ARTIST: Snoop Dogg
ALBUM: Bush
LABEL: Columbia
RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2015
Still Spittin’
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Legendary rapper Snoop Dogg is back with his 13th studio album, Bush. The album was executively produced by longtime collaborator Pharrell and features many notable artists including Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, Gwen Stefani, T.I. and Kendrick Lamar. With a long and varied career, Snoop is no longer the young gangster rapper he once was, and his albums and interviews in recent years have showcased this. This time Snoop is back in his funk zone as Bush is a throwback to the Parliament/Funkadelic era. Snoop’s music has always been heavily influenced by funk and r&b music from the 70s and this easily evident on Bush.
Bush begins with the slow jam “California Roll,” which features Stevie Wonder and Pharrell with Snoop singing about how he and his fellow Californians get down. Stevie Wonder adds vocals to the chorus and also plays the harmonica on the song. The next song is the Charlie Wilson-assisted “This City.” This catchy dance tune is a possible future single due to the sing along chorus and upbeat production. “R U a Freak” finds Snoop singing about looking for a woman who can handle his freaky side.
“So Many Pros” is about the overabundance of groupies that Snoop observes in his world. He illustrates this point by singing on the chorus “Hoes, it’s like somebody’s growing them on trees.” “Peaches and Cream” was the album’s first single and features Charlie Wilson. The fun dance vibes this song put out encompasses the album’s funky spirit and is an excellent single that showcases exactly what Bush is about. This is also one of the few songs Snoop raps on.
“Edibles” is a bass-grooving, head-bobbing track featuring the King of the South, T.I. Tip drops a nice guest verse boasting about his pimping with the lines “On a worldwide tour me and Skateboard/Ate more bitches in the lobby on the molly/Pretty sexy yet exotic fill em all in my Ferrari/I’ll probably be ménage in before I put the car in parking/Got em running upstairs got em coming in pairs/May I relieve you of your jacket mommy can I touch you there.”
Gwen Stefani is featured on “Run Away,” a song about spending a day escaping from all your problems. “I’m Ya Dogg” features Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Charlie Wilson. This smooth track slows things down and has a softer tone. Kendrick Lamar delivers a memorable verse with his typical bravado saying “I got… Rottweiler in tube sock/Pitbull… lock on your neck, kiss it and you’ll die/Boxer… you take mine’s off then hallelujah/Shando, count my blessings, spin around two times/Freaky… freak like it’s the 80s/Fuckin’ explicit, radio prolly say we/Should tone it… down with the clean version/Dirty… but in public you’re like teen virgin.”
Bush is a short album with only 10 songs and even still some of the songs can start to sound alike if the album is listened all at once. This is an album full of potential singles, though, with literally every single song being a possible radio hit. Whether its rap, slow grooves or funk, Big Snoop Dogg shows he still has what it takes to deliver a hit.