Title: Masterpiece
Review: No, this isn't the Long Beach Crip's definitive work, but this easy-listening gangsta rap is a singular work of crossover hip-hop.From R&G;'s gospel-inflected opener--which hints at Kanye West, but, in the end, only reminds how long Snoop has kept the idiom at his ready--to its pop-minded guests (Justin Timberlake, Nelly) and a bunch of old-school collaborators (Bootsy Collins, Charlie Wilson), the album insists on pulling together a range of listeners.Producers Alchemist, The Neptunes and the rest pull this off a surprising number of times, primarily by spiking the mix with strikingly arty beats, such as on Josef Leimberg's "Can I Get a Flicc Witchu?" Hard rhymes on "Bang Out" and "Step Yo Game Up" are leavened by female backing vocals and the presence of potty-mouth MC Trina. Snoop is singing more than ever, too.Masterpiece? Yes. The 'hood and points beyond will rock to this CD through much of 2005.
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