BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) BEAUTIFUL
(“Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$” – 2003) This was a tougher list to put together than I thought it would be. First, I had to make sure the track is a Snoop track and by that I mean from one of HIS albums. He has made some great appearances over the years that could be included on a list of its own someday including “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”, “Fuck with Dre Day”, “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted”, “Still D.R.E.,” “The Next Episode”, and like two dozen more. Snoop gets around, that’s for certain. Then on his own regard, he’s got a fair amount of great hits and singles. So off the bat, I go with “Beautiful”. To me, it was down to this and “Snoop’s Upside Ya Head”. I love them both, but I have to go with the 2003 smash hit. For a little while there, Snoop kind of fell off. He wasn’t putting out the magic like he was in the 90s. Then this jam came out and brought him back into the spotlight. Snoop in the spotlight is always a good thing.
(THREE) WHAT’S MY NAME?
(“Doggystyle” – 1993) I was ten years old when I first heard this song. I had already heard him on “The Chronic”, a bootleg cassette tape that I wore out in my youth. So yeah, I heard this song and I was instantly hooked. And the genius factor here is that the song makes it to where you cannot forget who it’s by.
(TWO) DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT
(“R&G: The Masterpiece” – 2004) If “Beautiful” brought Snoop back to the spotlight, then “Drop It Like It’s Hot” put him back on top. This song was HUGE and is probably one of the most popular and known songs of the last decade. We had old women using “izzle” in their language and ruining his street cred, but then he put this out and got it all back and then some. This song is weird because it put him back on top with pop culture AND it gave him street cred. It’s like everyone just agreed one day that Snoop being a corporate gangsta was fine and we’d all just love him no matter what.
(ONE) GIN AND JUICE
(“Doggystyle” – 1993) This song is the perfect example of a mid 90’s hip hop. It was a gangsta party and Snoop was the guy you wanted to hang out with. Everyone under the age of thirty five or so should know this song or at least the chorus. To this day when I hear the words “Gin and Juice” used together my first reaction is to respond with “Laaaaid back. With my mind on my money and my money on my mind.”
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