#funnily enough i had to explain a lot more of the context of this comic to my partner who's not into giant/tiny stuff

[wakebymoonsleepbysun]

"Sun...you're afraid of me, aren't you? I-If you are just say so. I-I won't take it personally, really."

Flower Fae AU, in which you and Sun are both bad at lying.

Context: After being hit by a rogue shrinking spell and getting lost in the woods, Sun and Moon take you in. But the spell doesn't last forever, and things get awkward when you return to human size. Cuz spending time around a 6 inch tall human does NOT make the full size ones any less intimidating.

[beevean]

I came across your IDW post about which ships have been teased in the comic so far, and something that I always find.... surprising, I guess, is that fans do not seem to notice or care just how many ones contain Sonic. One day Sonic gets carried bridal style by Shadow and bam they're bfs now it's canon Sega approved this everybody!!!!!!! The next Blaze is making googly eyes at him and Sonaze canon everybody!!!! Sonic held Lanolin's hand it's canon!!!!!!! Amy is gushing and blushing and oh my god it is totally canon!!!!!!!! (Where, funnily enough, Sonic carrying Amy bridal style elicited much less of such a reaction than Shadow carrying Sonic did in the It Is Canon Now debate, at least from what I could tell on Tumblr. Though considering this is Tumblr, I can think of some reasons, lol.) This happens in the games as well, except the fact I do feel those lean a lot less into deliberate ship teasing like the comic does.

And you know.... if there is so much to be teased in IDW and so much "canon" and every single issue at this point contains a different character for Sonic to be making his smug face at while they simp and/or get all tsundere... maybe it is a clear sign that all this means nothing and is only put in to make fans go "!!!!!! THEY APPROVED MY SHIP I AM SUPERIOR NOW TO ALL OTHER SHIPS CUZ IT IS IN OFFICIAL [*cough, cough*] MEDIA!!1!!1" as opposed to actually going anywhere for Sonic ship-wise? Not that the fans will ever realise that, sigh.

I noticed, actually. The only non-Sonic ships that so far have been teased are Whispangle (and how), Knuxamy in #62, and absolutely accidentally Staregg in the MV arc lol (I don't care how accidental it was, Staregg OTP in my heart :< starline totally wanted to clap those eggcheeks don't @ me)

I think I saw a tweet jokingly calling Sonic a slut when #63 dropped? Don't quote me on that though, I don't remember the phrasing but it was a joke about how many people he has flirted with recently lol (including the heavy Sonknux vibes of Frontiers)

(it's also funny that Sonamy gains far less traction than all those other ships lol. Maybe it's because it's almost "canon" and so not as interesting. Or maybe we know why :^) )

But yeah. I understand enjoying the crumbs of ship teasing, I really do, especially for the minor ones such as Sonaze (Sonanolin is kinda funny though lol, I doubt that one has many fans). But there's a difference between "HOLY SHIT THEY HELD HANDS THAT'S CUTE" and "HOLY SHIT THEY HELD HANDS IT'S TOTALLY CANON GUYS!!!". And cynically, the overabundance of teases involving Sonic can be explained as 1) him being the protagonist and the more interesting character to ship, to generate views and attention (only, like, 6 people cared about the Knuxamy tease and i was one of them), and 2) the dude is so irrelevant in his own comic that this is the best they can think for him. The OCs deal with a semi-serious plot, and the titular character protagonist of the massive franchise IDW Sonic is attached to is reduced to shallow fanfic fuel. Granted, I'll take slut Sonic over Preachy Pope Sonic any time of the day, but you get what I mean.

