| Album Description : Superstar rapper and hip hop icon Snoop Dogg readies for his highly anticipated album "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment" releasing on November 21, 2006 through Doggystyle/Geffen. Early buzz from industry insiders promise a classic album complete with the reunion of Snoop and DR. DRE with three bangers from the dynamic duo. This classic pairing marks the duo's first collaborative effort in approximately five years and promises to make history once again. "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment" is a return to the original sound that put the Long Beach rapper on the map with Snoop keeping it gangsta on each and every record. Following the street single, "Vato," produced by PHARRELL and featuring B-REAL, comes the highly anticipated second single, "That's That" produced by NOTTZ and featuring R&B crooner R. KELLY. This catchy and melodic song was most added at Urban and Rhythmic formats, proving it is shaping up to be another platinum hit for the West Coast "Boss." Snoop says, "'That's That' is theme music for a classy gangsta party - that's when you ladies pull out the high heels and the playas pull out the three-piece suits. You'll see in the video! Me and R. KELLY had a lot of fun shooting this one." Throughout the album, Snoop takes it back to the hood showcasing the gritty realness that helped shape his status as a cultural icon. XXL writes, "Snoop's lyrical fire seems resurrected, as he delivers arguably his most consistently scorching work post-Doggystyle." Thirsty fans will be thrilled with the thought provoking song "Imagine," produced by and featuring DR. DRE, which reflects on what life would be like for the California natives without hip hop. The signature DR. DRE piano riff is complimented by the D'ANGELO sung chorus, marking the first time fans have heard D'ANGELO in six long years. Another album favorite is club banger "Psst," produced by JAMIE FOXX, N8 and BRAINZ and features JAMIE FOXX's signature falsetto on the hook. The album also features two collaborations with AKON, "Boss's Life" produced by DR. DRE and the current radio smash "I Wanna Love You," the latter also being on AKON's upcoming album. Of the album, Snoop says, "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is my presentation to the world on what it means to be the King of the West Coast. I really worked extra hard on making this one perfect and got the best of the best among my homies in the music game- SKATEBOARD P, TIMBALAND, R. KELLY, D'ANGELO... and you know when me and DR. DRE get together - it's a monster." As a gift to loyal fans, Snoop is treating 9 winners to "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment." Nine winning tickets will be placed inside random CDs of the album which reward the lucky recipient with a diamond Ice link watch. The grand prize winner will win a diamond Ice Link watch worth $100,000. Three winners will be prized with diamond Ice Link watches worth $10,000 and five winners will get diamond Ice Link watches worth $5,000. As if Snoop were not busy enough, he also recently released his first book, "Love Don't Live Here No More," a story loosely based on his own life's trials and tribulations. The book, co-written by playwright David E. Talbert, is the first in a series of novels called Doggy Tales that takes readers from the unforgiving streets of Long Beach to the bright lights of show business. Amazon.com : Tha Blue Carpet Treatment finds Snoop employing his usual impressive lineup of collaborators and strutting his way through a by-now standard litany of libidinous, gang-bangin' boasts. But when your record is packed with this much veteran savvy and smooth flavor, the pride comes naturally. Snoop has been g-funky as hell for a long while, but "Crazy," with its hypnotic keyboard loop and silky flow, is impressive even for him. It's a trickle of light to counter the equally accomplished but darker "Vato," a fever-dream street duet with Cypress Hill's B Real. Traces of Doggystyle-era gangsta show up as well; the laconic flow of "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)" for instance, featuring E-40 and MC Eiht, is as instantly appealing as anything on that seminal debut. It must be said that whatever Snoop Dogg releases at this point in his career competes with his overwhelming celebrity and cartoonish, pimp-maestro image, and that makes it hard to take him seriously. But here, even a too-obvious, potentially disastrous song like "I Wanna F*** You" manages not to be ridiculous. If that's not the mark of a true star, I don't know what is. --Matthew Cooke |  |