Snoop Dogg – Coolaid (Album Review) – 31/07/16

Snoop Dogg is effortlessly cooler than a lot of other rappers, both old and new, and with his new album Coolaid he is reminding us he still has something to offer at the age of 44. After experimenting with other styles and name changes, he’s back to his roots with his first real hip-hop album in about five years.

Despite some really obvious efforts to remind us of how things were back in his day, this album is a commentary on howSnoop sees current-day rap culture, and is packed full other predictable themes you’d expect from someone likeSnoop: rapping about getting high, girls, fast cars and being an original gangster. 

With so many iconic tracks and collaborations under his belt, as well as 17 Grammy nominations without a win, the most of any artist, he sets his own bar pretty high, with Coolaid being his 14^th studio album. The production of the album is on par with anything you’d expect from someone of Snoop’s calibre, with about half the tracks on the album featuring guests, Wiz Khalifa featured in two tracks, there’s a good mix of styles and it definitely includes several tracks you’ll want to up the volume and bop your head to.

About halfway through the album is when you’ll start to think about who Snoop Dogg really is these days. He’s become such a cultural icon over the last 20 years, not only as a rapper but an actor, sports fan, family man, weed advocate, comedian, pimp, gangster, and national treasure. His natural charm and ability to make rap look effortless make him easy to like. But with such a publicly-documented life, it’s hard to take some of his songs seriously. You don’t know what to believe about him. One minute he’s the lovable weed smoking family man appearing on cooking shows, or narrating nature documentaries, next minute he’s rapping about being an actual Pimp, which he did professionally between 2003 and 2004. Out of anyone in the rap game, Snoop is probably the only person who has this kind of likeability to such a wide variety of audiences. This album probably won’t appeal to the fans of ‘funny talk show guest Snoop Dogg’ but more his original rap fans. 

Snoop’s age starts to show in a few tracks where he makes references to sliding into DMs and you start to wonder if he’s 44 in dog or human years.

Even though Snoop is almost certifiably one of the coolest people in the music industry, this album is very much like listening to your dad talk about how good it was when he was young, and then tries to look cool by using hashtags he doesn’t understand. It’s not his fault, and he gets points for trying, but he should stick to what he knows, and that’s showing us what it’s like to be a rap legend: he doesn’t need to try too hard for that.

Connect with Snoop Dogg:

Official Website – Facebook – Twitter – YouTube – iTunes