Check out Snoop Dogg’s albums ranked from ‘Doggystyle’ to ‘Tha Doggfather’

Snoop Dogg’s career has included everything from being on trial for murder to kicking it with his buddy Martha Stewart. The disparity shouldn’t be a surprise since the Long Beach rapper has made a living reaching multiple layers of pop culture with his music.

After debuting on Dr. Dre’s “Deep Cover,” it was basically understood that Snoop Doggy Dogg was the next great rapper out of the West Coast. After a starring role on Dre’s landmark album The Chronic, Snoop surpassed expectations with his Doggystyle debut LP. By making his Long Beach style palatable to a mainstream audience, Uncle Snoop became the marketable “gangsta” rapper with slick lyrics that even your mother might recognize.

Nevertheless, it’s still almost unbelievable that Snoop has over a dozen solo albums (not counting his gospel and reggae projects) under his belt. REVOLT ranked the Doggfather’s best albums below.

Snoop often tries to fit every rapper he can on to his albums, but his shorter affair still packed plenty of potency. From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites is a modest 10-track project that comes in at just over 35 minutes long. The LP received a long list of solid reviews for a lyrically spry Snoop showing he hadn’t lost a step over tracks from dependable, longtime collaborators like Soopafly, Rick Rock and Battlecat.

Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told was Snoop’s first album after he left Death Row Records and slid over to No Limit Records. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the warm reception he was looking for. The album was a commercial success, but aside from lead singles “Still A G Thang” and “Woof!” the project failed to resonate with longtime fans.

Though he never really strayed, I Wanna Thank Me was Snoop returning to his more distilled form — West coast flavored beats and gangsta rhymes. This is realized with a handful of instrumentals conducted by veteran West Coast Hip Hop producer Battlecat along with contributions from Soopafly and Rick Rock. On the eponymous lead single, Snoop basically sampled himself via Dr. Dre’s “Next Episode.”

Doggumentary is often overlooked in Snoop’s extensive catalog. Perhaps its most interesting factoid is that the lead single, “Wet,” was recorded specifically for British Royal Prince Williams’ bachelor party. Despite featuring a who’s who of guests like Young Jeezy, Devin The Dude and Wiz Khalifa, the album didn’t rate high amongst Snoop fans.

Snoop Dogg has so many albums — released at a consistent clip of no more than two years in-between — that they could start to run together. Malice ‘N Wonderland’s breakout single was “I Wanna Rock,” whose beat was a g-funk meets chopped and screwed flip of Rob Base’s “It Takes Two” that became a dancefloor delight.

Snoop Dogg teamed up with Pharrell Williams for a short and sweet 10-record LP called BUSH. Produced entirely by Pharrell and Chad Hugo, the project was well received. The longtime collaborators bolstered their already fine chemistry on cuts like “Peaches & Cream,” which featured another Snoop regular, Charlie Wilson, “So Many Pros” and “California Roll” featuring Stevie Wonder.

Originally, the Doggfather intended for this to be a true solo project with no features. That didn’t actually happen. But, the lead single, “Sensual Seduction” did feature Snoop purely singing and carrying his notes (with the help of Autotune). The album was warmly received with a comfortable Snoop Dogg hitting familiar notes with dependable guests like Charlie Wilson, Kurupt and Pharrell Williams.

BODR is an abbreviation for Bacc On Death Row, where Snoop found himself after taking the helm of his original recording label, Death Row Records. The album pretty much consisted of standard Snoop fare, but with no real standouts. While familiar producers like Battlecat were present, Snoop shined over beats from newer production wunderkinds like Hit-Boy, who helmed “Conflicted” featuring Nas and “Jerseys In The Rafters” featuring The Game.

With so much new music accessible due to streaming, Snoop’s Neva Left album felt like it came and left rather quickly. More in line with his g-funk roots, the LP was perhaps most notable for featuring an old picture of Snoop on its cover that was taken back in 1992. Released independently on his own Doggystyle Records, a noteworthy song is “Mount Kushmore” featuring Redman, Method Man and B-Real — the track’s subject matter is self-evident.

On Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss, Snoop was out to prove he could make magic with all the greatest producers he could find (Just Blaze, Hi-Tek, DJ Premier and more). The Neptunes managed to make a couple of standouts with lead single "From Tha Chuuuch To Da Palace" and the massive smash hit “Beautiful.” Snoop transformed into a song-making maestro who could rock clubs, stadiums and frat parties with equal aplomb.

Sometimes less is more, but that’s not the case with COOLAID. On over 20 tracks, Snoop continued to tap into his endless goodwill by securing guest features with some of his favorite rappers, such as Too Short, E-40 and Suga Free, and producers like Timbaland, Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz and more. The most notable single was “Kush Ups,” which featured his fellow weed rap connoisseur Wiz Khalifa.

Dr. Dre departed from Death Row Records and left Snoop’s cousin Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh to pick up the production weight. Although the album was a commercial success, Snoop suffered a sophomore jinx, as it didn’t live up to the expectations set by his Doggystyle debut. Nevertheless, the album has plenty of highlights like "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" and the Biz Markie cover “Vapors.”

Snoop was in the pocket when he dropped Tha Last Meal. Dr. Dre’s beats helped make this album a gem thanks to cuts like “Lay Low,” featuring Nate Dogg, Butch Cassidy, Tha Eastsidaz and Master P. The rest of the production wasn’t too shabby either with Timbaland on “Snoop Dogg (What's My Name Pt. 2),” Soopafly on “Loosen Control” and Jelly Roll on “Wrong Idea” providing elastic grooves for Snoop to get busy to. As a result, fans and critics ate this project up.

Snoop Dogg continued to make his crafting of gangsta rap soundtracks seem effortless on R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. While Dr. Dre was awol, he wasn’t missed too badly thanks to booming grooves from the Neptunes, Mr. Porter, Lil Jon and more. One of the album’s most poignant tracks, “Ups & Downs,” found Snoop asserting his faith over a neck-snapping drum track and a Bee Gees sample. Somehow, it was totally on brand. But the chartbuster on here was the stripped-down anthem “Drop It Like It’s Hot” featuring Pharrell, which was a No. 1 hit single.

Tha Blue Carpet Treatment was billed as a return to his street roots, at least lyrically. The album flexed Uncle Snoop’s star power with a guestlist that reads like an award show roster, featuring the likes of Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Jamie Foxx, Ice Cube and many more. The LP’s lead single, “I Wanna F**k You,” featuring Akon, became a hit thanks to its sanitized, radio friendly version, “I Wanna Love You.”

Snoop Dogg found himself in a feud and on the outs with Suge Knight, who was in control of his Death Row Records home, leaving the rapper in limbo. Master P, an industry strongman, swooped in to give Snoop a lifeline. Any concern of Snoop being able to thrive at No Limit Records — this was his second album on the label — was put to pasture with the club shaker “Down For My N**gas.” A thumping beat from his old homie Dr. Dre on “B**ch Please” featuring Xzibit didn’t hurt either as No Limit Top Dogg proved Snoop was still a musical force despite any personal or business drama.

Doggystyle was the culmination of the West Coast style of Hip Hop Dr. Dre began formulating with N.W.A. In Snoop Dogg, the production virtuoso found the perfect mix of rhyme and swagger to compliment his sterling production. The album had a seamless blend of radio hits with “Who Am I? (What's My Name?)” and “Gin and Juice,” deep cut party rockers like “It Ain’t No Fun,” and straight rhyme skill showcases, such as “G’z & Hustlas” and “Tha Shiznit.” The LP made Snoop distinguish himself as an A1 emcee. He even threw in a nod to Hip Hop pioneers with the Slick Rick cover “Lodi Dodi.” From the ad libs to the skits to the massive singles, Snoop covered all the bases, making Doggystyle one of the greatest albums of all time.

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