Snoop Dogg is back in style. A few months after launching his family-themed E! reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, the rap superstar dropped his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin', March 11. Don't question the album's name. Snoop is probably high right now because of a certain illegal substance, but his ego should be even higher because of this CD's quality.
It was a little daunting to find that after downloading Ego Trippin', it had 21 tracks -- a full 80 minutes worth of gangsta rap -- but it turns out that the music really flies by. And channeling my inner Snoop with my doo-rag tied just right, I decided to give the album a couple more listen-throughs.
There is no dizzoubt that some of these songs are going to rival recent Snoop hits like "Drop It Like It's Hot" or "That's That S***." Track seven, "Life of da Party," is a guaranteed money-maker. Also addicting are "Sets Up" and "Sexual Eruption;" the latter is the first single off the album. What makes these songs so good -- as is true of most of Snoop's greatest hits -- are the noteworthy guest stars and the badass lyrics. "Life of da Party" features Too $hort & Mistah F.A.B.; "Sets Up" features Pharrell. Jamie Foxx and Raphael Saadiq also lend Snoop some helping hands. In fact, two-thirds of the songs from Ego Trippin' include vocal backing from artists other than the D-O-double-G.
Even with the help of his fellow rappers, Snoop can still lay down a beat all on his own. In "Life of da Party," Snoop raps, "What do ya know, I'm in the A gettin' play all day / A lot of y'all wanna ball and try to walk this way / Y'all want that shine-shine but that's all mine / I'm bona fide, qualified to have a hot damn time."
Track two, "Press Play," features another one of my favorite lyrical throwdowns from the album. I only wish that in my next rap battle encounter, I can break it down like this: "Bendin' the curb swervin', blowin' on some hiz-erb / The boss has returned, I'm still flyer than a biz-ird / Ridin' and rollin' with them Steelers like I'm Pittsburg / Go against the gang, the man will have your whole click served." And while there are many other lyrics I'd like to point out, perhaps they are best left to Snoop.
Unfortunately, unlike the overall lyrical content, a couple songs on Ego Trippin' just don't fit in with the rest of the album's 21st-century feel. The 16th track, "My Medicine," a random three-minute tribute to Johnny Cash, employs the use of an out-of-place country twang. "One Chance (Make It Good)" is one of the CD's final songs and also one of its most forgettable. My least favorite track,"Cool," is a cover of a song done by '80s R&B/pop group The Time, and Snoop definitely should have left it in the era where it belongs.
While the existence of a few bad tracks usually bodes poorly for an album, in this case it don't mean shizzle. Ego Trippin' is top-of-the-line Snoop Dogg. It's hard to believe 15 years have gone by since his debut Doggystyle dropped; it's even harder to believe the staying power Snoop has had in an industry that, every few weeks, spews out one-hit wonders with names like Yung Joc and Lil' Flip and ... hmmm ... Soulja Boy. Luckily for all my fellow freestylahs-in-training, Snoop's success keeps our dreams alive for another day. 3
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