Snoop

Well, unless some randoms started lurking in this blog, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person around here who likes Snoop. That's okay, you can hate on him on your own blog.

Snoop has had diminishing returns because he always felt somewhat one note. Sure, he graduated from gangsta pimp to pimp gangsta, and went through his brief no smoking pot stage (I had one of those too). But those are the types of distinctions that get lost on casual listeners, and for real fans, has to be a little frustrating. Especially when you hear the gamut of producers out there who have taken his rhymes to different sonic places. That's not to say he hasn't had at least a handful of great tracks on each album, but nothing has packed the punch of Doggystyle. And that's largely because he hasn't had much new to say. Instead of immersing himself in new sounds or deliveries, he sort of just meets them halfway - which is pretty generous, considering he's Snoop D O double G, after all.

Well, I have to say that the latest single off his upcoming album, is threatening to flip Snoop's script. He has always been good for tossing a single out "for the ladies", but this one sounds like he's actually committing to an R&B sound, and not just partnering with R&B producers on a track. Even if you aren't a Snoop fan, you'll get a kick out of this video. Not unlike Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Snoop seems to have stepped out of himself, commenting on how ridiculous his pimp-clown persona is, despite the fact he's built a career out of it. I'm not going to go so far as to say its a sly critique on the misogyny of gangsta rap.

All the while, he is managing to kill it with some funky crooning, so that you are almost surprised when he starts rapping towards the end. Usually, that reverb effect annoys the shit out me (thanks Cher) but Snoop seems to be making the best of it. perhaps its because the vision is so tongue in cheek.