Following the massive global success of his multi-platinum album R&G - Rhythm & Gangsta, Snoop Doggy Dogg is back with his eighth studio album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. This time round Snoop Dogg goes back to the original West Coast gangsta sound that made him a hip-hop legend. As he told to MTV.com: "I went right back to the 'hood”. Tha Blue Carpet Treatment meets one of the most exciting reunions in hip-hop, this is Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s first collaboration since Dr. Dre's classic album 2001. The main list of producers’ names also includes Timbaland, Pharrell, Rick Rock and The Neptunes. The list of guest appearances is no less impressive: Stevie Wonder, Ice Cube, The Game, Brandy, R. Kelly and MC Eight. The title of the album is related with one of the most notorious gangs in the United States, as the blue color is the main part of Crips’ symbols. The blue color prevails in the cover’s design too and together with Snoop’s resurrected lyrical power it signals a return to his gangsta roots and the street sound of his breakthrough album, Doggystyle.
Sometimes Snoop likes to rap about nothing, but he is so good in it that he may take a status of the truest non content MC of his era. The album’s first song Think About It is a very nice example when the form is so faultless that the absence of ideas is almost a positive feature. Though, in general, the album is filled with insistent proclamation of everything connected with Crips. There are plenty of hits to be found on Tha Blue Carpet Treatment that fit this category. Fredwreck's pulsating Crazy featuring Nate Dogg is a guaranteed trunk-rattler, while Rick Rock's Candy is destined to bounce the hydraulics of the speakers. The Neptunes make a really good job on two most notable gang-related tracks, finding a seriously sinister synths for Vato and infusing 10’ Lil Crips with an ominous low rumble that suits the subject matter. There's also the a complete West style Don’t Stop featuring War Zone and Kurupt and the somber Dr. Dre produced Imagine, featuring D'Angelo. The track refers to a “what if” kind of songs, asking what could happen if 2Pac was still alive or if there were no hip-hop.
Despite a huge number of the people taking part in Tha Blue Carpet Treatment the album is focused on Snoop Dogg for the first place, not on his guests. And its no wonder, his charisma just can’t let anyone stand higher than he does. He is as he has always been - buoyant, lazy and naughty - with a voice that's nearly tactile and his eyes half closed. It seems like he just gathered a whole bunch of old friends to make a big party to celebrate the achievements of his career. Tha Blue Carpet Treatment again invites everyone to his world of weed, women and gang culture. But the album is still pretty diverse in away. Snoop Dogg made it everything for everyone - jams for the ladies, jams for the street, jams for the club – take it anywhere and it would fit the place just fine. May be not every song but you are able to find the track you need. Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is the party where Snoop Dogg himself is the main man, and it would be stupid not to join it, especially if you are invited.
ChemistryChemistry finds Girls Aloud hitting their stride on their third album. There's a mixture of sounds - rock, house, electro, salsa, rap and ska – and the album manages to create quite a fizz in the test-tube