Snoop Dogg
Bones Original Motion Picture Houndtrack
Priority Records
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg has regressed much since the days of The Chronic and Doggystyle. In the early 90s, gangsta rap was at its peak, but Snoop Dogg’s new opus Bones, proves that those days are no more.
Bones is the “houndtrack” to the new movie starring Snoop in the role of Jimmy Bones, a blaxploitation-style pimp. The album features Snoop on nine of 19 tracks.
The g-funk beats are nearly the same on every track, and the lyrics are the same gun-toting, braggadocio, misogynistic crap that they were ten years ago. After a decade of hearing the same lyrical content and rhyme schemes they tend to get old. How many times can a rapper rhyme the words “dough” and “ho?”
Besides Eminem, Xzibit, B-Real and OutKast none of the emcees stand out or even show the slightest hint of skill. In one of the only interesting songs on the album, Snoop teams up with OutKast for an old-school funk-infused version of their hit “So Fresh, So Clean.” The remix cannot live up to OutKast’s original, and comes off as sounding like an insincere parody of funk that probably has Curtis Mayfield rolling over in his grave.
The only real listenable parts of this album are D12’s “These Drugs,” which is carried by Eminem’s charisma, William DeVaughn’s soul jam “Thank You” and Cypress Hill’s “Memories.”
If you are a gangsta rap fan or if you didn’t listen to music in 1993, you may like this fairly bland, boring compilation. If you are interested in Bones, you may want to wait a few weeks when it is availiable at you favorite used CD store.
-Mike Spoo
Snoop Dogg plays Friday at Roy Wilkens Auditorium (143 W. 4th St., St. Paul. 651-265-4800). DJ Jam, Kurupt, Daz, The Eastsidaz, Tha Angels, Tha Liks, Soopafly and Butch Cassidy open. 6 p.m. 37 bones. All-Ages.