3 stars
(Doggystyle/Geffen)

Now that Snoop Dogg runs the most successful rent-a-thug service in hip-hop (see “Buttons”), why does he need to bother releasing an LP? While he could get real paid and even more famous by dropping more guest verses, he has cut another full album. This reason may be respect, money, or some contractual obligation, but it’s certainly not the music itself.

For the most part, the new disc finds Snoop trying to step his game into the realms of MCs that still matter to the record buying public, which seems to be mostly middle-class white boys. Ironically, only the thugs Snoop contracts for the occasion save the album from being completely awful.

The most interesting track is “L.A.X.,” a collaboration with Ice Cube that samples the vocals from Biggie’s “Goin’ Back to Cali.” But this just reminds us how great the source material is; the choice shows the desperation in the former gangsta titans desperate to revive their former image.

“That’s That Shit” features R. Kelly and, bizarrely and hilariously, begins with a sample from the movie “Coming to America” of Eddie Murphy urinating. It surprising that Kells is on board with this in light of his past urinary malfeasance. But he even seems to be enjoying himself, squeaking out a “thank you” to a woman who helps empty his “royal penis.” Sadly the song itself is mediocre, with Kells on autopilot contributing lines like “I pull up, whip low in the Phantom/With the wheels spinnin’/Ladies like that’s that shit” and a beat that sounds like a rightfully rejected outtake from the “Kill Bill 2” soundtrack.

Snoop also shows he can get down with the new breed. The illuminating “Gangbangin’ 101” features The Game. You’d think shit would go down, since The Game is a well-known Blood, and Snoop incessantly references his Crip heritage. But you’d be wrong. The song is a plea for the two gangs to combine into an even more fearsome force. Their peacefulish, emptyish sentiment is neatly summarized by The Game with this lovely couplet: “I’m Martin Luther King with two guns on/ Huey P. Newton with Air Force Ones on.” Shakespearean? Sensical? You be the judge.

The peaceful gangbangin’ is exacerbated by the strangest yet most awesome track on the album, “Imagine,” featuring Dr. Dre and D’Angelo. It begins with a claim by Snoop that the album is so gangsta, that the tone needs to be settled down a bit. This is inaccurate. But the track bangs anyway, with Dr. Dre actually singing a verse about hip-hop being a mostly positive force for black Americans.

This segues into the concluding track, “Conversations,” featuring Stevie Wonder imploring people to talk with God. It’s long way between the four tracks that divide (Akon’s “I Wanna Fuck You”), to praising God’s power, and this just underscores the album’s schizophrenia. Snoop tries everything he can to demonstrate he’s still relevant. He’s not. Snoop thinks he can still be more than a musical whore lending his wares to the highest bidders, but as the man himself once said, “bitch, please.”

—Reviewer Scoop A. Wasserstein can be reached at wasserst@fas.harvard.edu