Snoop Dogg
Coolaid
Doggystyle Records

After fleeting dalliances with reggae and psychedelic disco funk, Calvin Broadus Jnr waves goodbye to his Rasta and DJ personas on his 14th album and returns to the iconic G-funk that made Snoop Dogg(y Dogg) a big name in rap during the mid-1990s. Snoop may smoke more weed for breakfast than the average stag do consumes on a weekend in Amsterdam, but right from the opening track, Legend, it seems the West Coast rapper needs no reminder which side his bread is best buttered on. “Look at my reflection / Ain’t no second guessing” states the usually laid-back MC, somewhat aggressively, “Wanna be a legend / A motherf***in’ legend”. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, haters. Of course, there’s a strong whiff of leafy green throughout the album – no real surprise as Snoop’s smoking prodigy, Wiz Khalifa, appears on Oh Na Na and the hazy lead single Kush Ups – and although there may be a few too many odes to the herb, the Dogg’s inimitable drawl hasn’t had this much bite for quite some time.