Sound Check: Snoop Dogg – “Ego Trippin’”

Snoop Dogg – Ego Trippin’ (2008)

Ego Trippin’, Snoop Dogg’s 1,979th album in as many years (dog years?) has the old fogie getting all hyphy with the kids and giving nods to New Jack Swing. He’s a Renaissance Man, that Dogg.

Never one to pay attention to details, Snoop offers up 21 tracks of extremely varying quality. If one has ever wondered about the long term effects of smoking way too much weed (and being as indulgent and careless as possible), this is Exhibit A.

But whatever to all that: you’re here to hear Snoop lazily drawl over West Coast production, and that’s exactly what he does – for better or worse.

So, yeah…isn’t “Sensual Seduction” the jam?

Between the gloriously-budget video and Snoop donning his best crooner voice, “Sensual Seduction” was a winner with the most basic of charms. I hoped that it hinted towards what Ego Trippin’ would sound like – exploito funk moves from a cannabis-stuffed tailpipe – but I’m disappointed to say it’s a one-off.

Riding an Isley Brothers sample coupled with the loudest booty bass this side of Freaknik, “Press Play” gets the album going in energetic fashion, though Snoop is hardly the main attraction. He remains reserved, warbling plenty of stoned non-sequiturs and EZ rhymes that fail to capture attention, but sound nice anyhow. Lyrical wallpaper, if you will – or that Cypress Hill style of flighty, brash tomfoolery.

This trend keeps up for the entire first half, with Snoop playing the back to frontline production, courtesy of Teddy Riley and DJ Quik.

Where the first half of Ego Trippin‘ is listenable and harmless, the second half finds Snoop blindly taking on any half-baked idea summoned from his skull. The utterly misinformed “Deez Hollywood Nights” mistakes Motown R&B for faux jive nonsense, and “Staxxx In My Jeans” is an inexplicable voyage into southern rap (by way of Texas) that’s truly horrendous. “Let It Out” doesn’t fare much better, with some terribly misguided and stereotypical Chinese vibes. Talk about world weary.

The hardest part criticizing a Snoop Dogg album is that the man himself doesn’t seem so concerned with the end product – so why should anyone else care? It’s total autopilot fluff, and he’s seems totally fine with that, I guess. So I guess it’s fine to download it for free, then!