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

Snoop Dogg is a 50 year old rapper, songwriter, media personality, actor & entrepreneur 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 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.

“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” 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: 3.5/5

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

This is the 18th full-length album from the LBC OG himself: Snoop Dogg. 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. 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.

The album kicks off with “CEO”, where Snoop jumps on a hyphy beat from Rick Rock as he shows off his longevity in the rap fame. The next song “Roaches in My Ashtray” returns to his g-funk roots with lyrics about getting high of course whereas “Gang Signs” taps in Mozzy to reminisce on their life as Bloods & Crips respectively over a spacious, bass-heavy instrumental. The track “Talk Dat Shit to Me” responds to Eminem’s jab on “Zeus” as he goes back on the g-funk tip with the help of Battlecat, but then “Sittin’ on Blades” dives into boom bap territory is as Snoop is singing from beginning to end with heavy talk-box usage à la Roger Troutman.

The song “Say It Witcha Booty” is an awkward attempt at making a strip club theme, but then Larry June hops on “Get Your Bread Up” for a Bay Area-influence money anthem. Tha Eastsidaz make an unexpected return on “Fetty in the Bag” as Big Tray Deee & Goldie Loc reunite with Uncle Snoop to talk about being amplified over some synths & hand-claps. The Nottz-produced “Look Around” is taken straight from Tha Blue Carpet Treatment Mixtape back in 2006 & it still sounds as gangsta as it did then, but then the closer “Left My Weed” with Devin the Dude is a more seductive cut that I’m not sure is a proper send-off to the album.

Regardless though, this is 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 takes listeners back to the sounds that skyrocketed him to where he is now.

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 last March. And with the recent addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Uncle Snoop is celebrating with his 17th full-length album.

It all starts with “What U Talkin’ Bout?”, where Snoop speaks on doing things his way over an electro-influenced beat. The next song “So Misinformed” gets conscious over a laidback beat from Battlecat while the track “Let Bygones Be Bygones” recalls his Death Row days over a g-funk beat. The song “1 Blood, 1 Cuzz” pays tribute to the late Nipsey Hu$$le over yet another Battlecat instrumental that recaptures Snoop’s g-funk roots while the track “Countdown” gets on his Crip shit over a Swizz Beatz instrumental with a prominent Ohio Players sample.

The song “I C Your Bullshit” speaks for itself over a trunk-rattling beat while the track “Turn Me On” with Chris Brown is sappy lust tune with a bouncy Jazze Pha beat. The song “Blue Face Hunnids” talks about gangbanging over a nocturnal DJ Mustard beat while the track “New Booty” spitting game to new Crips over a smooth beat.

The song “Take Me Away” with Wiz Khalifa is of course a weed anthem as Russ provides a generic beat & an annoying hook while the track “Do It When I’m In It” with Ozuna & Slim Jxmmi sees the 3 getting raunchy over a Latin-influenced beat. The song “1st Place” gets victorious over a spacious beat from DJ Green Lantern while the track “Focused” talks about being just that over a luscious beat sampling H.E.R.’s “Focus”.

The song “Rise to the Top” with Swizz Beatz & Trey Songz sees the 3 talking about maintaining successful over a mellow instrumental while the track “Wintertime in June” with Nate Dogg sees the 2 talking about past relationships over a colorful instrumental from Fredwreck. After the “Doo Wop Thank Me” interlude, the song “Main Phone” with Rick Rock sees the 2 talking about money over a hyphy beat.

The track “Do You Like I Do” with 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. The track “Little Square UBitchU” with Anitta disses an unnamed punk over a Middle Eastern influenced beat. The penultimate track “Ventilation” with Azjah & $tupid Young is essentially the musical equivalent of Steve Buscemi dressing up as a teenager on 30 Rock & then title track at finishes the project reflects on his his accomplishments over yet another g-funk beat from Battlecat.

As a whole, this was decent. I like how Snoop tried to be eclectic on this one, but it didn’t need to be 75 minutes long & there are slightly more hits than there are misses on here.

Score: 3/5