Lyrically, Dogg's work has grown more violent since his playful Doggy Style days. Whether that's because the No Limit braggadocio meter is constantly pinned to excess or because Dogg's verbal vision has taken a turn for the worse is moot. Yeah, Dogg, ever the skillful wordsmith, plays into the flow of his funky grooves skillfully and effortlessly. But his topics feel hackneyed and ridiculous, not to mention gratuitously violent. With the help of filth-monger "talents" like C-Murder, whose guest appearance on the monochromatic "Down 4 My N's" is the low point of the album, and Silkk the Shocker ("Gangsta Ride"), Dogg explores all the de rigueur topics, from blowing people away, to smacking bitches up, to showin' folks the money, to painting the White House black. I understand these are all real issues for the gangsta community, but I also understand it's all been done before and better. As soon as Snoop understands that hip-hop is in desperate need of originality (maybe he should listen to the Roots), not smoking-gun one-upmanship, the better off he'll be.
— Bob Gulla (Wall Of Sound)
ike any gangsta release, there are a couple of ways to evaluate Snoop Dogg's new No Limit Top Dogg, his second album for Master P's No Limit label. One of them is musical, the other lyrical. Musically, Dogg's intense admiration for the funk and R&B of the early '80s and acts like Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, and the Ohio Players serves him well on thumping tracks like "Doin' Too Much," "Party With a D.P.G.," and the Rick James deep funk of "Gangsta Ride." As an arranger, Dogg (AKA Calvin Broadus) plays it fairly simple, with bouncing bass lines, spare drum loops, and catchy, high-end counter-melodies. When he branches out of that formula, as he does on the smooth, nearly quiet-storm soul of "Don't Tell," featuring Warren G, and the nervy, if a little silly "I Love My Momma," the result is musically impressive, not to mention a refreshing departure from the trad-gangsta bluster.