Spring again.. Time to dust off Warren G's Take A Look Over Your Shoulder...

[HighEyeCue]

Doggfather was a big disappointment when it came out because Snoop sounded too mellowed out whereas on Doggystyle he was actually pretty aggressive with his mic presence.  Also, it was perhaps the worst engineered big budget rap album of all time (36 Chambers notwithstanding because it was supposed to sound unpolished).  Also, Pooh's beats were plain-sounding and identifiably formulaic.

Having said all that, as time has gone on, Doggfather has had lasting stature because it comes off as something so unique in the history of rap music -- it's actually a Westcoast backpack album, and that's how I prefer to think of it.  It's as if Snoop wanted to make an album for the backpackers but enlisted a grip of Westcoast producers and featured artists to help him do it.  It sounds odd, but it's actually a pretty dope approach, and these days I think of it as a pretty impressive concept album from that point of view.  It's only a disappointment if you think of it as a sequel to Doggystyle when in fact you should be thinking of it as a Westcoast backpacker album.

I agree with most of this but lyrically it is typical Snoop, for it to have backpacker quality it would have to contain Wu-Tang caliber lyrics....

[TraceOneInfinite]

Doggfather was a big disappointment when it came out because Snoop sounded too mellowed out whereas on Doggystyle he was actually pretty aggressive with his mic presence.  Also, it was perhaps the worst engineered big budget rap album of all time (36 Chambers notwithstanding because it was supposed to sound unpolished).  Also, Pooh's beats were plain-sounding and identifiably formulaic.

Having said all that, as time has gone on, Doggfather has had lasting stature because it comes off as something so unique in the history of rap music -- it's actually a Westcoast backpack album, and that's how I prefer to think of it.  It's as if Snoop wanted to make an album for the backpackers but enlisted a grip of Westcoast producers and featured artists to help him do it.  It sounds odd, but it's actually a pretty dope approach, and these days I think of it as a pretty impressive concept album from that point of view.  It's only a disappointment if you think of it as a sequel to Doggystyle when in fact you should be thinking of it as a Westcoast backpacker album.

I agree with most of this but lyrically it is typical Snoop, for it to have backpacker quality it would have to contain Wu-Tang caliber lyrics....

I thought Snoop's performance from lyrics to charisma and all the above was lackluster on the Doggfather album.  Surviving that murder case really changed him and he had not yet caught up with himself as an artist.   

That said, I still think the above posts I quoted were solid posts, because I think all the guest artists really put together solid performances on the album.  Kurupt was on fire at the time and he was killing every verse he spit.  Tray Dee and the whole LBC crew gave a lot of life to the album and so on...

[bouli77]

Snoop was close to terrible rapwise and lyricwise on Tha Doggfather but I agree with Infinite, Kurupt killed every verse and what was supposed to be the LBC crew (Techniec & Bad Azz) brought some lyrical heat as well. Tray Deee was on top on "O.J." too. wonder how the Lil C Style verses would have sounded had he not been removed.

[HighEyeCue]

Doggfather was a big disappointment when it came out because Snoop sounded too mellowed out whereas on Doggystyle he was actually pretty aggressive with his mic presence.  Also, it was perhaps the worst engineered big budget rap album of all time (36 Chambers notwithstanding because it was supposed to sound unpolished).  Also, Pooh's beats were plain-sounding and identifiably formulaic.

Having said all that, as time has gone on, Doggfather has had lasting stature because it comes off as something so unique in the history of rap music -- it's actually a Westcoast backpack album, and that's how I prefer to think of it.  It's as if Snoop wanted to make an album for the backpackers but enlisted a grip of Westcoast producers and featured artists to help him do it.  It sounds odd, but it's actually a pretty dope approach, and these days I think of it as a pretty impressive concept album from that point of view.  It's only a disappointment if you think of it as a sequel to Doggystyle when in fact you should be thinking of it as a Westcoast backpacker album.

I agree with most of this but lyrically it is typical Snoop, for it to have backpacker quality it would have to contain Wu-Tang caliber lyrics....

I thought Snoop's performance from lyrics to charisma and all the above was lackluster on the Doggfather album.  Surviving that murder case really changed him and he had not yet caught up with himself as an artist.   

That said, I still think the above posts I quoted were solid posts, because I think all the guest artists really put together solid performances on the album.  Kurupt was on fire at the time and he was killing every verse he spit.  Tray Dee and the whole LBC crew gave a lot of life to the album and so on...

yeah there were a couple of songs where Snoop was lyrical, I think Bad Azz, Technic and Tray Dee ghostwrote those but for the most part the guests carried that album

[M Dogg™]

I think some albums just age well. I think for it's time, Doggfather was a huge let down. But now it gets a chance to stand on it's own, it might be the best DPGC album next to Streetz Is A Mutha... Both these albums have a ton of Dogg Pound features and everyone comes correct. Snoop himself seemed out of it, but looking back it was more an album that Snoop put out to get his little homies heard. It almost seems like he was trying to do with Doggfather the same thing the Chronic did for him and the other Death Row Inmates. I do think the other Death Row releases since Snoop left, Death Man Walking and Snoop's Greatest Hits with 8 unreleased tracks, could have put together a better track list for Snoop himself. But I think Doggfather was a better album from a Dogg Pound prospective.