It’s hard to believe Snoop’s been on the scene for so long. Somehow he manages to stay ahead of trends and he makes it look effortless.

He doesn’t seem to release too much of his own music these days, preferring to do little cameos here and there. But when I decided to review Drop It Like It’s Hot, I assumed that it was more recent than 2004. It’s had a bit of a renaissance recently on our music channels, so naturally I assumed it was a re-release.

Anyway, in the style of great hip-hop tracks, Snoop teamed up with Pharell Williams for this one. Pharell, at the time being hot property (pardon the pun). The tune is deliberately light on instrumentation, relying on a sparse beat from a drum machine and a little bit of synth. Oh, and an innovative backing of tongue clicks. I’m not joking - listen to the track.

Snoop ..er… drops it in his laid back, distinctive drawl, while Pharell is slightly surplus to requirements. The lyrics aren’t much out of the ordinary, but sometimes with hip-hop it’s more about the beats than getting Shakespearian quality couplets, isn’t it? That’s the strength of the track - simple beats, clever use of synth and no-brainer repetitive lyrics that get wedged in your head.