Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is the eighth
solo
album released by
rapper Snoop Dogg. It was
released on November 21, 2006 on
Geffen
Records.
Album information
The phrase "Blue Carpet" in the album's title refers to Snoop
Dogg's affiliation with the
Crips street gang
who often wear blue and shun the red of their rival gang, the
Bloods. The album cover has undergone several
revisions. The first concept, revealed in August 2006 on
SnoopDogg.com, featured a cartoon dog (representing Snoop Dogg)
displaying Crip
gang signals while
standing on a blue carpet patterned like a
bandana. Had this design been used, it would have
been the third of Snoop Dogg's album covers to use the cartoon
likeness of the rapper that was designed by his cousin Darryl
Daniel.
An
updated version was shown on the Late Show with David
Letterman 13th Anniversary Special on August 30, 2006 that
featured a parody of the famous Hollywood Sign
which instead read "LONG BEACH". It was then
changed to its current version. Geffen posted this as the final
cover for the album on their website.
Snoop Dogg told Billboard that he was working on this album,
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, for nine months. He has
collaborated with the likes of
R. Kelly,
Ice Cube,
Pharrell,
D'Angelo,
Akon,
B-Real of
Cypress Hill, and even
Stevie Wonder. The second single, "Candy
(Drippin Like Water)" uses a sample of Ladybug Mecca's lyrics from
Digable Planets' "Blackitolism" off of their critically acclaimed
Blowout Comb album. She also appears in the video at the request of
Snoop Dogg and E-40. He also confirmed that
Dr.
Dre had a big input on this album, producing several tracks and
even rapping a verse on the track, "Imagine". This as of now was
the last album Dre produced for Snoop. He also did I Wanna Fuck You
with Akon but had to release a cleaned up version for radio play
called
I Wanna Love You.
Snoop
Dogg's new album takes the Long Beach, California
native back to his gangsta roots. The rapper
told MTV.com the album has allowed him to embrace his true nature.
"I went right back to the 'hood", he said of his album's
production. "I took it back to the basics. I've been making a lot
of pop songs, lot of R&B songs. Songs that may have made my
fans feel like I wavered from what I was naturally accustomed to
doing. But I'm an entertainer and I entertain people and that's
what I was feeling at the time. But right now, I'm feeling like
going right back to the 'hood".
Pharrell said the
rapper's music video, "Vato" will not
only show his gangsta side, but will also tackle the issue of
violence between African Americans
and Hispanics in Los
Angeles
and call for racial unity.
Snoop Dogg, teamed up with known DJs from the West, East, and the
South and released
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment Mixtape,
which was hosted by DJ Skee,
DJ Whoo
Kid, and
DJ Drama. It contained all the
rumoured tracks that had been cut from the final track listing of
his studio album. It was released a few weeks before the official
album came out.
The track "Think About It" was composed by Frequency in his dorm
room one and a half year prior to this album while he was a student
in Virginia. The material was passed to Mike Chavez of Geffen
Records who gave it to Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg used the track to
show his older son - who had not chosen him as the favorite hip-hop
artist when being asked - that he can still be an old school
gangster rapper regarding his style if he wants to.
Originally, the track "Imagine" was slated to be on
Busta Rhymes'
The Big Bang album. Busta Rhymes stated
in several interviews, shortly before The Big Bang's release, that
the sample for "Imagine" was still trying to be cleared. Busta
Rhymes stated that he was not sure that the sample would be cleared
in time for his album's release, meaning that the song would not be
included on his album. The sample was not cleared in time, and it
is presumable that the song was handed off to Snoop Dogg for his
album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment soon after. It was then recorded
with verses by Kam and Snoop Dogg (different from the current
version) that was played on the TBCT Listening party. Although
Busta Rhymes later released a "remix" to the song "Imagine", it is
presumable that his "remix" is actually the intended original song
that did not make the release of his album, The Big Bang. Moreover
artists like Nas, Ja Rule and Black-Ty (Tyrese Gibson's rapper
alter-ego) also did their freestyle to the song.
"Which One of You" was recorded prior to this album by and for a
group called N.V. that is run by producing team 1500 Or
Nothin'.
The song "'Round Here" samples the same sample from the song
"
Thank You" performed by Dido
that
Eminem used for
Stan. Snoop Dogg wasn't aware of this fact when
making the record.
