Snoop Dogg —R&G Rhythm And Gangsta: The Masterpiece

Now into album number seven of a decade-plus career, Snoop (a.k.a. Calvin Broadus) has never been sharper. You could say that the gangsta front — there's still an abundance of greenbacks, fine threads, trophy dogs and leggy (subordinate) women — plays off more like kitsch nowadays, but there's some serious material on the boastful Masterpiece.

Though the electro-organic-hip-hop production of The Neptunes has become fairly typical, the D-O-Double-G's darkly smooth (and thus, creepy-sexy) rhyming is in top form especially when used sparingly enough between guest appearances from Soopafly ("I'm Threw Witchu") and Justin Timberlake ("Signs"). Snoop's brooding vocals provide some delicate tension on these horny soul and R&B-rounded tracks that are textbook chill-out hip-hop at its best.

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