Snoop Dogg Albums (13)
What The Critics Say
The original idea behind what Snoop Dogg considers his ninth album -- ignoring all those pesky and shoddy fringe releases -- was that the title represented a truly solo effort with no guest shots. As the street date grew closer, the rapper flipped the script and decided that Ego Trippin' referred to how he "let" people write songs for the album, songs Snoop could rap and sometimes, shockingly, sing. The leadoff good-time single "Sensual Seduction" -- or "Sexual Eruption" on the explicit album -- proved the latter wasn't a bad idea at all, with Snoop crafting a hooky bedroom track using both a smirk and a throwback Zapp feel. It was a perfect flagship release for an album that tries numerous things but never tries too hard, plus one where the nostalgia is plentiful and perfectly chosen. At the heart of it all are the "overseers" of the album, QDT Muzic, a production crew formed by Snoop along with new jack swing legend Teddy Riley and West Coast hero DJ Quik. This fascinating mix of veterans somehow handles everything from the crooked, crip-walking "Gangsta Like Me" to an unbelievably faithful and fun cover of the Time's "Cool" with Snoop singing and strutting just like Morris Day. Throwaway moments like the country song -- for real -- "My Medicine" are balanced by rich and honest moments like "Been Around tha World," where the rapper reminds listeners he's actually married and delivers a heartfelt "I'll be home soon" number. It's the one time his words are the focus, and while it's never clear how much Snoop actually wrote, the ghostwriters he's admitted to hiring have the thug script down and rarely disappoint. What is disappointing is the woefully long track list, the redundant numbers, and the trimming required to keep from drifting off before the majestic closer, "Can't Say Goodbye" with the Gap Band's Charlie Wilson, rolls around. Put a quarter of this loose, hangout session to the side and you've got a great argument that Snoop's transition from hungry gangster to laid-back celebrity and idea man is going much better than expected. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'The Chronicalz, Vol. 1: The Mixed Up Album'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 16
Label Black Claw
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Snoop Doggy Dogg & Friends, Vol. 1'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 18
Label K-Town
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The cover artwork looks awful and anyone burned before by a bogus Snoop Dogg compilation will most likely pass on this one, but ZYX's Snoop Doggy Dogg & Friends, Vol. 1 is worth noting since it takes selections from Snoop's underground mixtape series Welcome to da Chuuch and makes them available above ground, at least until the realization hits that copyrights have been seriously infringed upon by the generous amount of samples here. The liner notes don't bother to mention that the good-timing "Let's Exchange Hoez" is a Snoop freestyle over Jay-Z's "Change Clothes." That's just one example, but the oddest of the lot is "Vote for Snoop," a rickety track that has Snoop delivering a short rap over a horribly scratchy copy of Marvin Gaye's "You're the Man." ZYX doesn't bother to order these tracks in any way that makes sense, the sped-up cover of Slick Rick's "Hey Young World" needs to be pitch-corrected, and Snoop is barely on a handful of these cuts. Still, this uneven and weird cash-in compilation provides some campy fun for the less discriminating Snoop fan. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Welcome to tha Chuuch: Da Album'
Release Date 2/28/2005
Tracks 13
Label Sony
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
A collection of tracks from Snoop's Welcome to tha Chuuch mixtape series, Koch's Welcome to tha Chuuch: Da Album gives these tracks their first aboveground exposure. There's a bunch of worthy newcomers, plus veterans of the West Coast like Daz, Kurupt, and Lady of Rage, but there's very little of Snoop himself and definitely less than was found on the original mixtapes. Still, the tracks retain their street feel and there's plenty of heat, even if the album as a whole is poorly sequenced with shabby packaging. The West Coast faithful and Snoop fanatics who don't have access to the shady world of mixtapes should check it if only for the raw feel, but everyone else can pass. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 20
Label Universal
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Internet leakers caused the release of R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece to be pushed up a week, but that just means the world got to bask in the excitement of Snoop's great return for seven extra days. Upon its release, the ultrahot production team the Neptunes' contribution to the killer lead single "Drop It Like It's Hot" had been duly noted, but lost in all the chatter was how inspired and on-fire Snoop sounds. Any fan keeping up with his street-level mixtape series Welcome to the Chuuch could tell you something new and fresh was brewing, and 2002's Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ was excellent, but Snoop's let his fans down before and two years off could mean trouble. Not to be, since Rhythm & Gangsta is right up there with his best while being riskier than anything before it. New sounds like tongue clicks, smooth jazz guitars, and a bit of Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" give Snoop a brand-new sonic palette to work with, and he's more than ready for it. The up-tempo "Signs" with Justin Timberlake (!?!) is glittery disco fun, but it ain't gonna keep Snoop from being himself. He's hardcore throughout the album, an album that's got plenty of street and commercial appeal and all the difficulties that comes with it. The numerous youngsters who can't stop singing "Drop It Like It's Hot" are going to freak their parents out with this one. "Can You Control Yo Hoe" is a tough stunner with an inescapable, loopy hook, but Snoop's challenge to the homies is rather disturbing. "If she won't do what you say, why aren't you slapping her?" is the song's direct message that can't be easily brushed off as metaphor, and it's the one that's gonna send mom and dad back to the record store, fuming! Recommending such an album that gets viciously misogynistic -- elsewhere too -- is difficult, but Snoop is fierce throughout Rhythm & Gangsta and putting "Masterpiece" in the title isn't hyperbole. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$'
