Snoop Dogg

Sooner or later, show business reduces everyone it touches to shtick. And Calvin Broadus, a.k.a. Snoop Dogg, despite his old-school stoner-gangsta persona, is now a genuine show-biz personality, his ubiquity on record and film now distilled to a telegraphic spot in a cell-phone ad with Wayne Newton and Paris Hilton. Still, Dogg’s laid-back conversational flow has winning characteristics. Three cuts into this, a Neptunes track called “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Dogg nips into his shizzle shtick, and from there it’s Fantasy Island—guest-spot time: Bootsy Collins, the Bee Gees, crunk architect Lil’ Jon, Justin Timberlake, Nelly and 50 Cent. When it works, it’s feather-light funk à la The Motor Booty Affair. When it doesn’t, it’s an Aaron Spelling joint. What’s next—Snoop Dogg: The Friar’s Club Roast?