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 .
On the Dr. Dre-produced track "Boss' Life", Snoop Dogg makes reference to the upcoming Detox album of Dr. Dre with the line "If my nigga's Detoxin' there's more for me". In the physical single release of the song the verses by Akon was replaced by Nate Dogg.
"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
Samples
Intrology
- "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" by Jay-Z
Think About It
- "I Need You" by The Impressions
Crazy
- "She's Strange" by Cameo (interpolation)
That's That Shit
- "The Bath" by Nile Rodgers
Candy (Drippin' Like Water)
- "9th Wonder (Blackploitism)" by Digable Planets
- "Candy" by Cameo
Boss' Life
- "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by The Controllers
- "Everybody Rise" by Busta Rhymes
L.A.X.
- "Going Back to Cali" by The Notorious B.I.G.
- "More Bounce to the Ounce" by Zapp
' Round Here
- "Thank You" by Dido
Like This
- "Coffy Sauna" by Roy Ayers
Conversations
- "Have a Talk with God" by Stevie Wonder
Unreleased/Unused songs
Some of these songs ended up on Snoop Dogg's Blue Carpet Treatment (Tha Mixtape) and Snoop Dogg Presents: Unreleased Heatrocks .
- "Go Girl"
- "So Special"
- "Wannabes"
- "Look Around"
- "Smokin' Smokin' Weed"
- "Put this Thang on You"
- "Got My Own"
- "Like An Eagle"
- "Life"
- "untitled"
Credits
Singles
Videos
- "Real Talk"
- "Vato"
- "Vato"
- "That's That Shit"
- "I Wanna Love You"
- "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)"
- "Boss' Life"
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
References
- ^ Snoop Dogg : Releases : Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
- ^ http://mixunit.com/bluecarpetmix.html
- ^ dubcnn.com // Frequency Interview (February 2007) // West Coast News Network //
- ^ http://www.allhiphop.com/features/index.asp?ID=1567
- ^ YouTube - Snoop Dogg: "Imagine" (feat Dr. Dre)
- ^ a b c
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is the eighth solo album released by rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released on November 21, 2006 on Geffen Records.
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