Even his best friends, you suspect, would hesitate to call Snoop Dogg a nice guy. On the contrary, his new album reveals the hip-hop star to have depths of depravity that would cause even the most hardened criminal to give an inward shudder. Outraged by the rumour that Suge Knight (the imprisoned boss of Death Row Records) has a contract out on his life, Snoop has assembled a hard-hitting hymn of hate to his old foe, bringing along the likes of Jay-Z and Redman for what proves to be an extremely uncomfortable ride. Anyone unfamiliar with the internal warfare of the gangster community is likely to find much of this album incomprehensible and probably deeply boring to boot. To the initiated, however, this is compellingly unpleasant stuff and with plenty of great hooks, hypnotic vocals and a muscular production courtesy of The Neptunes, Snoop shows himself to be a musical force still to be reckoned with. Sure, the streets would be safer with him off them but a hell of a lot less exciting as well.
