Snoop releases ‘Doggumentary’
Snoop continues trying to live up to his early work when gangster rap ruled hip-hop and he dominated the game. “Doggumentary” is Snoop’s most recent attempt at showing the rap community that he can do it all. Snoop juggles appearances on various Comedy Central roasts and other television spots but still reigns as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. He has some huge names in hip-hop today accompanying him on the CD. Kanye West, R. Kelly, T-Pain, and Wiz Khalfia are a few. However, these big names don’t rescue the album. Snoop falls into the same problem as he did on his last couple of albums. His voice isn’t evolving along with the fast pace of the industry. Rap music isn’t about being gangster any more.
The first single released, “Boom” featuring T-Pain, was obviously just put on the CD to be the big radio hit, but even with the catchy, upbeat melody, the song fails to live up to other pop-ish sounding songs that T-Pain has also been featured in with other rappers. Lately, everything Kanye touches turns to a platinum hit in about a week, but not even he could save “Eyez Closed.” The track, also featuring the smooth piano playing ability of John Legend, is bland sounding and adds nothing to the track. Currently, there isn’t a bigger name in hip-hop than Wiz Khalfia, but even his verse in “This Weed Iz Mine” doesn’t even come close to living up to his abilities and Snoop just lays down one lame verse after another. The Snoop trademark of ending words with a “z” instead of a “s” is no longer relevant in the rap music world. The act of playing super-hood is tired, especially since this isn’t the way Snoop is portrayed in the media.
Rap music has transitioned into proving your talent through music, oozing confidence through your lyrics and being creative with each new track. Snoop, even with all of these heavyweights in the game, either has not realized this or has just gotten lazy. Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, Snoop is still very talented—but the rap game has just surpassed him.
Snoop has found talent elsewhere. Snoop excels on his Comedy Central roast bits and his roles on shows like, “The Boondocks” and “Robot Chicken.” Also, Snoop’s appearances on other shows, whether it be as a character or himself, are always entertaining. Snoop needs to realize that he doesn’t need to keep making CDs in order to be relevant in pop culture—he is still prevalent throughout other aspects of media.
So even though he probably won’t see this, Snoop my advice to you is be who you are and be okay with it. “Doggumentary” is not your best effort, and I think you know it. Overall “Doggumentary” gets a three out of 10. Try not to spend money if you can avoid it.
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