West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: Meho on November 03, 2006, 12:32:21 AM
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Perhaps radio killed Snoop Dogg’s gangsta. Lately, the once-edgy Doggfather has been favoring the Neptunes’ soft core over Dr. Dre’s Cali funk. True, Pharrell and Chad aren’t solely to blame. But, honestly, would Murder Was the Case–era Snoop ever have made an album as watered-down as 2004’s R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece? The Long Beach, Calif., native’s name is now identifiable everywhere, from Mary Jane ciphers to soccer mom gatherings. Not that such accessibility is negative. It’s just that Snoop’s recent albums have largely forgotten his original bread and butter—unadulterated G-funk.
When you’re a “dogg,” however, you’re a dogg for life. So with his eighth album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, Snoop’s lyrical fire seems resurrected, as he delivers arguably his most consistently scorching work post-Doggystyle. For proof, look no further than “Vato,” the tense Neptunes-tracked first single. Bypassing the club, Snoop weaves a message-filled yarn of Black-and-Brown unity, a topic quite taboo for Left Coast thugs. Free of an anthemic hook, and given the heart-pounding effect of unexpectedly dark keyboards and snares from the ’Tunes, it’s enough to make Snoop’s skeptics drop misconceptions like they’re hot.
Just a fluke? Bitch, please. The West Coast OG lets his mind spray throughout Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, covering a wide range of topical prose. The soulful opener “Think About It” pits Frequency’s grandiose instrumentation against Snoop’s state-of-the-union address (“Basically, you hear the rappers out here using my flow/But they need Snoop on their record to make it official, though”). Issues switch back to the block on the epic “Gangbanging 101.” Earthquakelike claps and nightmarish keys power the Crip’s menacing color-blind duet with Cali youngblood The Game, which is produced by Snoop and Terrance Martin (collectively known as n****racci).
Even with his mirror pointed inward, Snoop sounds enhanced. On the Nate Dogg–assisted “Crazy,” he candidly examines his surroundings (“I love my folks, but half of y’all muthafuckas is cutthroats/On the real, the streets will have you, guide you, lead you, grab you”) atop Fred Wreck’s undeniably lowrider-ready drums. The poignancy comes to a head on the reflective Dr. Dre duet “Imagine.” Alongside Dre’s equally stellar verse, and over Doc’s sweeping piano bed, Snoop ponders life in a different world (“Imagine if rap wasn’t out yet/Imagine all this pain with no outlet/Imagine how many lives would be ruined, if we didn’t have hip-hop/Imagine what we’d all be doing”).
While heart-attack seriousness is a plus, Snoop still rocks parties like none other, keeping the gin and juice flowing here. R. Kelly’s suave chorus, coupled with Nottz’s playful flutes, uplifts the hypnotic “That’s That Shit” to superiority, while Rick Rock’s minimalist 808s allow guests E-40, MC Eiht, Goldie Loc, Daz and Kurupt to serve up a surefire Western club closer in “Candy.” Just when Snoop seems worthy of flawless praise, on comes the questionably Ne-Yo–heavy “Put This Thang on You.” Over puny acoustics, this slow-jam debacle relegates Dogg to merely half a half-assed verse (“The mood is smooth, the price is right/I got a sweet in the street, we can shake it all night”). Similarly forgettable is the ho-hum “LAX,” an underwhelming collaboration with Ice Cube.
Once this blue carpet is all rolled up, though, so are any doubts of Snoop’s musical gangster. Without totally abandoning his commercial tendencies, the megacelebrity reminds listeners that, no matter how many hokey TV spots he does or slang words of his become cliché rhetoric, he’s an MC first and foremost. Tabernacle
Rating: XL
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WOW an xl? but then again who takes these magz ratings serious nowadays ? ....
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WOW an xl? but then again who takes these magz ratings serious nowadays ? ....
word
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im dont give a shit whether the XXL gives it a good or bad rating, ima cop it fo sho. the track list ive seen looks dope.
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props for the info
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props for the info
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props for the info
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so what is the 3rd dre track? hopefully that one with kam made the cut!...............Can't waite to hear this album if hes really returned
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sounds good, hopefully wont be disapointed.
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sounds good, hopefully wont be disapointed.
props for the info
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No Tracklist yet?
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No Tracklist yet?
No... lots of tacks mentionned but we don't know if some will make the cut
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WOW an xl? but then again who takes these magz ratings serious nowadays ? ....
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WOW an xl? but then again who takes these magz ratings serious nowadays ? ....
