Calvin Broadus arrives to present his number two studio album after a very complicated life span. He creates his own label, which pays homage to his debut and becomes a subsidiary of Death Row Records, he's acquitted of his murder charge in February 1996 and only then decides to start recording this project. He abandons the gangster's life which could lead him to prison or death, and limits the violent content in his LP. Soon after, Dr. Dre leaves the Suge Knight label and in September of the same year, his friend and label mate Tupac Shakur is murdered. Snoop would like to continue working with Dre, but Suge stops him. Production is handled by DJ Pooh, Daz Dillinger, Soopafly, Sam Sneed, Snoop Dogg, L.T. Hutton, Arkim & Flair. Guests are Teena Marie, Charlie Wilson (new signing on Snoop's label), Kurupt the Kingpin, Soopafly, Too Short, Tha Dogg Pound, Warren G, Nate Dogg, LBC Crew and Tray Dee.
In this period, the mafioso rap trend is making its way to the charts, a sub-genre of gangsta rap that the East Coast promoted widely in the mid-1990s. The cover fully reflects the album: copy of the film "The Godfather" (1972), title top left in white, author's image in the center, author's name in white at the bottom, on a black background. There's no inspiration, there's no fantasy, there's no energy. Snoop is the flagship artist of Death Row and one of the best on the circuit and looks like he came out of "Weekend at Bernie's" (1989). Bringing less violent and gangster topics to the table than usual, the album clashes with the cover itself and with its homage to one of the most recognized movies on organized crime. The major interpreter of the record writes more contained texts, his pen isn't that of the early nineties, his rapping isn't the same. Snoop spits bars with a dull, bland, soporific style, often the delivery falls under the drum without being able to get up. He no longer feels like working on Death Row and you can hear it for 74 minutes.
Deprived of Andre Young, the music falls by the wayside. DJ Pooh is the biggest producer on the record, aided by Daz, Soopafly and Snoop himself behind the keyboards: none of them are at that level. They try to imitate Dre's sound and a messy and confusing production comes out, this faded g-funk is doing nothing: the drums are tight, scarce and cheap, there are bad side sounds, weak samples, bouncy rhythms, little funk, random static synths. The album pays homage to a mob film both in the title and in the cover, but absolutely not in the music or in the lyrics: L.T. Hutton and Snoop Dogg produce "(O.J.) Wake Up", delivering an uptempo beat that actually has mafia vibes, but feels like a random beat filler in between of this g-funk record and the song is average. There are a few solo tracks (5/21) and a lot of skits that stretch the LP, however, guests fail to carry the product, except Nate Dogg, none are noteworthy. The title track is one of the most successful tracks, where a sleek piano supports Snoop's laid-back rap and guest rnb hook. "Groupie" should be the other highlight: Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound and Nate Dogg on a cheerful g-funk rhythm with hard and low drums and accessible synths, only Nate stands out with an excellent contribution as usual.
Released by The New and "Untouchable" Death Row Records and Interscope Records, it's distributed by the major MCA and is a huge commercial success: it ranks all over the world, reaches first place on the Billboard 200 and in the UK urban chart, rips certifications in three continents and, in less than three months, is double platinum in the US. On poor and patchy production, Snoop Dogg offers bars with a subdued and resigned style, in one of his worst performances ever. 4/10.
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