3.5/5 stars
Forgive the painfully obvious pun, but Calvin ‘Snoop Dogg’ Broadus is evergreen. At this stage in his career, he’s equally as celebrated by elder hip hop heads as he is by kids who weren’t even born when the seminal Doggystyle came into the world. He can do as many trashy pop cameos and shitty movies as he likes – everyone’s got time for Uncle Snoop.
Bush, Snoop’s 13th studio album, is helmed by hit machine and recent defendant Pharrell Williams. It’s ten years removed from their last major collaboration, the worldwide smash of ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’, and there’s something to be said about not retreading common ground. Rather, the pair have gone for a hugely melodic, windows-down California cruise, replete with state-oriented love letters (‘California Roll’) and elegantly wasted urban pop (‘Peaches N Cream’, ‘So Many Pros’). If the Doggfather’s last LP, Reincarnated, was guilty of anything, it was taking itself a little too seriously. Bush won’t have any similar issues.
It’s not a reinvention of the wheel by any means. It is, however, a slick customisation that allows for the rims to continue spinning long after the car has stopped.
Does it serve any greater functionality? Of course not – it’s not supposed to, dummy.
Snoop Dogg’sBushis out through Doggystyle/Sony.
