Malice n Wonderland 2009 Album

Snoop Dogg

An improvement on 'Ego Trippin’' largely because Snoop doesn't try to experiment too much and actually creates a listenable hip hop album. Track for track I'd say it's pretty much half hip hop, half pop-rap, and you can tell which are which by looking at the featuring artists on the tracklist. While they aren't brilliant, I enjoy most of the harder hip hop tracks and it would be nice for Snoop to do a whole album without resorting to soft tracks. I'm not a hater of pop rap myself, but I just think Snoop sounds better on harder tracks like 'I Wanna Rock' as opposed to 'Gangsta Luv'. On most past albums from Snoop he has filled the CD to its maximum duration which has been an issue creating some filler. However, this album is only 54 minutes and I think his shortest to date. Compared to other Snoop albums in this rating range like 'Coolaid' or 'I Wanna Thank Me', the shorter runtime definitely works in its favour making for a tighter, more consistent listen. There aren’t any real low points those have, and a few tracks still hold up strong even years later. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: I Wanna Rock, Pronto, That’s tha Homie, Secrets, Pimpin Ain't EZ 1. Intro 2. I Wanna Rock Incredibly catchy with a multilayered hook and good bangin' production by Scoop DeVille. 3. 2 Minute Warning Just Snoop spitting for two minutes over a Terrace Martin beat. 4. 1800 Lil Jon handles both production and vocals here, but it's far from his best. His usually unmistakable style is toned down, making this track feel less distinctively his. It bangs but not to the usual level. 5. Different Languages Some interesting production touches for this pop rap song. I feel I need more from the verses here. The hook from Jazmine is well sung. 6. Gangsta Luv Another pop-rap tune. Another above decent hook. This time from The-Dream. 7. Pronto I played this a lot when this album dropped and always enjoyed it despite having something like an autotune hook that I have grown to hate. Nice contrast between the bare-bones hook and thumpin' verses. 8. That's Tha Homie Hard and catchy 9. Upside Down "I'm shittin', I'm shittin', what an a-hole'." "I'm shittin' on these records while you rappers constipated"... Lose the toilet bars, guys. A decent drum heavy song without being anything to write home about. 10. Secrets Samples 'Talking in Your Sleep' by The Romantics and with that it's hard not to enjoy the melody. I feel more could be done it to make it go to the next level though. There is lots more of Kokane than Snoop on this one. 11. Pimpin Ain't EZ Kells and Snoop reunite. This isn't as strong as some of their other collaborations like 'That’s That Shit', but it's a more than decent pop rap song. It toes the line nicely between a slick pop rap crossover with some street edge. 12. Luv Drunk Another The-Dream collab. 'Gangsta Luv' is better. This one has less energy 13. Special Produced by The Neptunes, 'Beautiful' this is not. A mid pop rap song. 14. Outro 15. Bootiez Automatic iTunes bonus track produced by Snoop himself. A high energy track track with some synth production touches.