Snoop Dogg — Cool Aid

For some years, let's say around the end of the nineties, Calvin Broadus aka Snoop Dogg has decided to impress more the blue color brush on the covers of his CDs. Contrary to his best album, the first, which features a rival color domain, red. From "No Limit Top Dogg" (1999) onwards, the iconic Long Beach rapper has always tried to place something blue, in reference to the Crips. It's with this lens that you have to read the cover of the "Dead Man Walkin" compilation, created in 2000 by Suge Knight, manager of Death Row and, above all, one of the most powerful members of the Bloods that the music industry has ever seen: as a whammy to Snoop Dogg who left his label a few years ago, he places him on the cover with a completely red dress and with the title in red. Here the blue stands out everywhere, moreover, at the top right, you can see the Bat-signal that bears the Crips logo.

Now, the least interesting part of the project, its content itself. Production is provided by Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Soopafly, Just Blaze, J Dilla, Jazze Pha, Daz Dillinger, Cubeaz, Cardo, Bongo, Musicman Ty, Nottz, Rockwilder, Shon Lawon, Snagz, Powered by Raw B, Avenue Beatz, Dazmin, KJ Conteh, Los and L-Finguz. Yes, there's also J Dilla and you may easily not even notice. Guests are Swizz Beatz, Too Short, Jeremih, Wiz Khalifa, Trick Trick, E-40, Jazze Pha, Suga Free and October London. The record starts well, there are club tracks and decent-poor rhythms at the beginning, with acceptable rapping. Shortly after "Coolaid Man", one of the best cuts, a ballad with decent production performed by Cardo and Cubeatz, the whole product collapses into an abyss of forgettable mediocrity. Coincides, I don't know how much randomness counts, with the arrival of Swizz Beatz in the following song. The rest of the album features simplistic production, shoddy sounds, several club choices, some ballads, some trap rhythms, some funky rhythms, some festive pieces, some rnb hooks, even some rap. "My Carz" picks up the beat of J Dilla's "Trucks". Snoop ends the tape on a triumphal melodic production with drum downtempo and pop soul hook.

Overall, this record is a confusing 77-minute, 20-track mess. Released via its own label and eOne, the LP ranks across four continents and is fifth among rap records. Additionally, it's his worst-charted solo album on the Billboard 200, which was surpassed by several subsequent releases in the following years. Not recommended, 3/10.