Snoop Dogg on Dallas Assassinations -- You Can"t Answer Hate with Hate
The quarter-century-long career of Calvin Broadus a.k.a. Snoop Doggy Dogg is full of contradictions. Hes a husband and father whose devotion to his family is evident in such heartwarming reality shows as Snoop Doggs Father Hood and Snoop & Son: A Dads Dream, yet who continues to make his name as a kush-puffing, big booty-snatching, West Coast-repping libertine. He routinely portrays his youthful, pre-stardom days as a weed-slanging Crip as a male rite of passage, and an everlasting source of brotherhood bound by honor and street codes. And over a two-decade-plus career, hes established himself as one of the best rappers in his genre despite only making one indisputable classic with his G-funk bible, 1993sDoggystyle. Snoop may not measure up with linguistically superior contemporaries likeIce Cube and 2Pac when it comes to lyrical bars-for-bars. But when it comes to languid vocal cadences, pure flow, Long Beach cool, and an unflappable persona, few can do it better than the Doggfather. He was quite possibly the first rapper to traffic in vibe.
In some ways, Snoops plight is similar to LL Cool Js in an earlier era: Hes ultimately a singles artist, and hes logged so many urban-radio smashes that we often take the albums containing them for granted. Perhaps Snoops artistically (and commercially) underwhelming new album,Coolaid which has received significantly less attention than, say, the euphoric G-funk nostalgia that greeted Dr. Dres Compton justifies that conclusion. But many of his past highlights including, for instance,2004s Rhythm & Gangsta are packed with so many bangers that they deserve more than their negligent reputation.
With Uncle Snoop enjoying a fresh round of attention via Coolaid and, his scheduledperformanceat the, uh, Democratic National Convention, perhaps its time we weeded (cough) out the Super Crips dense catalog and debunk the myth that the man hasnt made an essential album since Doggystyle.
Lets skip past Doggystyle, of which we all know the greatness. But dont forget about 21 Jump Street, from the Murder Was the Case soundtrack, where he and LBC homie Tray Dee spit game over a boogie bounce and a chorus lifted from Steve Arringtons 80s funk chestnut Nobody Can Be You. As for Snoops second album,Tha Doggfather, its marred by the drama surrounding his label: Dr. Dres exit at the beginning of 1996 and 2Pacs murder two months before its release in that November. Theres clear tension throughout, but it still contains bangers like the hydraulics-inducing Up Jump Tha Boogie. And just before Snoopy escaped the crumbling Death Row empire, he offered a fan-beloved, promo-only jewel in Midnight Love. His troubled and uncertain lyrics about life amidst the senseless violence that marked mid-90s gangsta rap These problems probably have a n***a gray or deceased, he raps belie the songs bluesy groove and Raphael Saadiqs buttery-smooth hook.
It may be weird to imagine now, but Master P deserves credit for virtually saving Snoops career buying out his Death Row contract and offering him refuge from the demonic Suge Knight. The first two albums Snoop recorded for New Orleans No Limit empire mostly underwhelmed, particularly when he tried to hang with his new Southern friends on odd-couple duds like Tru Tank Dogs. But they have their moments: 1998s Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told was preceded by the buoyant car-hopper Still a G Thang.While its dismissed by some critics at the time as G-funk boilerplate, the tracks an underrated sequel to Snoop and Dr. Dres seminal 1992 smash. Another standout was the deep cut Game of Life, a gripping tale of hustling and banging alongside Oakland duo Steady Mobbn.
For B Please from 1999s No Limit Top Dogg, he reunites with Dre and resurrects his ragamuffin flow from The Chronic years; its a virtual blueprint for Dres own early-00s revival. The following yearsTha Last Meal is the best of Snoops No Limit periodand includes memorable hits like the Timbaland-helmed jitterbug Snoop Dogg (Whats My Name Pt. 2).Amidst this G-funk renaissance, Snoop formed Tha Eastsidaz with Tray Dee and Goldie Loc. Highlights from the groups two albums include Got Beef, which has a memorable sing-song chorus from Snoop (If you got beef with DPG, then holla at me, the D-O-G), and Welcome 2 Da House, where his homegirl protgs, Doggys Angels, drop flows over synthesizers and champagne glass-clinking cowbells.