The Sonadow teasing is IMO the worst. Sonic emotionally manipulates Shadow in #6 by making leverage on the way he had been twisted to carry out Gerald's evil plans? OMG THEY'RE TOTALLY SHARING BEDROOM EYES SONIC SO WANTS TO FUCK HIS BF <3 Shadow is an utter cunt for the entirety of the Chao Racing arc? AWWWWW MY LITTLE GAY BABIESSSSSSS SONIC IS SO HAPPY TO FALL IN HIS ARMS AS SHADOW INSULTS HIMMMMM <3 NVM THAT SHADOW SAID IN #19 THAT SONIC DESERVED TO BE PAINFULLY INFECTED <3 <3 <3 And you know what I also roll my eyes at "I heart you too Shadow" from Prime, for how out of context it was taken. I didn't watch Prime in full, but I did read IDW, and there is no way you can see a healthy chemistry between Sonic and Shadow if you actually pay attention to the whole story and dialogue. ... the fact that Flynn hosted a whole Bumblekast episode dedicated to Sonadow at the end of Pride Month also doesn't help, he deliberately fanned the flames because he knew how much his fans would eat from his hand :\

As for the games, yeah, the ship teasing is usually played for laughs or subtle and understated. Amy went from comically chasing Sonic, to having more serious moments such as her hugging him in the ending of Frontiers. Knuckles and Rouge had some odd tension by the end of their arc in SA2. Sonic and Blaze had that whole "slowly holding hands" moment at the end of Rush. Sonic and Elise... yeah that one took a decade to be accepted for how prominent it is. ShTH is still the king of teasing ofc :P the series is mostly about friendship, not romantic love.

[ayakh03]

The Bechdel test: The representation of women in the media.

The Bechdel test is a test that evaluates the representation of women in movies, works of fiction, and other media in general. For a piece to pass the test, it must include:

2 female characters

The 2 must have a conversation with each other

The conversation can’t be about a man

When I first saw this I thought about how simple those requirements are, there’s no way so many movies won’t pass the test. Well I was wrong. 

Allison Bechdel had a realization in 1985. She realized that she had never seen a movie that included more than 1 female character, and if it did they never talked about anything other than a man. This realization inspired her to create a comic strip called “The Rule”. In this comic, 2 women are talking and one of them expresses her requirements, which will allow her to go watch a movie.  

Bechdel, A. (2008). The essential Dykes to watch out for. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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This comic strip is the basic foundation of the bechdel test, which has become a tool to call out gender inequality in works of fiction, and pop culture. 

Taking in consideration the date Alison Bechdel made her comic strip, it explains a lot. At the time, everyone was way more sexist, female representation was very stereotyped in every type of media, and the lack of female repression was very present. Of course, times have changed. This test has made filmmakers and audiences pay more attention to diversity and the authenticity of female representation.

This test has raised awareness of the big picture, but what I’m worried about is people taking it too seriously, specially nowadays. In movies, you have to take in consideration the context of the story and the message of it. And a media not respecting this rule doesn’t make the movie sexist, and it doesn’t make it bad. I feel like this rule was a good test to call out filmmakers in the earlier days but nowadays, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to it, feminism-wise.

In fact, I believe we can use this test to point out other issues, like concerning character depth and relationships. Thinking about the amount a movies that had no reason to fail this very simple test, but still did, is quite sad honestly, specially successful movies like Avatar, baby driver, 500 days of summer and many more, just because it’s really not that complicated to achieve. 

The way I see it this test really just points out the lack of depth in characters. Well-developed characters have opinions, passions, interests, and problems that definitely don’t revolve only around men. Again, this doesn’t make a movie bad, it’s just surprising that so many movies fail this test. Funnily enough, even movies with female protagonists fail the test, like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, and “House of Gucci”. One of the most shocking for me would be “Blonde”, which is a biopic about Marilyn Monroe. This really shows that the movie focused mainly on the male presence in the pop icon’s life, which was actually one of the subjects the movie was most criticized on.

A recurring subject of controversy in the animation industry has been the representation of women in animated movies. Regarding Disney, with time there has been a very obvious change and growth in the depictions of female characters in their movies, especially with their princesses, regarding culture, gender roles, and standards in society. For a very long time, the most successful Disney movies, which are obviously Princess movies, would constantly portray women as helpless women who need to be saved by a powerful man. As expected, many of the earlier Disney princess movies do not pass the Bechdel test. But once again, I use this test to focus on the lack of character development the princesses endure. 

Epstein, J.Z., Kristin Chirico, Leonora (n.d.). We Did An In-Depth Analysis Of 21 Disney Female Leads. [online] BuzzFeed. Available at: https://www.buzzfeed.com/justinezwiebel/we-did-a-census-of-all-the-disney-female-animated-characters.

