Keep the Faith
Snoop Dogg
Bible of Love
Living in a world where the good of humanity is constantly being challenged, many people have felt a need to find guidance in a higher spirit, or simply cleanse away the daily woes. For Snoop Dogg, a veteran in the rap game and a man who’s lived several lives, seeking God seems to have been his answer. His 16th studio album, Bible of Love, has twice as many tracks and 30 featured artists; rounding up gospel artists (the Clark Sisters, Mary Mary, Marvin Sapp, 3rd Generation), R&B singers (K-Ci, Faith Evans, Mali Music) and the occasional rapper (Jazze Pha, Daz Dillinger), the album pairs heavily Christianbased vocals with various personal sermons… and the very rare Snoop Dogg verse.
For most of the album, Snoop takes a backseat and lets his curse-free curation shine, but in the moments where he takes the mic, he speaks to change, accountability, unity and worship, and even takes a moment to evoke clergy duties on “Voices of Praise.” Similarly, “Change the World,” which features Pastor John P. Key, applies an updated “If I Ruled the World” mentality, while Snoop speaks about being blessed and highly favoured on traditional black church choir single, “Blessing Me Again.” However, at times it’s difficult to distinguish whether Uncle Snoop really invested in this album, or if he simply ran through a rolodex of names and asked them to contribute. While it’s difficult to find flaws in the actual vocals of featured artists, or even the positive messaging throughout the album, Bible of Love lacks a sense of direction. In one moment, Jazze Pha is speaking about haters over a trap-infused beat, and in the next, Patti LaBelle is re-imagining Thomas Whitfield’s “I Shall Wear a Crown.” While his intentions may be pure, Snoop’s attention to the assembling of this album needed a little more love.
renewal and acceptance. It is both raw and refined, a mesmerizing meditation on the nature of change.
Though largely guided by instrumentals that reflect FitzGerald’s proclivity for choice harmonies and sweeping chord progressions, All That Must Be also features thoughtful collaborations with Lil Silva, Bonobo, Tracey Thorn and Hudson Scott. Ultimately, All That Must Be is a glowing album that plots the psychological journey of its creator through the often unnavigable waters of change. Yet somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle of real life, FitzGerald found
his strongest compass. (Double Six, www.dominorecordco.com)