Pitchfork

Oh, cultural recombination! Leaning on the same gothic cathedral grind that they used for Rosco P. Coldchain's "Only God Can Judge Me", the Neptunes hit Snoop with something medium-flavored for the street single from his new, likely-boring album, Blue Carpet Treatment. It's a good groove for Snoop, who's humped trends so many times, he ought to be eyeing bluegrass sometime soon. Of course, on the Latin-themed "Vato" (that's "homeboy" in English, gringos), Cypress Hill's B-Real gets the mothballs shaken off and spits a love-him-or-hate-him chorus that actually tells a story. It's been a minute since Snoop got caught up in narrative, but this is a surprisingly coherent tale about accidental gunplay. And B-Real, though playing up his "ese" flow, sounds fresher than any MC with the kind of miles he's got on 'em has any right to. Snoop can barely keep up, which, considering his lyrics sheets lately, isn't all that shocking. Look for the shitty reggaeton remix very soon.