Presents the Big Squeeze [Edited]

Performer: Snoop Dogg
Engineer: Chris Jackson
Producer: Soopafly; David Banner; Niggaracci
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: This 20-track live album features in-concert performances, recorded in 2002 and 2003, from the young French dance-pop sensation Lorie. "Pres de Moi," "I Love You," and "Tout Pour Toi" are among the tracks. The set comes with a bonus DVD. Personnel: Snoop Dogg (rap vocals); Marlon Williams (guitars); Terrance Martin (keyboards); Uncle Chuck (bass instrument). Fresh off the triumphant success of one of the tightest albums of his career, big Snoop Dogg returns with a collaborative effort that showcases the hottest artists on his own label, Doggystyle Records. THE BIG SQUEEZE also displays Snoop's overlooked talents with beats. As he explains it on the intro, "I wanted to produce this whole (*ahem*) record from start to finish and I wanted to put out all the (*ahem*) artists that I'm (*ahem*) workin' wit. Ya dig?" Over 15 tracks, the Dogg shows and proves himself behind the boards under the alias "Niggaracci," putting together a hard-banging West Coast sound highly influenced by Dr. Dre (lucky for Snoop, he was mentored by one of the best), with traces of the bouncier pop that Snoop has been known to delve into with the likes of Timbaland and the Neptunes. On the whole, THE BIG SQUEEZE is a gangsta party featuring many of the same Cali mainstays who made strong showings on THE BLUE CARPET TREATMENT such as Tha Dogg Pound, Bad Lucc, Western Union, Damani, Azure, and War Zone (the group made of MC Eiht, Goldie Loc, and Kam). As Snoop explains during the intro, The Big Squeeze was made to feature some underappreciated and unknown West Coast talent, plus showcase Snoop as producer and beat-maker, for which he uses the pseudonym Niggaracci. He's no Dr. Dre behind the boards, at least not yet, but he's surprisingly good, offering numerous hypnotic basslines, skeletal G-funk, and crooked beats perfect for crip-walking. During the intro he also claims he wanted to produce the record "from start to finish," but Soopafly is in charge of Tha Dogg Pound's "We Came to Bang Out" while the relaxed highlight "Can U Get Away?" was produced by David Banner. They could have been added last minute, and they could be clues as to why the release feels a bit patched together, but the enthusiasm and pride Snoop projects throughout the album makes up for a lot, especially for hardcore fans who have heard him sleepwalk through these types of fringe releases before. The loose weekend feel of the album makes it hard for most to really shine with their rhymes, save the gruff War Zone, who emerges as one to watch thanks to his fine work on "Shackled Up." Veteran Kurupt is also a pleasure to hear, as are MC Eiht and JT the Bigga Figga in their disappointingly short appearances. Since Kurupt, War Zone, and the Niggaracci side of Snoop are the ones who truly benefit from the comp, The Big Squeeze comes up short on its goal of making every name known. Still, this Left Coast party is a really good party even if you don't remember every stranger you meet. ~ David Jeffries

Snoop Doggy Dogg ensured his place in rap history by providing the perfect vocal complement to Dr. Dre's mellow, ominous, West Coast G-funk sound. His distinctively lazy singsong and soft-spoken drawl was first heard on Dre's title cut from the DEEP COVER soundtrack in 1991. Snoop's appearances on Dre's solo album THE CHRONIC shortly thereafter propelled him to almost overnight stardom, and his albums DOGGYSTYLE and the DOGGFATHER both hit the top of the charts. Despite a much-publicized murder trial, and a falling out with Death Row Record's CEO Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg ascended to the highest echelon of rap royalty, and through shrewd marketing, brilliant collaborations, and his smooth pimp persona, he has kept his crown well into the 21st century.

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