Album review: Snoop Dogg, Bush

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13 May, 2015 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Rap star Snoop Dogg.

He's been a rapper, an actor, a porn movie mogul and, most recently, a terrible reggae singer called Snoop Lion. How many lives has this Dogg used up already? Six? Seven?

He's about to use up another one, because the lion is a dogg again - but that doesn't mean Snoop's returning to hip-hop. Bush, his 13th album, is something else entirely: a throwback album of old school soul jams that finds Calvin Broadus Jr spending more time singing than rapping. The barely believable result is a Snoop Dogg album that - gasp - your kids could enjoy.

It's a dramatic turnaround from his last effort as Snoop Lion, with the 2013 shocker Reincarnated finding Snoop rebelling against his gangster rap past on songs like No Guns Allowed with little sense of irony. At least Bush finds Snoop in a playful mood.

"She's DTF," he croons on the laidback, Neptunes-produced lope of R U A Freak - but he's not referencing the popular acronym for sex. "She's DTF - cos she' Down to Feel," he finishes, sounding less like a pimp and more like a spiritual guru dressed in white robes.

It's an image cemented by the funked-up fun of Awake, as Snoop sings: "My planet's Krypton / Home of the freaks / Come get your moon rocks / I am a G" like he's on an episode of The Mighty Boosh.

Yes, it's a change of pace for the man who once rapped, "I don't love you hoes" on his most well known song Gin & Juice - a point referenced on the tongue-in-cheek title of So Many Pros. It's unlikely Snoop's latest guise will please those who grew up with his gangsta rap past, but it seems Snoop has finally found a way to grow up gracefully. Bush is easy on the ears, and that's thanks to Pharrell, who - fresh from being sued by Marvin Gaye's estate over Blurred Lines - throws caution to the wind and repeats his old school soul thing across the album's 10 tracks.

The results are mostly fresh, laid back fun: California Love feels like a radio hit in waiting, the TI-assisted singalong Edible is coming soon to a 1970s-themed dancefloor near you, and Peaches N Cream's funked up silliness reminds of Snoop's little-heard but really rather good 2013 album 7 Days of Funk.

There's just one dodgy moment in Run Away, a five-minute throwaway with Gwen Stefani doing a weird cartoon sing-rap thing. And the only nod to Snoop's gangster past is done by others, with the G-funk closer I'm Ya Dogg featuring Kendrick Lamar and Rick Ross at full power.

Mostly, Bush is a Sunday cruise in a Cadillac rather than a hip-hop call to arms. This Dogg may have lost his bite, but at least Snoop's finally blowing smoke in the right direction.