me Love You” heads for a bit of a delicate boom bap approach instrumentally for a tribute to his wife of almost 3 decades Shante Taylor while “West Up” slides through with a g-funk love letter to the west coast asking why the fuck should he retire when the west justifiably dominated the previous year. “My Friend” featuring mR. pOrTeR unites both of them for a passionate remembrance of Snoop’s cousin Darryl Daniel passing away 10 months ago & “Live Life” ends by talking about his only advice being to love yourself getting what’s yours.

Uncle Snoop here’s trying to understand if it’s a felony for him to do the things he’s done, to take care of people, to love them & to be there for them due some of the things that he’s done & becoming speculation. My response to those questions is absolutely not, although many including myself found it hypocritical for him to post said IG video 8 years ago with the “Lavender 2” music video literally months later only to do that Crypto Ball DJ set. Iz It a Crime? top to bottom however feels reminiscent of B.o.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row) due to the way both albums feel heavily inspired by the older days in career from gangsta rap to boom bap, g-funk & pop rap.

Score: 3.5/5

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Snoop Dogg – “B.o.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row)” review

Snoop Dogg is a 50 year old rapper, songwriter, media personality, actor, entrepreneur & WWE Hall of Famer from Long Beach, California that any hip hop head should be familiar with. His 1993 debut album Doggystyle is widely regarded as a west coast essential, but his output since has been hit or miss whether it be Tha Last Meal & Tha Blue Carpet Treatment almost reaching the same caliber of his debut or Da Game is to be Sold, Not to be Told & Bible of Love falling flat on their faces. The last we heard from Uncle Snoop was last 4/20 when he took it back to basics for From tha Streets 2 tha Suites but in light of his Super Bowl LVI halftime show performance this weekend & him purchasing Death Row Records from MNRK Music Group a couple days ago, he’s celebrating by dropping his 19th full-length album ahead of Mount Westmore’s debut in the winter.

“Still Smokin’” is a short but sweet g-funk opener produced by DJ Battlecat talking about being back up in this motherfucker whereas “Gun Smoke” follows it up with Hi-Tek mixing that vintage west coast sound with some trap undertones kicking it off top for nearly 2-minutes. “Coming Back” featuring October London has a bit of a Parliament-Funkadelic/Zapp influence to it continuing to elaborate on his return just before “Sandwich Bag” speaks on his hustler life over a stripped-back back beat from Bink!.

Meanwhile on “Conflicted”, we have Nas joining Snoop on top of a weary Hit-Boy instrumental pondering who’s against them if God’s for them leading into “Bad Bitch” which has a rubbery bass-line & pays tribute to all the bad bitches. “Doggystylin’” finds Soopafly works in some dramatic choir vocals flexing like the old days, but then “Crip Ya Enthusiasm” awkwardly samples the Curb Ya Enthusiasm” theme song with the help of DJ Green Lantern spitting that street life.

T.I. comes into the picture for the powerful “Gotta Keep Pushing” encouraging to move forward despite all setbacks while “House I Built” jumps on top of an spacious instrumental talking about doing shit his way. “Outside the Box” returns to the g-funk sound down to the Nate Dogg hook shouting out their Day Oners & as for “Jersey in the Rafters”, he & The Game go into boom bap turf thanks to Trevor Lawrence Jr. taking shots at those who say they lost it.

I like the chipmunk soul feel of “Pop Pop” even though DaBaby’s performances are just garish in comparison to Snoop’s, but then “Catch a Vibe” comes through with a cloudy summertime anthem. “It’s in the Air” finds Nottz weaving in some gospel influences as he & Uncle Murda detail the gangsta lives while the track “We Don’t Gotta Worry No More” with Wiz Khalifa mixes a vocal sample with some hi-hats provided by Don Cannon talking about the pain they come from. The final song “Get This Dick” of course serves as a forced sex tune with some R&B undertones & “Snoopy Don’t Go” ends the album with a melodic outro.

If anyone else enjoyed From tha Streets 2 tha Suites as much as I did, then you’re gonna love B.o.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row) just as much if not even more. Much like the previous album, it’s basically Snoop taking it all back to his roots except this time he’s really getting deeper in it. Looking forward to his halftime show performance this weekend.

Score: 4/5

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Snoop Dogg – “From tha Streets 2 tha Suites” review

This is the 18th full-length album from Long Beach icon & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg. His 1993 debut Doggystyle is widely regarded as a west coast essential, but his output since has been hit or miss whether it be Tha Last Meal & Tha Blue Carpet Treatment almost reaching the same caliber of his debut or Da Game is to be Sold, Not to be Told & Bible of Love falling flat on their faces. Uncle Snoop’s previous outing I Wanna Thank Me came out a couple summers ago & that was a decent listen but after dropping a small handful of singles throughout last year, it’s only right for one of hip hop’s notorious tokers to take listeners From tha Streets 2 tha Suites on stoners’ favorite holiday.

“CEO” jumps on a hyphy beat from Rick Rock as he shows off his longevity in the rap fame while the next song “Roaches in My Ashtray” returns to his g-funk roots with lyrics about getting high of course. “Gang Signs” taps in Mozzy to reminisce on their life as Bloods & Crips respectively over a spacious, bass-heavy instrumental prior to “Talk Dat Shit to Me” responding to Eminem’s jab on “Zeus” as he goes back on the g-funk tip with the help of DJ Battlecat.

As for “Sittin’ on Blades”, we dive into boom bap territory is as Snoop is singing from beginning to end with heavy talk-box usage à la Roger Troutman while “Say It Witcha Booty” is an awkward attempt at making a strip club theme. Larry June appears on “Get Your Bread Up” for a Bay Area-influence money anthem & Tha Eastsidaz make an unexpected return on “Fetty in the Bag” to talk about being amplified over some synths & hand-claps.

“Look Around” produced by Nottz gets taken straight from Tha Blue Carpet Treatment Mixtape back in 2006 & it still sounds as gangsta as it did 15 years ago when the world had initially heard it for the very 1st time until the closer “Left My Weed” featuring Devin the Dude comes off as a more seductive cut that I find myself reluctant towards in terms of it finishing the celebratory 4/20 offering.

Regardless of some older cuts making it feel more like a mixtape due to their resurging presence, this has gotta be the best Snoop Dogg album I’ve heard since Coolaid. I like the fact that he didn’t overload it like he did on I Wanna Thank Me & how it primarily takes listeners back to the g-funk sounds that skyrocketed him from an up-&-comer signing with Tha Row to the entrepreneur he has become in light of his 50th birthday in 6 months.

Score: 3.5/5

Snoop Dogg – “I Wanna Thank Me” review

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