When Snoop Dogg took the Doggystyle 2 title off his planned 2011 release, it was a heads-up to fans that this is not the worthy sequel to his landmark debut. Judging from the highlights, it could have been heading there at one time, but Doggystyle was filler-free and flowed while Doggumentary adheres to mixtape standards, dropping all its banger...

When Snoop Dogg took the Doggystyle 2 title off his planned 2011 release, it was a heads-up to fans that this is not the worthy sequel to his landmark debut. Judging from the highlights, it could have been heading there at one time, but Doggystyle was filler-free and flowed while Doggumentary adheres to mixtape standards, dropping all its bangers into one big bowl along with the B-list material. No doubt, the Yazoo-sampling “Boom” with T-Pain sits on Snoop’s top shelf when it comes to pop, and if you crave that crooked West Coast style, "We Rest n Cali" rocks off-kilter, worships at the altar of Zapp, and sticks both regional hero Goldie Loc and P-Funk legend Bootsy on the track, just so all the elements are in place. The gimmicky “Wet” is a fine follow-up to “Sensual Seduction,” and the surprises are either extremely rewarding this time out (the Gorillaz collaboration “Sumthin’ Like This Night” is beautifully broken reggae that can lift the listener to a higher plane) or pleasantly amusing (the Willie Nelson team-up “Superman” is sloppy, front porch, and very cute). Navigating this 21-track session is the hard part, but once fans do the necessary trimming and pull out their favorite 14 or so, Doggumentary becomes a fine addition to Snoop’s catalog. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi