Snoop Dogg Presents Doggy Style... : Various Artists : Review : Rolling Stone

Like pop and blaxploitation soundtracks, the hip-hop label sampler has become a predictable method of introducing potential new stars, livening up the careers of established players and dropping a load of substandard filler. Serving as an introduction to Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle Records roster of MCs, singers and their friends, Welcome to Tha House, Vol. 1 proves it's mostly business as usual in the kennel. The familiar Dogghouse pedigree is supplied by artists such as Soopafly, Kokane, Bad Azz, Daz Dillinger, RBX, Nate Dogg, Warren G and Snoop himself. Diva-in-the-making LaToiya Williams and fellow newcomer E White strengthen the Doggystyle bloodline, and Cam'ron and producer Hi-Tek add some East Coast strains to these canine capers. But aside from Kokane's "Nite L.O.C.s," a drastically rewritten rendition of Corey Hart's Eighties synth-pop anthem "Sunglasses at Night," and Williams' gospel ferociousness on the startlingly traditional "It Feels Good," the expected P-Funk riffs and allusions mostly tread water, doggy-paddle-style.

BARRY WALTERS
(RS 903 - August 22, 2002)