Snoop Dogg – Ego Trippin’

When I popped in this CD I was hoping for more of “Lay Low” than “Beautiful”, and at worst, more of “Let’s Get Blown” than “Signs”. Granted Snoop has been around since I got into hip hop so I can understand, even without watching his show, where he’s at in life but at the end of the day, I still expect a gangsta edge to the iconic coolness he created.

His evolution from a thug on the streets to a media magnet leaves impossible steps to follow as proven by the current state of West Coast hip hop. As they cling to E-40 and The Game, fans of the West Coast should be happy with whatever they get from the Doggfather, no matter the outcome of Ego Trippin’. Lucky for you, I’m Bad Boy for life so I can give it to you raw.

Throughout this disc, Snoop plays into the latter, more marketed persona mentioned above. He wastes no time shouting himself out on virtually every track (i.e. Jim Jones – Party Like a Rock Star [Remix]) and even dedicates an entire song to his presence at a party, entitled “SD is Out”. Three tracks in, I felt like I was in for some commercial garbage but Snoop soon addressed my concerns on the deepest cut of the album: “Neva have 2 Worry” featuring John Legend:

15 years in the game man
And I’m still relevant, it’s a blessing
It’s a fine line, how to keep it cool and keep it G
Oh, but keeping it G is keeping it cool and keeping it cool is keeping it G

Well put. In no way am I saying Snoop is a sell out (he had a feature slide in my “Rappers turned Actors” presentation in college), it’s just he’s walking that proverbial fine line that everyone from humble roots come across. This particular song discusses the ups and downs of his career and as much as I appreciate it, it’s a huge buzz kill and would have been better off concluding the CD.

As it goes, Snoop follows with a couple ‘80s themed songs, covering “Cool” by The Time as well as the smash single “Sexual Eruption” and yet his 2008 tracks struggle the most. “Life of the Party” features a great Snoop and a decent Too $hort but an absolutely amateur Mistah F.A.B. “Waste of Time” marks terrible production/singing and “Nobody Better” might have well been replaced by Pac’s “Changes”.

Overall, the album is a weak effort considering hot beats and a couple of catchy songs are to be expected off Snoop Dogg’s 9^th studio album. I did get my gangsta fix on two tracks but on the whole, felt the life/career/inner dog reflective material covered was inconsistent and disjointed throughout the flow of the CD. The only song to really go out of your way for is the completely unexpected Johnny Cash inspired “My Medicine”.

Random Line:

She say she wanna be an actress
So I pointed to these nuts and then I yelled ACTION!

Favorite Songs: “Sexual Eruption”, “My Medicine”, “Staxxx in my Jeans”, “Deez Hollywood Nights” and “Riding in my Chevy”.

 

Final Review: A poor “party” to “gangsta” track theme ratio really did this CD in for me. Snoop covered a lot of the same material better on cameos and previous releases so check those out and don’t waste your time with this.