Well they gave AZ an L, which is so bullshit, so u never kno they cud b rite or jus dicksucking...cos uno they don't rate the album soley based on the music :-X
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hopefully wont be disapointed.
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One thing is sure: the "back to the gangsta roots" was BS .. Akon, Ne-Yo, Brandy, Jamie Foxx WTF ?? I like Snoop music , this album will contain bangers 4 sure but you can't deny he has sold out
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I know this album will be sick. probley alot better then R&G.
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Interesting review. As always I'll give it a fair listen, but after hearing his last 2 albums - my hopes aren't very high for this one.
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I know this album will be sick. probley alot better then R&G.
it better be RnG was shit. I'm feelin the only tracks i've heard from it so far though (Vato, Gangbangin 101)
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i dont know why people try to compare snoop albums.. they have different purposes..
unlike some artists, snoop is trying to create doggystyle part 2, 3,4,5, etc.. he is trying to explore different musical sounds..
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.. Tabernacle ...
hahahahaha
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i dont know why people try to compare snoop albums.. they have different purposes..
unlike some artists, snoop is trying to create doggystyle part 2, 3,4,5, etc.. he is trying to explore different musical sounds..
Word...Somebody not hating on Snoop........I mean so what if he has Ne-Yo, Brandi etc on it? These songs can still bang and might be surprisingly dope.......Don't have to have his crip homies for it to be gangsta......
Man, If you a real Snoop fan, you will realise that he hasn't put out a wack record......R&G has some made tracks with hard bass line beats...todays sound...Shit Even Da Game is to be sold & not told is dope apart from No limit artists.....That album has one of his best RnB tracks - Meech Wells & Snoop co production D.o.gs get lonely too.......True RnB song not RnB you hear on the radio....But tracks like that get over looked.......and shit even Snoop with Justin Timberlake....I mean I aint big on Timberlake, and I didn't like the sound of them two collaborating, but the track, although may not be gangsta or his best, but wasn't that bad...
If he stuck to his Doggystyle route....Maybe he wouldn't be as big as he is, because artists have to keep re-inventing themselves....(Just Look at LL for example..or even Dr Dre......Detox he has to re-invent himself once again) Snoop always experiments with his sound and most of the time works for him....he does have a good ear for music which is why he is so big...
Anyways, we'll see what everyone says in two weeks when Snoop drops (and/or gets leaked)....
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yeah people didn't like pharell on vato when snoop put b-real on this one people wanted pharell
people didn't like the cartoon cover when he chaneged people want cartoon cover
people don't know what they want 8)
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yeah people didn't like pharell on vato when snoop put b-real on this one people wanted pharell
people didn't like the cartoon cover when he chaneged people want cartoon cover
people don't know what they want 8)
Yep. Bottom line.
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i dont know why people try to compare snoop albums.. they have different purposes..
unlike some artists, snoop is trying to create doggystyle part 2, 3,4,5, etc.. he is trying to explore different musical sounds..
Word...Somebody not hating on Snoop........I mean so what if he has Ne-Yo, Brandi etc on it? These songs can still bang and might be surprisingly dope.......Don't have to have his crip homies for it to be gangsta......
Man, If you a real Snoop fan, you will realise that he hasn't put out a wack record......R&G has some made tracks with hard bass line beats...todays sound...Shit Even Da Game is to be sold & not told is dope apart from No limit artists.....That album has one of his best RnB tracks - Meech Wells & Snoop co production D.o.gs get lonely too.......True RnB song not RnB you hear on the radio....But tracks like that get over looked.......and shit even Snoop with Justin Timberlake....I mean I aint big on Timberlake, and I didn't like the sound of them two collaborating, but the track, although may not be gangsta or his best, but wasn't that bad...
If he stuck to his Doggystyle route....Maybe he wouldn't be as big as he is, because artists have to keep re-inventing themselves....(Just Look at LL for example..or even Dr Dre......Detox he has to re-invent himself once again) Snoop always experiments with his sound and most of the time works for him....he does have a good ear for music which is why he is so big...
Anyways, we'll see what everyone says in two weeks when Snoop drops (and/or gets leaked)....
LOL at Snoop never dropped a wack record... and for the innovative sound argument, there is a huge difference between making new things, having a whole new sound and making watered down shit with the Pussycat Dolls ect
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This should be leakin' in a few days I think. The keys played on "Boss's Life" is interesting, a bit differrent of a melody, but the drums are bangin' (kinda like the snare for "Get You Some" ).