Blog: Beats Per Minute

When I first heard about Snoop Dogg’s plan to leave behind the only genre he’s ever known, I couldn’t help but think of Joaquin Phoenix, whose odd, short-lived rap career left everyone scratching their heads, even after it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax. Parallels aside, we should, in general, refrain from making snap judgments about things like this. But “La La La,” Snoop Dogg’s toe dipping as the reincarnated Snoop Lion, seems fated to pique similar questions, namely: what the hell is he thinking? Adopting a pseudo-Jamaican accent in his pinched nasal timbre (“them” becomes “dem”), [...]