Eight LPs, 17 million albums sold, and numerous awards are all some of the notable feats that Snoop Dogg has reached, creating a track record that very few artists could match over his thirteen year career. Anybody that has been in the game can tell you how difficult of a task it is to have that kind of career. However, that’s not what is most recognizable of Snoop’s work; it’s his ability to stay relevant. He has switched his style up countless times and gained millions of more fans along the way. Sure, it’s been a while since Snoop has come out with work that can be named in the same breath as Doggystyle, but that doesn’t mean he’s been giving us “throw-aways”. It’s just that he’s leaned his Caddie more towards the R&B side than the Funk side that he made his name from. But with Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, Snoop shows why he’s been around for so long, showing that you can take the D-O-Double G out of Long Beach, but you can’t take Long Beach out of Snoop.

The album opens up with two tracks that both sound like intros, the most mentionable of course being “Think About It”, a laid back soulful track that Snoop takes no mercy on. (Basically, you hear the rappers out here using my flow/but they need Snoop on their record to make it official though) With one long verse from beginning to end, he just gives you an insight of what’s to be expected of this album: great beats and lyrics to back them up. The next track, “Crazy”, uses a creative flip of the heavily sampled Ohio Player’s “Funky Worm”, which features Nate Dogg shinning on the hook. It’s been a while since these two players have sounded this great together, but they both bring their best on this socially conscience song. But the introspective music doesn’t stop there; on the track “Imagine,” produced by and featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop reflects on what life would be like without hip hop. Also, Dangelo plays chorus duties over the Dr. Dre piano riff, marking the first time fans have heard Dangelo in six long years.

While Snoop does take it back to his older rhyming days, he DEFitnetly doesn’t forget about the club tracks that he’s becoming more known for. “That’s That Shit” featuring R-Kelly reminds you how easily Snoop can transit from the streets to the club without losing a step. And on “Candy”, Snoop and guests E-40, MC Eight, Goldie Loc, Daz and Kurupt ride a car rattling 808 beat produced by Rick Rock that has the possibility to tear down any club east or west-coast. Songs like “I Wanna Fuck You” featuring Akon and “Psst” featuring Jamie Foxx make it a difficult decision to whoever is picking the singles on this album because no matter where you turn you’re getting heat from the boss Dogg and his guest.

However, right when you’re ready to chuck this up as another classic for Snoop you get some tracks that make you wonder why they made the album at all. “Beat Up On Yo Pads” would be a prime example. The track is a shout-out to Snoop’s pee wee football team and has no need to be on this album. Another one would be the track “LAX” featuring Ice Cube and “Gangbangin 101” featuring Game. With all the West-coast all-stars on the track you would expect a lot more but it just never arrives.

Regardless, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment does make for a great album. It seems to find a balance between the Dr. Dre gangsta Snoop of the early 90’s to the Neptunes commercialized Snoop of this century. Thugs, ladies, kids, hell even soccer moms, can find something to like in this album much like Snoop Dogg himself. Whether the beat, guests, or subject matter changes, Snoop let’s you know why he’s been around in the game this long and shows no signs of stopping.

Snoop Dogg ft Dr. Dre.-Imagine