Neva Left
Snoop Dogg
Doggy Style Records / Empire
Three stars
There’s a strong whiff of the past on Snoop Dogg’s latest, starting with the cover: a throwback photo of him taken almost 25 years ago in front of a Route 187 sign in Los Angeles.
The title is a nod to his endurance: Neva Left. His 15th studio album is a deeply chaotic collection that reflects hip-hop's constant changes swirling around the ever-fixed Snoop.
He is aided by almost 20 guests, including KRS-One, Redman, Charlie Wilson, Method Man, Wiz Khalifa and up-and-coming October London. Go On is an R&B treat, while Bacc in Da Dayz, which samples early Tribe Called Quest, was clearly designed to make your car shake so hard the mirrors might fall off. Big Mouth doesn't just sound like a blast from the past – it is like listening to the rap Big Bang.
The rapper's voice is characteristically unrushed and distant, his lyrics precise and his flow coolly menacing. There are, though, a few lazy songs among the 16, including Trash Bags, Swivel and Moment I Feared.
The hip-hop kingpin is now a grandfather. “The party don’t rock like it used to rock,” he says. So, he is showing us how it’s done, like he’s always done it. He never left, after all.
* Associated Press