You could frame this as the Neptunes era, when Snoop linked up with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo for blasts of spidery synth lines and club-smashing drum kicks. Beautiful, from 2002s Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$(the title alludes to Snoops hard-earned status as a free agent), is merely a summery table-setter for 2004s Rhythm & Gangsta: The Masterpiece, which overflows with superior Neptunes-helmed hits like Lets Get Blown, Signs, and, of course, the jolting, minimalist brilliance of the huge, all-snare-and-mouth-clicks hit Drop It Like Its Hot. As a near-classic fusion of Snoops street bona fides with mid-00s pop appeal, Rhythm & Gangsta set the course for Snoops career to the present day of packing albums with a handful of radio heaters and enough West Coastin throwbacks to keep longtime fans satiated.
Equally solid is 2006sTha Blue Carpet Treatment, which doesnt include any Neptunes sure-shots but soars with Candy, a hyphy knocker with a Ladybug Mecca hook; Vato, where B-Real of Cypress Hills nasally croak takes center stage; and Imagine, where Snoop and Dre muse about their unexpected paths in life. Sexual Eruption, an inspired homage to 80s electro-funk freakiness that inspired a classic VHS-damaged video fantasy, is better than anything else on 2008s water-treading Ego Trippin, but theres also some strong album fodder like the Isley Brothers-sampling Press Play and the surprisingly sweet-natured breakup song Waste of Time.
Is Snoop the funny and wise elder at the family barbecue, or the corny middle-aged dude trying to kick it with the kids at the club? His material since 2009 has leaned both ways. That years Malice N Wonderland is a sonic tattoo parlor of leering teen bait (anyone remember the jerkin dance fad that he unsuccessfully tried to bandwagon with I Wanna Rock?); the exception is his breezy duet with The-Dream,Gangsta Luv.Doggumentary, from 2011, is a no-thrills collection of EDM and Auto-Tuned pop, although it has a smokers-in-arms duet with Willie Nelson (Superman), a halfway-decent trip-hop escapade with Gorillaz (Sumthin Like This Night), and, if you dig deep enough, a little bit of gangsta bliss (Cold Game).
His brief makeover as the Rastafarian Snoop Lion on 2013s Reincarnatedis best forgotten; his reunion with Pharrell on 2015s unremarkable Bush proves you cant go home again. But a collaborative soundtrack with Wiz Khalifa for the 2011 straight-to-Netflix comedy Mac & Devin Go To High School where the fortysomething Snoop plays a high-school jock brought Young, Wild & Free, a cheerily ephemeral ode to the stoner children of America. Much better is his 2013 project with L.A. electro-funk maestro Dm-Funk as 7 Days of Funk, and frizzy and sensuous jams like Do My Thang.
Unfortunately, the just-released Coolaid fits snugly into Snoops late-period dilemma of being adrift among trends. Theres a trap choon, a pass disco-funk number, and a duet with Jeremih. But theres also Super Crip, which has a crazy, spooked-out Just Blaze beat that should evoke vague but rightful comparisons to the canonical Deep Cover. Snoops everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach often means his albums sound more like a grab-bag of songs than a piece of music with concepts and themes. Yet, true to his contradictory nature, its his ability to mine a bit of gold against the chaff, along with his legendary reputation as a West Coast O.G., that continues to hold our attention. Hes got plenty of hot ones hidden in plain sight, some folks just need to learn their motherf**kin names.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified the release year forPaid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$; it was released in 2002, not 2003.
Source: http://www.spin.com/2016/07/snoop-dogg-album-guide-coolaid-doggystyle/
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