Snoop Dogg — Ego Trippin'

He's slapped his name on as many products as Krusty The Clown and guest-cameoed on more songs than even the meddlesome Diddy, yet there's a reason why the D-O Double G still has credibility — the music. Snoop has surveyed the rap landscape on his ninth proper album and determined that minimizing the guest stars, maximizing the personal reflection and going heavy on '70s and '80s funk, soul and slow jams is the way to roll. He's absolutely right. He even says as much on "Neva Have 2 Worry," declaring simply, "I'm still relevant." Rick James would've appreciated "Cool," a surefire soundtrack for summer, while the cheeky "Sexual Eruption" officially replaces R.Kelly's "Imagine That" for sublimely ridiculous seduction songs. "My Medicine" — a hick-hop tribute to Johnny Cash featuring Everlast on guitar — is a stretch, and pretty much any song that sounds like it's engineered for contemporary rap radio blows, but during the Snoopster's frequent time travels everything works out.

Get it from