Top 10 Snoop Dogg Songs

Photo: Mika Väisänen, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Snoop Dogg Songs

Also known as Snoop Lion and Snoop Doggy Dogg, Snoop Dogg is one of the biggest names in the hip-hop industry. Born on October 20th, 1971, in Long Beach, California, Snoop Dogg grew up to become an American songwriter, singer, actor, businessman, media personality, and rapper. Snoop became a famous figure in gangsta rap in the 1990s, and he was for many an epitome of the West Coast hip-hop culture.

After completing his high school education, Snoop was often in and out of prison for an extended period. When he started focusing on his hip-hop career, he came to D. Dre’s attention, and this saw him being featured on Deep Cover, Dr. Dre’s single in 1992.

After the release of Deep Cover, Snoop became famous, which led him to be featured in Dre’s solo album. In fact, his vocals on Deep Cover propelled him to stardom. And he first released his first album back in 1993 titled Doggystyle.

Doggystyle was a successful album; it became the first-ever debut album to top Billboard 200. At the time of recording his first album, Doggystyle, Snoop was convicted in connection to the shooting. Though he was cleared on all charges after a while, the case saw him entangled in court for years. This contributed significantly to a delayed release of his new album Tha Doggfather back in 1996. During this period, gangsta rap had started to the ebb tide.

And for years, his record did not deliver excitement among his fans as opposed to his debut; however, this did not stop him from rapping. Snoop’s well-cultivated and cartoonish persona made him a significant public icon. He brought into the mainstream media his slang from the West Coast along with the verbal tics.

Snoop became a frequent television and radio guest in his career, and he was featured in several films, including Training Day in 2001. In addition to that, Snoop was also featured in several animation films, including The Simpsons and The Boondocks, to name a few.

In 2012, Snoop announced that due to his love for the Rastafari movement, he would be changing his name to Snoop Lion. While under this name, Snoop released a reggae album titled Reincarnated in 2013. In the same year, he collaborated with funk musician Dam-Funk on his album 7 Days of Funk under the name of Snoopzilla.

And in 2015, Snoop went back to his original name Snoop Dogg with an R & B and funk release titled Bush, produced by Pharrell Williams. Later on, he went back to rap in 2017 for Neva Left, followed by a double gospel album titled Snoop Dogg Present Bible of Love in 2018. In 2019, Snoop released his new rap album called I Wanna Thank Me.

After going through his life history, let’s now go through the top 10 Snoop Dogg songs of all time.

# 10 – Who Am I? (What’s My Name)

Before releasing his first album in 1993, Snoop had already started accruing his followers after working with Dr. Dre. Who Am I? was a hit, and it was the time for Snoop Dogg to shine as a solo artist. This song was a self-indulgent single, and it became one of his signature tracks where he promoted himself as a young gangster rapper.

# 9 – Drop It Like It’s Hot

Released in 2004 as a Rhythm & Gangsta (R&G) song, the Drop It Like It’s Hot song gave him his first US number-one single, with a simple production offered by Neptune (Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams). This song was a little more than a tongue-click beat that was topped with keyboard and bass.

# 8 – Gin & Juice

Snoop’s leading Single was Who Am I? however, Gin & Juice was the real jewel in the crown. In this song, Snoop Dogg’s lyrics tackled several social issues, including street gangs, which is something Snoop was linked with for years, having associated himself with one of the biggest gangs in California.

# 7 – 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted

There are hip-hop artists who are known to have made a remarkable second album; however, most of them often fail catastrophically compared to their debut. Unfortunately, the same happened with Snoop’s Tha Doggfather album. Although the album had its moment, it was his collaboration with 2Pac (a few months before his death) for 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted that was, without a doubt, very impressive.

# 6 – Vato

Rhythm & Gangsta had become heavily rooted in the radio-friendly pop singles, and as a result, Snoop’s credibility started to wane. With the follow-up to Rhythm & Gangsta, Snoop decided to do a grand return with all guns blazing instead of getting further into the mainstream. One of his best-performing songs was Vato which tackled racial tension between Hispanics and African-Americans in Los Angeles.

# 5 – Murder Was The Case

This song is timeless. It was an early classic by Snoop Dogg that features a top-notch production from Dr. Dre that backed up the (autobiography) storytelling. The song was used as a soundtrack in a short film. Dr. Dre directed the 18-minute movie along with Fab Five Freddy along with chronicles that depicted a fictional death of Snoop Dogg along with his resurrection.

# 4 – Imagine

Featuring Dr. Dre and D’Angelo, Imagine was the best track on The Blue Carpet Treatment album released in 2006. The song features the typical instrumental by Dr. Dre along with some top-notch lyrics from Snoop Dogg and Dre. This was their first record together in ages.

# 3 – Beautiful

Released in 2003, Beautiful is one of the prime examples of Snoop’s most extraordinary synergy with Pharrell Williams along with Neptune’s production team. This song was one of Snoop Dogg’s greatest hits, and it features a top-notch video as well.

# 2 – I Wanna Rock

This song was from Snoop Dogg’s tenth album titled Malice n Wonderland. Although it wasn’t one of Snoop’s greatest albums, the track I Wanna Rock stood out as overall the best song in that particular album.

# 1 – Tha Shiznit

This was one of the songs on Snoop’s album Doggystyle that exemplifies the collaboration between two of the all-time greatest artists from the West Coast at the height of their skills. This was a perfect Dr. Dre’s beat, along with Snoop’s rhyming at their best. It is, without a doubt, a classic material.