By Odeisel

New York is a tough place to perform as OJ da Juiceman can attest to. It’s a place where everybody’s cousin or man raps and they aren’t particularly fond of many out of towners. If you’re a good performer, though, New York will always appreciate you. This particular bill featured Devin The Dude, Redman and Methodman, and West Coast legend Snoop Dogg, and there wasn’t a weak performance among them, although there were three totally different approaches.

Devin opened the show with a very personal set filled with his trademark frat house raps and his scratch sound effects. His performance was part monologue and his stories linked all of his songs together anecdotally.  Devin performs with a stoner’s coolness, almost like Shaggy (Scooby’s homie not the singer). His tone is measured and doesn’t really alternate much. His everyman persona endears him to weed smokers and while his content is full of bitches and hoes, the audience knows it’s all in jest and with no malice intended. His solid performance included his solo standards like “Do What You Wanna Do,” “More For Me,” and “Steady Getting’ Blowed.”

From there, the show shifted into high gear with the high-energy show of dynamic duo Method Man and Redman.  They opened with a few tracks from the BlackOut 2 album such as “A-yo” and posse cut “How ‘Bout That” featuring protégés Ready Roc and Streetlife.  The crowd was hyped throughout but it is when they went to their bread and butter that the real fun began.

Countless hits from their solo catalogues ensued from “Tonight’s Da Night” to “M.E.T.H.O.D. Man,” “All I Need,” “I’ll Be Dat,” “Da Goodness,” and “Is It Real,” to name a few. The duo constantly doused the standing room only crowd with water and Meth repeatedly stormed the barricade, culminating with a vertical crowd surf and a back belly flop into the crowd who, to their credit, did not drop him. Weed smoke permeated the arena as Method Man exhorted the audience to root for the Yankees who were at the moment wrapping up their game 2 victory in the World Series.

There were multiple crowd eruptions during their solo songs, but the highlights of the show involved their duets from both the original Blackout album with songs like “Da Rockwilder” and “You.” While not their final work, the seminal classic “How High” brought the emotional high to the set. They closed out with the Def Squad rendition of “Rapper’s Delight.”

The headliner needed no introduction and Snoop Dogg is a veteran of over a decade of music (yes you are that old). He came in tow with funk band, The Snoopadelics, as well as a real dj which ensured that the integrity of his original compositions would be in full effect, but the ability to improve was still available.  Snoop has almost four phases to his career so you never really know what incarnation you will get, and Snoop opened up with his newer stuff.

After his first salvo though, he brought out the big guns including Daz and Kurupt for that classic Doggystyle gangsta s**t! “Gin & Juice,” “Nuthin But A G’ Thang,” “Tha Shiznit,” and even the most classic “Bitches Ain’t S**t” were all delivered. Through their ups and downs and beefs with Death Row, the pound has had their beefs, but all was good when they brought out the Lady of Rage who bodied the “G Funk Intro” and hit us with “Afro Puffs.”  While she didn’t stay for the duration, it was great to see that love was still there.

The Dogg Pound served as hype men, when Snoop wasn’t using three bombshell backup dancers, and they did a couple of their hits including “What Would You Do?” and “New York, New York.” Although its been years apart you can see that the chemistry was still there.

Snoop then went into the Pharell phase of his career with “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and “Beautiful.” Each rocking with full band and allowing Snoop to show how good a stage performer he is.  Since the Source Awards in ’94 Snoop has always been fearless on a New York stage and tonight was no exception.  He used  hot chicks, a guest appearance from Devin The Dude during his set, the Snoopadelics, and the Dogg Pound to deliver a command performance. He closed the show with “What’s My Name?” and sent everyone home happy.

Three acts with three different approaches, united by one common theme: the sticky icky. From Devin’s laid back flow, to Meth and Red’s high powered energy, to Snoop’s All-Star jam/burlesque show, the people got their money’s worth.  Chuuuuch.

***If you are viewing on the homepage, click title link to see Snoop Dogg Video***

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