Dre for “Bitch Please.” Coupled with Dre’s 2001, things were looking bright for Snoop heading into the new millennium. However, the latter did feature a return to form when he hooked up with then up-and-coming West Coast rapper Xzibit, Nate Dogg, and reunited with Dr. Master P and No Limit helped him get his career back on track when he signed after Death Row, but 1998’s Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told and 1999’s No Limit Top Dogg aren’t exactly great albums. Death Row fell apart in the mid- ’90s once Dre left the label, 2Pac got murdered, and Suge got locked up on a probation violation, leaving Snoop as, as VIBE declared, the last man standing. Tha Doggfather, and Snoop’s subsequent ’90s output, serves as a warning to any newly minted rap star that the rug can easily be pulled from underneath you by things beyond your control. Dre’s The Chronic and Doggystyle are all-time classics, but Snoop’s follow-up, Tha Doggfather, is an all-time album fail.
when they claim he essentially freestyled all his verses in the ’90s that are now considered rap classics.īut for all of Snoop’s ’90s prowess, much of his early career went to waste. It’s easy to believe collaborators like Lady of Rage and the D.O.C. It sounds good so his lyrical shortcomings become forgivable because he can flow forever. Who knows what he means when he says, “Writing my rhyme, trying to get intellectual/Directing the weather, makin ’ my negative records more intellectual”? But it hardly matters. It’s that fluidity in his delivery that’s made him so everlasting. His voice-the only instrument a rapper needs-is supplemented with a flow that’s as smooth as syrup and always perfectly in the pocket. Snoop has always been armed with an instantly recognizable voice, one that cuts through tracks with effortless cool. His charisma and natural charm have allowed him to branch out into other arenas, but it’s undermined what he is at heart: an incredible rapper. In the past few years, Snoop’s biggest moments had little to do with music. Nowadays, more people probably know him for “fo shizzle” than “Tha Shiznit.” Still, I genuinely fear asking a teenager what Snoop Dogg is famous for-I’m sure they’ll say anything other than rapping. Delores Tucker, but now daps up John Kerry and helps contestants on The Price Is Right. Here’s a guy who really once was one of America’s most wanted, someone who frightened middle America and the likes of C. He’s willing to shill out for literally anything, whether it ’s Hot Pockets or MoneySuperMarket. When a Nickelodeon show or a Bollywood director needs a rapper who can broadly appeal to many people, they call Snoop. That’s why Snoop isn’t so much a rapper these days as he is an entertainer. I genuinely fear asking a teenager what Snoop Dogg is famous for-I’m sure they’ll say anything other than rapping. He even had an underrated sketch comedy show, Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. He popped up in video games like True Crime: Streets of L.A. He started acting, and while he wasn’t great, he had memorable roles in films like 2001’s Training Day and 2004’s Starsky & Hutch. After spending the ’90s watching how keeping it real could go wrong in the form of murder cases, studio beatdowns, and having a close friend murdered, Snoop eventually transitioned from being dangerous to being marketable. Unfortunately, just like LL Cool J and Ice Cube, Snoop's rap legacy has become tainted by his general celebrity. He was once unquestionably hailed as the Best Rapper Alive.
Snoop’s name comes up in GOAT conversations less and less these days, but people ought to appreciate him more because he consistently made great music even once he was past his prime. And yet, they’re two of the better rap albums of the 2000s and certainly two of the best albums from one of the greatest rappers of all time. There also wasn’t much fanfare this past Thursday for the eighth anniversary of Snoop’s Tha Blue Carpet Treatment either. The album doesn’t live up to its lofty subtitle, few albums spanning 20 tracks, 77 minutes, with clunkers like "Fresh Pair of Panties On" should be considered masterpieces. A slew of thinkpieces and retrospectives about the album did not flood the Internet, and for good reason. Last Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of Snoop Dogg’s seventh studio album, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece.
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