The twentieth anniversary of Doggystyle is about a month away, and although it isn’t listed in
too many best of lists these days, it’s aged remarkably well. Unlike every
album Snoop’s done since, it’s pretty filler-free and Dr. Dre’s guiding hand
across the record allowed Snoop to put out a remarkably tight, focused record.
The hits still go over at parties, and the deeper cuts still knock as much as
they did twenty years ago.
Since Doggystyle,
Snoop’s biggest problem is an overarching lack of direction. He’s always been
one of those artists who really benefits from a good executive producer helping
to shape his projects.[1]
Not only that, but he needs to work with someone whose vision complements Snoop’s
own. Snoop’s first No Limit album Da Game
is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told had Beats by the Pound at the helm, but
unlike Mystikal and Fiend, Snoop was never a good fit for their beats, and the
bloated twenty-plus songs approach to albums that No Limit favored doesn’t allow
for the kind of quality control that Snoop needs. As a result, Da Game is to Be Sold is one of the
worst albums in Snoop’s catalog. Major Lazer was also a poor fit for Snoop, as
the already rightfully forgotten Snoop Lion album is testament to.[2]
Throughout the rest of his catalog, there are some good albums (Tha Doggfather, Paid the Cost to Be the Boss, The
Blue Carpet Treatment), but even the best of his post-Doggystyle output has fallen victim to bloating and lack of both
quality control and focus.
