Music Review: Snoop Dogg still has bite

11/20/2006 12:29 PM, AP
Brett Johnson

Snoop Dogg, "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment" (Doggystyle/Geffen)

It seems like everybody loves Snoop Dogg.

It's hard to fathom anyone beefing with hip-hop's weed-smoking, pimp-mimicking embodiment of West Coast cool. And on his latest effort, "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment," he demonstrates how he's been able to remain largely above the playa-hater fray. Grounded in the signature G-funk grooves of past efforts, Snoop consistently finds ways to keep his laconic drawl from sounding dated with the help of a few hit-making friends.

The Neptunes-produced "Vato" employs a spine-tingling harpsichord progression and B-Real of Cypress Hill's nasal, staccato flow. R. Kelly laces "That's That ..." with a bouncy track and his own smooth vocals on the hook. And though "Get A Light" features Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley chanting the chorus, it's Timbaland's chunky, tribal rhythm and swampy bass blasts that make the track so ominously irresistible. While those highlights show Snoop at his collaborative best, the rest of "Treatment" finds Snoop mining familiar territory, from gangsta narratives to lewd, strip club-ready bangers.

But Snoop's quasi-populist approach has been the key to his lengthy career. He makes sure there's something for everybody, even getting introspective with Dr. Dre and D'Angelo on the ponderous "Imagine."

He and the good doctor contemplate the unthinkable, with Snoop rhyming: "Imagine how many lives would be ruined if we didn't have hip-hop/ Imagine what we'd all be doing." Not exactly John Lennon-deep, but a Snoop-less world — especially given his current inspired form — would be a colorless world indeed.