This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
A new Snoop Dogg disc is nothing to shout about. A good Snoop Dogg disc, though, is another story. And R&G — Rhythm & Gangster: The Masterpiece is one of the D-O-Double-G’s strongest efforts in years.
That’s partly due to the adventurous sound, which finds Snoop augmenting his low-riding pimpadelic G-funk with the off-balance grooves and get-yer-freak-on sonics of co-exec producers The Neptunes. The inspired sampling of licks from the likes of Run-DMC and The Bee Gees doesn’t hurt either. Then there’s the A-list guest list with everyone from Nelly and Fitty to JT. But mainly, R&G kicks because Snoop sounds more interested than he has in ages, dropping rhymes that are hard-hitting, thought-provoking and smartly structured.
Granted, it doesn’t quite live up to its title. Like most rap discs, R&G is about 20 minutes too long. And I could have done without the tired misogyny and cliche Scarface sample. But ultimately I gotta agree with Tony Montana: Every dog has his day. And in Snoop’s case, it’s about tizzle.