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Fun fact: Aurora only had 18 lines in the movie Sleeping Beauty. However, older Disney princesses being more towards the passive side could be justified by the era of their time, and their cultural norms' impact on trait tonal women's behavior. Their stories usually focus on their escape or the defeat of evil, but never their character growth. The princesses obviously do have personalities but it’s more about the exploration of their characters being limited by the creators. Fortunately, with time, Disney has evolved a lot more, along with their characters. Nowadays, the stories revolve more around the princesses’s character growth, and even if they have a love interest, it doesn’t mean they need them to survive, which sends a beautiful message that strong, independent women can be in love too. 

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References:

Backstage.com. (2022). What is the Bechdel Test? [online] Available at: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/what-is-the-bechdel-test-75534/#section2.

Edlund, M. (n.d.). The Portrayal of Women in Disney Films. [online] otago.shorthandstories.com. Available at: https://otago.shorthandstories.com/the-portrayal-of-women-in-disney-films/index.html.

Jimenez, S. (2022). THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS. [online] Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1189&context=university_honors_program.

No Film School (2018). The Bechdel Test - Everything You Need To Know. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meq3CyuKOjM.

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[janeaudron]

im curious. why do you resent that one art professor and not the other two?

Sorry this took awhile mate! Gonna put the read more after the first paragraph and also add pics because I think it’s funny. Well more or so I’m coming to terms with things(finally) and just finding it funny at this point.

I’ll start with the other two professors first as I’ve come to realize with professor 2 really had more of a mindset of “x” has been done before so why are you doing it? Or something like that and then kept trying to push me to add animation to my work when repeatedly I said I wasn’t interested in doing that. Because A) I’ve animated before and it’s tedious and just not in my interests. B) I just wanted to work environmental/location concept art but that got derailed hard in that class.

They were very nice but that one class could have gone better. And then they knew how much work animation would be since I had them for another class that semester and had us do various animated things without much time to really learn the programs. Seriously don’t try and force someone to change their work. Introduce them into new things but don’t try to force and belittle something else they are doing. Just it doesn’t engaged you(by sight like seriously?) then it’s not for you(no as in a brushing off way). I don’t need to change it for it to be engaging the way you think it should be engaging. Like some of my classmates works may have not been up my alley but the discussions we had were engaging.

Professor 1 never really forced their influences in class nor critiques really and any misunderstandings we(using the term because it wasn’t just me) had were during critiques was just the whole Fine Artist brain vs Visual/Commercial Artist brain (because that’s what illustration/comicbooks/game design falls under in a way) not working but after that we were cool and they’re still one of my favorite professors. They got me into the idea of drawing from sounds (scrapping/scratches/etc.) though that one class was rough as I had constant migraines from a molar coming in. Really enjoyed a lot of the experimental sessions we had. I need to see what they’re up too.

Also wasn’t too keen on professor 1’s portfolio class as I felt like that missed the point of what a portfolio class is supposed to be but then again they were weird with their classes which made them interesting as a professor. One more thing, didn’t like their mindset of “well you’ll get sick and tired of what you’re doing in a few years and wish you were doing something else” towards visual/commercial art. This was said to a classmate of mine that was interested in stuff like me(they’re still buddy buddy).

Took awhile to process that statement. But they’re still one of my favorite professors. When I get home I should take some pics of things I did in their class.

Also looking up the whole “all art is political” thing again because I did realize I’m a bit rusty on the subject, I’m seeing how broad they’ve made that statement and why it’s become such a heated subject. I can see all art has become politicized in some fashion. Main issue I’ve seen people more or so locked into the mindset sociopolitical statements for art and less the whole it being a sum of your being/what you want to express/etc. and for some it’s “I like to make art because it’s fun.” We’ve gotta be mindful of looking at the past with a modern lens. So I guess I can add onto my explanation several posts again and I’m more or less in agreement with the semicolon. I see art more as a form of expression which can be anything. By default it is not political. Art can be anything, which doesn’t always mean pretty or look the same like everything around it. There were genres of art that were more that were experimental in both the process and the meaning i.e. challenging 1)how art was made 2)how we perceive it and 3) how we interact with it. Probably some of my favorite movements art the Conceptual and Photorealism. I have a few others but I have to make sure I’m not mixing them up with something else. Okay let me stop there and get back on track.

