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“Ego Trippin'” – Snoop Dogg

Rating: 7 / 10

Snoop Dogg has lost a lot of the things that made him a star back in the early 1990s, thanks to a reality TV show, kids and a tendency to act significantly less “gangsta” than his early days. However, there is one thing that has always stayed relatively similar: his tendency to make pretty good hip-hop.

“Ego Trippin’,” Snoop’s newest effort, is a lot better than one would think. His rhymes are not as focused on making up random words, and the beats are still above-average. One listen to “Ego Trippin'” will confirm that. “Press Play” is a bona fide top 10 hit song, and “Cool” uses some great funky disco-type beats to drive the track all the way to awesomeness.

Yes, there are some tracks that fall a bit below the radar. However, one of the things that used to make Snoop stand out – his incredibly violent skits – are nowhere to be found. This album is almost an hour-and-a-half of pure Snoop doing what he does best: rhyming about the usual gangster stuff.

The only complaint one could have about the album is that it is a lot harder to listen to him talk about how gangster he is when anyone can turn to the “E!” channel and see him cower when the doctor wants to take his blood.

For the rest of us, here are another 22 tracks that showcase one of hip-hop’s finest, rhyming about all of his familiar vices.