Has it really been 15 years since Snoop Dogg bum-rushed the rap scene with the chilling "Deep Cover" theme and that star-making cameo on Dr. Dre's landmark gangsta-rap set, "The Chronic?" Snoop has softened some lyrically, but his laconic singsong flow remains the same -- as does his ability to make hits. (Most recent was a dirty duet with Akon.) It's a Doggy Dogg world, indeed.

--J. Freedom du Lac (August 2007)

If it's true what they say about pimpin' -- you know, that it ain't easy -- then someone needs to clue in hip-hop's smoothest mack, Snoop Dogg.

Sure, newcomers to the Snoop myth may only know him as the image consultant-massaged philanthropic father figure and goofball actor. They may not even know what old-schoolers do, that Snoop has been a director of some very blue movies and claims to have commanded a stable of actual ladies for sale.

Born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., Snoop first swaggered onto the gangsta rap scene in the early '90s piggybacking on his pal Dr. Dre's legendary "The Chronic" album. Tha Dogg's laid-back drawl and crude, blunt -- that's a pun, folks -- lyrics were an instant hit.

It didn't hurt that, at the time, gangsta rap was at its peak and Snoop specialized in spitting and living violent rhymes, as his many arrests attest. When trying to sell listeners on the purported realness of the "gangstas" behind gangsta rap, Snoop was a marketer's dream.

Shortly before his 1993 debut ("Doggystyle") hit stores, Snoop was charged with being an accomplice to murder, and his album was the first release to ever enter the charts at No. 1. Because of his pending legal battles, his 1996 sophomore effort, "The Doggfather," didn't fare as well. Getting arrested is so distracting.

And rap was in the process of becoming hip-hop, while gangsta rap was being pushed underground. But as the saying goes, you can't keep a good pimp down.

From 1998 to 2001, he revamped his image, releasing a string of inconsequential albums but expanding his mogulhood and exposure. He'd drifted into various cameo roles, basically playing himself, and then struck gold with 2004's "R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece" and last year's "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment," both sporting a slightly less misogynistic and much less aggressive Snoop.

It is from these albums that Snoop is sure to entertain the patrons at Love nightclub on Saturday night, where he is scheduled to perform -- yes, perform; not just wave at the crowd and disappear into the VIP room. So ladies (and gents, if you like) do be prepared to "Drop It Like It's Hot."

--Darona Williams (Express, August 30, 2007)