"L.A.X." contains a sample of "More Bounce to the Ounce" by Zapp,
which Snoop Dogg already used once in one of his earlier album cut,
in "Snoop Bounce" from
Tha
Doggfather.
"Don't Stop" is produced by Los Angeles based producer Chris "THX"
Goodman
As of November 11, 2006 the album had leaked to the internet and
file sharing networks in full. The album debuted at #5 on the
Billboard charts,. after selling 264,000 copies.the album sold a
total of 1,353,964 copies as in December 2008.
Ghostwritters:
"That's That Shit", "Boss' Life" & "Imagine" had lyrics
ghostwritten by former
Aftermath
Entertainment artist
Stat Quo (Benton,
S.) &
The D.O.C. (Curry, T.).
Reception
On the
Nielsen SoundScan annual
Best Sellers Top 100 rankings it was listed 97th with the 2006
year-end catalog closing sales number of 637,000 copies despite
having been released in mid-November and its sales data is
accumulated for only one and a half months.
The album maintained generally positive reviews with
IGN calling it "one of Snoop's strongest efforts in a
long time, with the beats, rhymes, and guests all complimenting the
Doggfather with grand immediacy." It received a 4 out of 5 from
Allhiphop.com as well as
About.com and
Allmusic.
Entertainment Weekly
(p. 109) - "Blue Carpet finds him refocused and reunited with
Dr. Dre on three tracks. The two get nostalgic on standout
'Imagine'." - Grade: B+
Vibe (p. 170) - "Tha
Blue Carpet Treatment stands as a strong statement from a veteran
still pushing his artistic boundaries."
XXL (p. 164) - "Snoop's
lyrical fire seems resurrected, as he delivers arguably his most
consistently scorching work post-Doggystyle."
Target exclusive
There is a special edition CD/DVD version of this album available
only at Target, which includes a bonus DVD with interviews,
behind-the-scenes footage,etc.
Track listing
| # |
Title |
Producer(s) |
Time |
| 1 |
"Intrology" (feat. George Clinton) |
Battlecat |
1:59 |
| 2 |
"Think About It" |
Frequency |
3:37 |
| 3 |
"Crazy" (feat. Nate
Dogg) |
Fredwreck |
4:26 |
| 4 |
"Vato" (feat.
B-Real) |
The Neptunes |
4:44 |
| 5 |
"That's That Shit"
(feat. R.
Kelly) |
Nottz |
4:17 |
| 6 |
"Candy"
(feat. E-40, MC Eiht, Goldie Loc,
Tha Dogg Pound) |
Rick Rock |
4:48 |
| 7 |
"Get a Light" (feat. Damian Marley) |
Timbaland, Nisan Stewart |
3:41 |
| 8 |
"Gangbangn 101" (feat. The Game) |
Niggaracci |
4:01 |
| 9 |
"Boss' Life" (feat.
Akon) |
Dr. Dre |
3:22 |
| 10 |
"LAX" (feat. Ice
Cube) |
Battlecat |
3:21 |
| 11 |
"10 Lil' Crips" |
The Neptunes |
3:15 |
| 12 |
"'Round Here" |
Dr. Dre |
3:42 |
| 13 |
"A Bitch I Knew" (feat. Traci
Nelson) |
Rhythum D, Battlecat |
4:32 |
| 14 |
"Like This" (feat. Western Union, LaToiya Williams, Raul Midón) |
Soopafly |
3:56 |
| 15 |
"Which One of You" (feat. Nine Inch Dix) |
1500 or Nothin', Soopafly |
3:32 |
| 16 |
"I Wanna Fuck You"
(feat. Akon) |
Akon |
2:59 |
| 17 |
"Psst!" (feat. Jamie Foxx) |
N8, Brainz |
2:59 |
| 18 |
"Beat Up on Yo Pads" |
Mr. Porter, DJ DDT-Da Busta |
2:57 |
| 19 |
"Don't Stop" (feat. The Warzone, Kurupt) |
THX, Chris
Goodman |
3:22 |
| 20 |
"Imagine" (feat. Dr.
Dre, D'Angelo) |
Dr. Dre, Mark
Batson |
4:42 |
| 21 |
"Conversations" (feat. Stevie Wonder, Azuré) |
DJ Pooh, Stevie
Wonder |
3:38 |
| * |
"My People" |
Battlecat |
5:40 |
| * |
"Real Talk (R.I.P. Tookie)" |
L.T. Hutton |
4:17 |
|
Samples
Intrology
Think About It
Crazy
- "She's Strange" by Cameo
(interpolation)
That's That Shit
Candy (Drippin' Like Water)
Boss' Life
- "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by The Controllers
- "Everybody Rise" by Busta
Rhymes
L.A.X.
