Snoop Dogg — Doggumentary

Refreshed by the worldwide success of "California Gurls", one of the fifty best-selling singles of the decade and one of the best-selling singles in US history, Snoop Doggy Dogg returns with a formula that can bring him back to the pinnacle of the game. 21 tracks, 80 minutes of listening, a dizzying number of guest artists, producers, instrumentalists, engineers, composers, etc. Among others, there are Traci Nelson, Willie Nelson, Bootsy Collins, E-40, Jeezy, Devin the Dude, Wiz Khalifa, Goldie Loc, Too Short, Kokane, Daz Dillinger, John Legend, Kanye West, Mr. Porter and Gorillaz. The latter three are also some of the producers, with Jake One, DJ Battlecat, DJ Khalil, Scott Storch, Lex Luger, Mike Dean, and David Banner.

Exhausting is a reductive word to define this odyssey. On a set that is simplistic and crass from the very beginning, made up mostly of all random beats, Snoop enjoys spitting thug bars and singing with his friends in a lighthearted way. Denaun Porter guesses a beat on "My Own Way", there's a solid E-40 performance on "My Fuckin' House" and a decent ballad on "Peer Pressure", with Traci Nelson on the rnb hook. After the first six tracks and just over twenty minutes, the already poor quality of the album plummets dramatically. And there's still an hour of material. The consecutive hosts of R. Kelly and T-Pain would kill any album and this one goes straight into the pit: everyone else coming later is just throwing a lot of dirt on it and covering the album's coffin. Jake One places a decent beat in "Gangbang Rookie", Snoop spits inspired before the crossover section with alternative songs and that one country / western with Willie Nelson. Kanye goes on autopilot accompanied by a John Legend hook on a simple beat in "Eyez Closed", but it takes another ten minutes of liquid boredom to get to the end.

Released by his own label and Priority, the album sees the artist return to the top ten of the Billboard 200 and the top five of rap records. Critics join forces and for once they decide to unanimously crush the release. The product is a remarkable international success and sees "Wet" become a hit in Europe, while being completely ignored at home: Snoop Dogg puts a single at the top of a chart as a lead artist, something that won't happen again for many years. 2.5/10.