So…Professor 3 yeah..this is gonna be a long one so buckle in! It was a series of things besides them reading in and pushing context that isn’t there for a lot of people. First meeting them in a different class when they were a guest professor for critique wasn’t a pleasant observation. We understand you have somewhere to be at a certain time, don’t repeat that, and then don’t derail a student presenting their stuff which then delays the rest of the class. So kinda of a disrespectful start which didn’t change much.

Then my portfolio class with them… yeesh. Pretty much a repeat of the other portfolio class 100% which it really shouldn’t have been(it was a different professor for the other one) and then making it mandatory for us to produce new art for that class alone which was not that realistic for anyone cause if you’re taking portfolio 1 or 2 you are manning like 3 or 4 studio class and not scouting your non-school life. I still think people just showed what they were doing in other classes because nobody had time for that or needed extra stress.

I think they also had a serious case of selective hearing or ignoring when it came to certain subjects when explaining ones body of work which just made the ‘critiques’ awkward and drag on more than they should have. It’s like there was an adversion to try and learn just a smidge of different artist interests and what they like making things or why they are doing this certain thing. I’m paraphrasing this quote they said that I remember but it rubbed me and several people the wrong way. “You shouldn’t create it if it already exists and you should only create things it if they may make sort of statement,change, impact, etc.” . Like:

Also feel like they had a bit of “white savior complex” because man some of their suggestions of what I should do were really racist. And the insensitive insisting that the context of my comic was some escapism story that was a critique on the social political climate of America and it wasn’t. Like ignore that it’s really is/more of a coming of age story for the main female alien character and her learning about other worlds/cultures/etc and them growing as a person and seeing the faults in the empire she was raised in. And yeah they hard ignored if not derailed more of me elaborating on the story and characters. Glad the other ‘guest list professors picked up on the detailing and tried to fix things but at that point it was pointless but did appreciated their effort.

Just lots of sighing and facepalming and a few of my close classmates were a bit bug eyed from some things professor 3 said. I know they meant well in the end but they missed the mark by several miles.

Otherwise had no issues with my other professors throughout the years especially for the directed study courses. Funnily enough my handbuilding/ceramics professor gave me better advice than most of the professors in my selected degree on finding jobs, work studies, and some other things. Not counting my graphic design teachers because they were super YES. Well this has been cathartic and I hope this satisfies your curiosity anon.

[deadcactuswalking]

Every Snoop Dogg & Pharrell Hit Song Reviewed, Part 1 (BLAST TO THE PAST)

Fo-shizzle, dizzle. It’s the big Neptizzle with the Snoopy D-O-double-jizzle! Name a better duo. I bet you millions that you can’t. I’d explain to you who these guys are, but don’t kid yourself, you know who they are, even if you’ve never heard a song by them (which is equally impossible). Both Snoop and Pharrell have transcended the music at this point and are worldwide personalities, starring in television, film and overall just being essential to pop culture. I cannot imagine a world without Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.

Snoop and Pharrell were very close in the 2000s, specially the early and mid-2000s, when Pharrell’s group, the Neptunes, were massive hitmakers, producing tracks for JAY-Z, Pusha T, Kelis, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and more, including, of course, Snoop Dogg. Their funkier R&B-infused pop stylings were perfect for Snoop Dogg’s move from a “gangsta” image to a more soulful “pimp” image, sort of following 50 Cent’s footsteps as he shook the world with his debut album. Snoop’s gone through many phases and has had many companions throughout the decades he’s been active, but Master P, Wiz Khalifa and even Dr. Dre can never stack up to Pharrell and the Neptunes, who provided Snoop with some of his best material ever... which I’m surprised didn’t chart as well as I assumed in the US. I mean, Pharrell was everywhere, but I guess Snoop didn’t catch on as well as I thought excluding a few choice cuts. That’s beside the point. Welcome to BLAST TO THE PAST.