Round Here
Like This
Conversations
Unreleased/Unused songs
Some of these songs ended up on Snoop Dogg's
Blue Carpet
Treatment (Tha Mixtape) and
Snoop Dogg Presents:
Unreleased Heatrocks.
Credits
- Mark Batson - Keyboards, Producer
- Mike Bozzi - Assistant
- Leslie Brathwaite - Mixing
- Paul Bruski - Engineer
- Chris Jackson - Engineer
- Mike Chav - Engineer
- Ted Chung - Engineer
- Erik "Baby Jesus" Coomes - Bongos
- Sean Cruse - Bass
- Rick DeVarona Assistant
- DJ Pooh - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
- Nate Dogg - Guest Appearance
- Shon Don - Engineer
- Lamar Edwards - Guitar (Bass)
- Anand Pandit - Engineer
- Jamie Foxx - Producer
- Julio G - Guest Appearance, Interlude
- Abel Garibaldi - Engineer
- Josh Houghkirk - Assistant
- Richard Huredia - Mixing
- Anthony Mandler - Art Direction, Design, Photography
- Deborah Mannis-Gardner - Sample Clearance
- Jeff Meeks - Assistant
- Ian Mereness - Engineer
- Raul Midón - Guitar, Mouth Trumpet
- Dawaun Parker - Keyboards,
Writer
- Orlando Rashid - Engineer
- Robert "Roomio" Reyes - Assistant
- J. Peter Robinson - Art Direction, Design
- April Roomet - Stylist
- Alexis Seton - Mixing
- Soopafly - Vocals, Producer
- Chris Soper - Engineer
- Chris Starr - Vocals (bckgr)
- Phil Tan - Mixing
- Aliaune "Akon" Thiam - Producer
- Timbaland - Producer
- Marlon Williams - Guitar
- Barbara Wilson - Vocals
- Stevie Wonder - Producer
- Chris "THX" Goodman - Producer
Singles
| Single information |
"Vato" (featuring
B-Real)
- Released: August 15, 2006
- Chart
positions: #85 (U.S.
&B), #55 (AUS)
|
"That's That Shit"
(featuring R. Kelly)
- Released: October 10, 2006
- Chart
positions: #20 (U.S.
),
#38 (U.K. )
|
"Candy
" (feat. E-40, Daz, Kurupt, MC Eiht and Goldie Loc)
- Released: December 12, 2006
- Chart positions: (promotional video)
|
"I Wanna Fuck You"
(featuring Akon)
- Released: September 13, 2006
- Chart
positions: #1 (U.S.
), #3
(U.K. )
|
"Imagine" (featuring Dr.
Dre & D'Angelo)
- Released: January, 2007
- Chart
positions: #107 (U.S.
R&B)
|
"Boss' Life" (featuring
Nate Dogg)
- Released: April 10, 2007
- Chart
positions: #65 (U.S.
R&B
|
Videos
Remixes
"Vato" has been remixed by Latin rappers Mal Verde and Lil' Uno.
"Imagine" has also been remixed numerous times. Some popular
remixes include features by
Tyrese
Gibson,
Busta Rhymes,
Adil Omar and
Ja
Rule.
Charts
| Chart (2006) |
Peak
Position |
Sales |
U.S.
Billboard 200 |
5 |
1,354,000 |
| Top R&B / Hip-hop Albums |
2 |
|
| No Top 40 |
18 |
|
| UK Top 75 |
47 |
|
| AUS Top 100 |
56 |
|
| Germany Top 100 |
41 |
|
| Austria Top 75 |
48 |
|
| Switzerland Top 100 |
12 |
|
| New Zealand Top 50 |
20 |
|
| Canada Top 50 |
10 |
|
| Canada R&B |
2 |
|
| European albums |
28 |
|
| Irish chart |
56 |
|
| Netherlands Mega Top 100 |
53 |
|
| French album sales |
8 |
|
| Brazilian sales |
|
1000 |
| Italy albums ACNielsen |
57 |
|
| Poland album chart |
67 |
|
| Hungary album sales chart |
79 |
|
|
Total Sales |
1,010,000 |
References
External links