10 Til’ Midnight

When the D-O-Double-G dropped his now-classic debut album—1993’s debaucherous <i>Doggystyle</i>—no one could have predicted that the gin-and-juice-sipping gangster would one day be an Olympics correspondent and count Martha Stewart as a dear friend. Still, America’s uncle has kept his skills sharpened with 35 years in the game. On <i>10 Til’ Midnight</i>—Snoop’s 22nd solo album, and his fourth as CEO of the resurrected Death Row Records—the old dog proves he doesn’t need new tricks on songs that breathe new life into vintage G-funk grooves (with album art that pays homage to N.W.A’s <i>Straight Outta Compton</i>). On “OG to BG” and “17 Rules” he puts Gen Z on game, and he preaches the gospel of the LBC on the Nottz-produced “Long Beachin’”. And on the low-riding “QTSAMYAH”, Snoop considers the adage that you’re only as good as your last hit: “Cool, then line these plaques up.” Appropriately funky beats come by way of legends: Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, Erick Sermon, Rick Rock and occasionally the Dogg himself.