BLAST TO THE PAST: All Snoop Dogg & Pharrell Hits Reviewed

Yep, today, I’m reviewing all of the known and credited Snoop Dogg and Pharrell collaborations to chart on the Hot 100. The criteria is simple: it has to have Snoop Dogg performing with Pharrell or the Neptunes either performing or producing the track – and this had to be clear and credited work. I’m not looking into musical history to find all the tracks Pharrell has ghostwritten for Snoop, or how he provides ad-libs on a Dr. Dre deep cut. These are just the hits from the Dogg and Skateboard P. Before we get into this, however, let’s answer a couple questions you may be wondering.

How many of these songs are there?

To my surprise, there’s only six – and that’s including a feature. Yeah, to my surprise, only six of these tracks ever hit the Hot 100... and that is NOT including songs released by Snoop on Star Trak, the Neptunes’ record label, which he signed to in 2004, and left years later. That would be a bit much to ask, since Snoop is a superstar and he was under this label for a long time; I’d run out of both time and simply things to talk about... although I would have loved to talk about their 2010s collaboration “Peaches N Cream” that sadly never charted.

Why are you doing this?

Well, first of all: I love both of these guys. Snoop Dogg and Pharrell have made a lot of my favourite hip-hop tracks throughout the years, and they’re also icons, so I figured it’d be interesting to look at some of their history together.

Oh, and also because they’re still both charting and making hits in 2018. Yep, in fact, Snoop Dogg’s charting right now – at #63 on the Hot 100 as I write this is comedian Lil Duval’s “Smile  (Living My Best Life)”, featuring Ball Greezy and Snoop Dogg. That’s insane for him, nearly 50 charting songs into his career, and countless other songs, television appearances and three decades of being a worldwide star, he’s still writing hit songs with up-and-coming artists. Same could be said with Pharrell, actually, as he had his own hit song earlier this year, “Lemon” featuring Rihanna, and back in 2013 and 2014, was bigger than he ever was. These guys have some pretty impressive longevity, and I kind of wanted to honour that. So, enough of me rambling. Let’s start with the first ever charting song from the duo...

#1 – “From tha Chuuuch to da Palace” – Snoop Dogg

Hot 100 Peak: #77 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Peak: #23

This is “From tha Chuuuch to da Palace”, released on October 15th, 2002, written by Snoop, Pharrell and... R. Kelly. Well, then.

Produced by the Neptunes and featuring uncredited vocals from Pharrell, this was the lead single to Snoop’s sixth album, Paid tha Cost to be da Bo$$, released in 2002, that I actually own on CD, funnily enough. This album was a step in the right direction from reinventing his image after the No Limit Records era, as he signed to Priority and hooked up with the Neptunes, Just Blaze, Ludacris and more to establish a poppier form of his typical brand of relaxed gangsta rap. The now-platinum-certified album sold 174,000 copies in its first week – and this success was assisted by not only a controversy involving the final track “Pimp Slapp’d” but also the two singles that were released to promote the record. This first hit only peaked at #77, but, trust me – it probably had its fair share of MTV play considering the very well-directed and humorous video that may seem a bit dated now, but back when these types of humorous skits were more of a focal point in music videos, this was cool, alright? What about the song, though? How does that hold up today? Well, I’ll tell you what’s “fo’ shizzle” – this is a banger of a track, although it’s not the best way to introduce yourself to Pharrell’s works with Snoop, because this is more of a Timbaland beat than a Neptunes one. Sure, there are some elements of Neptunes, like Pharrell’s catchy hook, but theheavy synth-work and gang vocals typical of late 2000s Timbaland beats are here to stay for the whole of the song (and, yes, it does get old by the end)... however, all that does is prove how forward-thinking the Neptunes were, especially since this wasn’t exactly the style people digged in 2002, to my knowledge, and it wasn’t exactly an exclusively Timbaland style; Pharrell’s always loved his over-the-top electronics, but it’s kind of an outlier when you compare it to everything else these guys made together. Is that a bad thing? No, not necessarily, Snoop has enough charisma to carry the verses, and I love his comically-strained vocal interpolation of “Contagion” by Ron Isley in the first verse, as well as Pharrell taking the role of Bill Gates in the third, but, man, the synths are overbearing and really get grating by the end of the four minutes. Oh, and that bridge is kind of mind-numbing as well, the back-to-back repetition from Snoop and Pharrell feels like it goes on forever. Sorry, guys, it’s not awful, but this is not the best first impression. Do you know what is, however?