Release Date 11/26/2002
Tracks 20
Label Priority
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What The Critics Say
Though Snoop Dogg never slipped from the charts, Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ smacks of a comeback, and it's a great one. After finally being released from No Limit (he's still distributed by Priority), Snoop Dogg drafted a set of great producers for his sixth album, as well as a varied cast of featured guests capable of drawing in just about every segment of the hip-hop audience. Still one of the smoothest rappers around and the bemused observer of all around him, he slips on the tried and true pimp and godfather personas, but also has the nerve to feature an X-rated sex romp ("Lollipop," with Jay-Z and Nate Dogg) directly after a tender anthem to love and marriage ("I Believe in You") -- and sound extremely convincing with both. The pair of tracks produced by the Neptunes ("From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful") are the highlights, two of the best they've done since their commercial breakout. Hardcore fans of rap, though, will want to skip ahead to "The One and Only" for a perfect meld of West Coast and East Coast -- the first meeting of Snoop and DJ Premier on wax. (Premier also turns in a hilariously cartoonish production for "Batman & Robin.") Yes, there are a few missteps: The G-funk roll on a few tracks sounds a little dated, and Bootsy Collins impersonator Mr. Kane makes a few embarrassing appearances ("Stoplight" is a bland, unnecessary update of Parliament's "Flashlight"). And two other remakes sound OK, but won't have a long shelf life. The first is virtually a cover of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full" called "Paper'd Up," and it's immediately followed by a redo of Robert Palmer's Jam & Lewis anthem "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" ("Wasn't Your Fault"). You've got to be a strong figure to keep together an album this long and this rangy, but Snoop Dogg is up to the task. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Doggy Style Allstars: Welcome to tha House, Vol. 1'
Release Date 8/11/2002
Tracks 20
Label Doggy Style
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Snoop Dogg's crew is at their best when the beats are at their most resourceful (old-school scratching and Blueprint-like samples) and when Snoop Dogg himself lends a verse or two. Otherwise, this overlong and repetitive showcase doesn't uncover anything revelatory. Dated gangsta rhymes, plodding sex raps, and some awkward flows weigh down Doggy Style Allstars: Welcome to tha House, Vol. 1. And whoever gave Mr. Kane -- an incredibly tiresome P-funk impersonator -- the mic should have his hip-hop license revoked. ~ Michael Gallucci, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Snoop Dogg leaves much of his gang-banging past behind him in favor of preened pimp posturing on his final album for No Limit Records, The Last Meal. Snoop's increasingly old-school pose suits his gracefully aging self well. Despite his former affiliation with Death Row Records and his much-publicized murder trial, Snoop never seemed like much of a thug, which is partly why hostile albums like Tha Doggfather (1996) and Da Game Is to Be Sold Not to Be Told (1998) seemed a bit forced. Contrarily, it seems more natural for him to rap about the pampered pimp life, as he does here on The Last Meal -- tall glasses of Hennesey, glistening pairs of Stacey Adams, overcast clouds of chronic smoke, hungry hordes of so-called bitches -- over truck-rattling G-funk basslines that lope along at a languid tempo. These impressive beats come courtesy of a similarly impressive roster of producers: second-wave G-funksters Meech Wells, Battlecat, Jelly Roll, and Soopafly, and brand-name hitmakers Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, and Timbaland. Among this roster, Timbaland certainly stands out, as do his contributions, "Snoop Dogg (What's My Name, Pt. 2)" and "Set It Off," which place Snoop in an uncharacteristically energetic context. He handles himself well on these bouncy songs regardless, yet seems more at home on Dre's smoother contributions, "Hennesey n Buddah" and "Lay Low." Beyond these four tracks, the remaining 15 are a mixed bag, most of them Crip-walking along at a stoned tempo, featuring soulful P-Funk hooks by Kokane and offering laid-back respite while this lengthy album moves leisurely toward its throwback album-capper, "Y'all Gone Miss Me." Following this misty-eyed finale, you're left with the thankful sense that Snoop has finally taken control of his career after succumbing to the oppressive fancy of Suge Knight and Master P ever since parting ways with Dr. Dre following Doggystyle (1993). ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As time keeps on slipping into the future, it becomes apparent that Master P's greatest gift is marketing, particularly when his advertising masquerades as liner notes. Witness P's work for Snoop Dogg, once considered the brightest rapper of the '90s but now merely a general in the No Limit army. The Master began plugging Top Dogg, Snoop's second No Limit release, in the liners for his label debut, even mentioning a release date only months away. Clearly, Snoop had indeed been placed on the No Limit production line, and there was every indication that from now on, Snoop would churn out moderately enjoyable, Dirty South-lite records crammed with cameos and appropriated hooks. Turns out he had a trick up his sleeve, because Top Dogg is about as individualized an album as possible under the No Limit precepts. Since the outset of his career, Snoop has shown a fondness for early-'80s synth funk, and for the first time, he lets that form the basis of an album. And while there may be a bit too much recycling for some tastes, the end result isn't just the freshest-sounding Snoop album since his debut, it's easily the freshest-sounding No Limit album. Unfortunately, it's still a No Limit album, which means it runs way too long and is filled with superfluous, even irritating cameos, and also that Snoop is content to haul out low-rent gangsta clichés. Since he's a gifted rapper, he makes the dope 'n' crimes, sex 'n' violence rhymes go down easily (compare his delivery to some of his guests if you have any doubts), but his lyrics just aren't as clever as they were five years earlier. But records don't have to be deep; they can be appreciated as a pure sonic experience, and taken on that level, Top Dogg satisfies. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
