My thoughts on Snoop, who still remains one of my favourite rap artists of all time and someone whose catalogue I find to be criminally underrated:
Elite all time classic (A+)
***Doggystyle is perfection, nothing more needs to be said, I wont waste any more words trying to explain this***
After Doggystyle, Snoop has had:
Classic (A)
First Eastsidaz album
(Is it a certified 5 mic all time classic? No. But this is an underground classic fukk what you heard. One of the coldest gangsta rap records ever AND went platinum. It had great cohesion, in the form of a consistent sound. It had great quality consistently throughout its tracklist. It had great guest appearances. It had GREAT production. It had a narrative. It had great chemistry. It had great singles ANNNND all that without a single Dre, Quik or Daz beat. Battlecat and Meech shone here.... I love this album)
Near classics (A-)
(personal classics but objectively cant be seen as classic records of the genre):
Last Meal
(I love this album, I looove this album. I really wish Snoop cut 3 songs of this record and chose some better singles. Timbalands contributions was shyt. Its all the more worse when you realize how dope the leftovers were. Its scary how dope this album could've been if handled right. I got boys who are hardcore Wu heads who fukk with this album after I put them on. Some folks were a bit turnt off by too much Kokane, not me, I loved Kokane on this album, I loved the production, the guest appearances...)
Blue Carpet Treatment
(The last GREAT snoop RAP album. Again, I really wish Snoop cut a few songs of this which really hurt the cohesion and quality of the album. The first 9 tracks had me like zoning, then it just got inconsistent from there...2 dope songs followed by 2 wack songs etc. The Cube collabo was a huge disappointment)
7 Days of Funk
(If you are a funk head, this record is beautiful. Bangs all the way through. The type of side project only Snoop can drop. Great great album)
Bush
(This album shocked me. I always felt Snoop/Pharell was on/off. I hated their work on Paid the Cost but loved their work on R and G. I dint know what to expect. Pharrel and Snoop versatility really shined on this album. A funk record, but not as underground as 7 Days..., I love this Snoop. This album represents the proper evolution of Snoop as an artist. This is the kind of music I need from him moving forward. It fukking shocks me how little press this album got. It was one of the best albums of the year easily and some of the best music Snoop has made in his career)
Good album (B+)
Doggfather
(Good album, and I still play it 20 years later. Any album that has 10 bangers on it is going to be a good album, unfortunately good wasn't cutting it post Doggystyle. Album wasn't mixed all that great, and again too much filler)
NL Top Dogg
(This album is bi polar, there are absolute classics, LOTs of dope albums BUT some straight skippables...it lacks the consistency to jump into the above category. Its on the cusp of being a personal classic, 4.5 mic type record, too much skippables though....But it was a transitionary record....it was his move away from that god awful Da Game...)
Solid Album (B)
Paid the Cost...
(This album was a major disappointment for me, especially post 2001/Last Meal/Eastsidaz. The reason I don't is because its not so much the quality on this album as the sound that I have an issue with. Snoop walked away from that west coast sound to more universal one. Some actually liked that. I didn't care for the Premo or Pharrell records. While there may only be a handful of shyt tracks, there are only a handful of really dope ones.
R and G
(I loved the singles on this record, and there were a few other really good songs. But a lot of wack generic shyt too. I always found this album weird. A personal disappointment but again, quiet a few classic tracks that still keep me coming back to the album)
Aiight albums (C+)
Doggumentary
(It was alright, a few dope tracks, a few solid tracks, a lot of forgettable ones. I haven't heard this album in ages, so I would put the least weight into this opinion. I need to revisit this album, I can easily see this album moving up or dropping down a category depending on how it sound to me now)
Wack to Below Average albums (D to C)
Malice in Wonderland
Ego Trippin
Da Game
All three albums can best be described as "salvage 5 great songs and fukk the rest")
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Overall, when you include his work on The Chronic, his collaborative work with DPG, soundtrack appearances etc and the above albums....Snoop to me has one of the strongest overall catalogues in the business.
Unfortunately his lack of post Doggystyle definitive classic, his overall persona and (imo) media bias really contributes to a very unfair perception that he hasn't one shyt post Doggystyle. I still see wack ass posters saying this and you automatically get no respect for your opinion saying that goofy shyt because its clear you're yappin without having listened to his shyt
NOTE: I didn't include the 2nd Eastsidaz album because SNoops presence was minimal on that (however I would rate it a B to B +); I also didn't include Reincarnated because I didn't hear the album but I enjoyed both singles