#2 – “Beautiful” – Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson

Hot 100 Peak: #6 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Peak: #3

Now, what a classic this song is. This was Snoop’s first top 10 hit since 1994, and won the Neptunes a Grammy for Producer of the Year. It’s a relatively long song at nearly five minutes but it delivers enough throughout the whole runtime to make it not feel like a slog, probably because it was written by the Neptunes, who are fantastic songwriters as well as producers. The single was released on January 21st, 2003, accompanying a video set in Brazil with a dope tribal drum interlude... and,yes, the video is still very beneficial to the song’s success, at least in my eyes. It probably helped it reach the top 10, but the main reason I think it adds to the song (other than the drum solo) is that it features Snoop ogling a young woman. I know what you’re thinking, oh, it’s just a typical rap music video, but the clip and even the chorus, which is beautifully sung by Pharrell and absolute legend Charlie Wilson (whose voice is heavenly), is intentionally misleading. It tricks the listener to think it’s just a song about wanting to do it with some girls in a club or picking up a woman he finds attractive, or whatever, but it’s actually a bit less straightforward, because in the liner notes of the album and single, the song is claimed to be “written in response to Snoop’s love for his daughter”. So, yeah, while people like Rap Critic have bashed on some of the lines for seeming somewhat strange in the context of picking up a girl...

Little cutie, looking like a student

Hurry up and finish so we can watch Clueless (oh!)

...but most of this is legitimately sweet interaction from Snoop with his daughter, although it still doesn’t explain this line.

The girl want to do it, I just might do it / Hit her up with some pimp-pimp fluid

If anything, it just makes it seem worse... wait, no, it makes pretty much EVERYTHING worse.

Little cutie, looking like a student / Long hair with your big fat booty

Mommy, don’t worry, I won’t abuse it

We just blow ‘dro and keep the flow moving

Let’s just ignore the liner notes that imply he has an immorally and illegally close relationship with his weed-smoking daughter that he roofied in the first verse... that R. Kelly credit is starting to make sense. Okay, so if it’s just the hook that’s about his daughter, that’s fine, and hell, even if it’s just about Snoop’s lady, it makes some lines even sweeter.

When I see my baby-boo, sh**, I get foolish / Smack a n**** that tries to pursue it

I smack up the world if they’re rude to you

Hit her up with some pimp-pimp fluid

Okay, so, maybe not that last one but my point is that Snoop’s bars are cute for the most part, which fits the smooth, funky and soulful beat, full of energetic ad-libs from Pharrell and an incredibly catchy tropical guitar-riff and some occasional glimmers of a synth melody. Oh, and don’t get me started on that bridge, because, oh, the bridge is a chorus in itself. Charlie, albeit sounding somewhat compressed, harmonises smoothly with Pharrell until a sweet hand-clap section that fades out into an outro, and, oh, I can’t even describe it in words. Listen to this song, it will make your day. There are a lot of songs about beautiful girls – “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston is mediocre and mentions suicide (just beautiful), “Beautiful” by Bazzi and Camila Cabello is dull and dreary, with some awful performance, while this song? It just works. It pulls it off with little to no effort... yet it’s not even the best song here.

#3

Don’t tell me what I’m not, just because I drops it like it’s hot – Positive K, “Ain’t No Crime”

Now—now—now—now—now, after you back it up, then stop / Then – wha—wha—what? – drop—drop it like it’s hot – Lil Wayne, “Back that Azz Up”

Stick their arm in a car window, drop it like it’s hot – DJ Clark Kent, “Cashmere Thoughts”

Pop, and stop, and drop it like it’s hot – DJ Quik, “Sexuality”

“Drop it like it’s hot” is the gangsta-rap “Hakuna Matata”, and I’m not even sure what that means myself, but who cares? By September 2004, we were heading into the crunk boom and the title of Snoop and Pharrell’s next collaboration had even been uttered in Big Momma’s House, but they made it fresh. This is Billboard’s top rap song of the 2000s, the 350th most popular song of all time, and more importantly, one of the best songs of all time.

