Album: Bush
Artist: Snoop Dogg
(Columbia)
Three stars out of five
Snoop Dogg’s 13th solo album, Bush, is steeped in the ‘70s funk and disco flavours that, largely thanks to its producer, Pharrell, are trendy in pop and hip-hop music right now. But Snoop’s been doing the g-funk thing for two decades now, so it’s not about jumping on the bandwagon. In spite of its name, Bush isn’t entirely devoted to marijuana. Songs like California Roll and Edibles honour his drug of choice, but the rest are lite, boy-meets-girl-in-the-club romance tunes — nothing too deep. It’s been a while since we listened to Snoop for his rhymes (The Doggfather? The Dogg Pound, even?), but often he is notably absent on this particular record. Being overshadowed by his well-chosen features – Stevie Wonder on California Roll, Rick Ross and Kendrick Lamar on I’m Ya Dogg – is one thing, it’s another for some songs to seem more like Pharrell tunes than Snoop tracks. Snoop’s signature smoky smooth voice mostly sings on this record, and you can’t help but wish he’d legitimately spit a verse now and then. But that’s OK: after a multitude of reincarnations, including his pimp phase and a reggae album under his Snoop Lion moniker, Snoop’s earned the OG right to his creative freedoms. And Bush is entirely enjoyable — the singular ‘70s sound is well-executed and Pharrell throws in touches like African rumba on This City to add variety.
— Julia LeConte, Edmonton Journal
