Snoop Dogg: Top Dogg : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Snoop Dogg is proof that some MCs can have more than one life. No Limit Top Dogg is Snoop's finest work since his debut album, Doggystyle, full of seductive party jams that will keep heads bobbing through the summer. Snoop has returned to West Coast G-funk with the help of some old friends: Producers like Dr. Dre and DJ Quik layer popping bass lines, lively piano licks and sugary vocal arrangements that recall the best blaxploitation soundtracks. "Buck 'Em," featuring Onyx's Sticky Fingaz, is a vintage Dre-Snoop collaboration. The uptempo "Snoopafella" is a ghetto fairy tale made instantly memorable by Snoop's clever wordplay.

The downside to Top Dogg is Snoop's non-growth as a lyricist: Women are still bitches, gangsterism still reigns supreme, and Slick Rick's influence still overwhelm Snoop's flow. Coming on the heels of two disappointing albums, Top Dogg is certainly a step forward -- but don't call it a comeback.