#3 – “Drop it Like it’s Hot” – Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell

Hot 100 Peak: #1 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Peak: #1

Now THIS is the classic I was excited to talk about, Snoop Dogg’s first of three #1s and Pharrell’s second of five. This two-times platinum-certified track was the lead single from the Dogg’s 2004 effort, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, and ushered in a new wave and attitude to hip-hop production (no wonder people comment “2018 and this still pure fire” with a bunch of emojis, because it fits into the current climate of hip-hop so well). Yep, you can thank the trap you’re listening to right now and the crunk you may have grown up with to the Neptunes’ minimalistic beat which implements only the voice, the keyboards and a drum machine, as well as subtle samples from Laid Back’s synthpop hit “White Horse”. Tongue-clicking makes up most of the slick beat here, with some fun falsetto vocals from Pharrell in the intro where he just repeats “Snoop” twice for optimal effect. Oh, and that keyboard line is iconic, with the hook being as catchy as Snoop ever could write. This song constantly gets in my head even when I really don’t want it do, it’s pretty incredible how with so little, they’ve got so many hooks here: the actual hook, the repetitive drum beat, the “Snooooop” vocals, the keyboard melody, and even the verses, which are full of memorable quips and lines, which I think reach maximum-izzle by the end of the second verse.

I can exercise you, this can be your phys. ed / Cheat on your man, ma, that’s how you get a-hizz-ead – Pharrell

So don’t change the dizzle, turn it up a little / I got a living room full of fine dime-brizzles / Waitin’ on the pizzle, the dizzle and the chizzle / G’s to the bizzack – now, ladies, here we gizzo – Snoop Dogg

I have no idea what these words mean but they sound awesome.

Oh, and there’s more attention to detail than you think there would actually be in this simple brag-rap song, apart from the genius production (that makes sure the “Snoop” vocals go from the left channel to the right channel when wearing headphones, and adds sound effects according to the lyrics like the four extra percussion hits before a ding when Pharrell mentions “four seconds” and the record scratch when Snoop mentions a DJ), with the bars being classic Snoop and surprisingly great (and oddly sexual) from Pharrell. Here are some highlights:

I’m a nice dude, with some nice dreams / See these ice cubes? See these Ice Creams? - Pharrell

He’s picking up a girl and saying “look at my jewellery and shoes”, right? Well, yes, but he’s also mentioning a relatively obscure Cheech & Chong film called Nice Dreams in which they pretend to be ice cream vendors. Do you know what the best thing about this line, though? It’s that it follows this part of the hook:

And I roll the best weed, ‘cause I got it goin’ on – Snoop Dogg

In that film, they sell weed instead of ice cream. Doesn’t everything just fit together so perfectly?

That’s whiter than what’s spilling down your throat ��� Pharrell

Yeah, sure, it’s about his ice supposedly being as white as his semen, but in the video, the background is completely white, so it’s likely that they were thinking about the video before the song was even written, or the video was inspired by this line. If so, that’s such a nice touch. Hell, I would say Pharrell does better than Snoop if not for this line:

Oh, you got a gun, so you wanna pop back? AK-47, now, n****, stop that! – Snoop Dogg

So effortlessly, without even trying to sound intimidating, I’m scared of Snoop, but that’s not even the intention – it’s more of a comedic talk-down to what they would consider a “fake gangsta”, and even that sounds great in the chill, relaxed flow that they both have, staying calm and collected like their wordplay is nothing. I could write a full-length review on this bonafide classic banger of a hip-hop song, and really one of the best out there, proving Pharrell and Snoop to be some of the best to ever do it... oh, and there’s punchlines that only work in text form, which is bloody hilarious.

The big bo$$ Dogg, yeah, I had to do that

And that’s the end to the first part of Every Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Hit Song Reviewed. Hopefully the second part will be coming next week, with REVIEWING THE CHARTS tomorrow. Thank you for reading and see ya!