7 Days of Funk

Even after a trip to Jamaica changed his life forever and gave him the permanent name change to Snoop Lion, veteran rapper Snoop Dogg leaves the rasta lifestyle behind and becomes Snoopzilla for 7 Days of Funk, a nostalgic project with modern funkateer Dam-Funk. Unlike Snoop Lion's reggae effort Reincarnated, which seemed to trip over its own overambition, 7 Days of Funk, the album or maybe EP, is pleasingly loose and small. The short running time means the concept is not not overextended and the welcome is not overstayed, plus the joy that Snoop (words) and Dam-Funk (music) are feeling delivering these nasty grooves comes right through the speakers. The producer's funky re-creations of the past are so uncannily close to '70s and '80s grooves that one expects Prince's "Pop Life" to pop out of "Let It Go" or Roger and Zapp to join in on the smooth vocodered cruise called "Ride," but there are little crooked touches here and there that suggest the indie and broken beat revolutions have already happened, as the twisted wind chimes and pitch-shifting on "I'll Be There 4U" are identifiably post-Weeknd, post-Neptunes, and post-Radiohead. Still, when golden-age hero Steve Arrington swaggers his way through "1Question?" and "Systamatic" brings reminders of electro-funksters the System and with Tha Dogg Pound in tow, this is a synth-funk fetishist's dream come true, with plenty of mothership connections for all the George Clinton fans and G-funk heads to explore. Even if this is Snoop's first album with a single producer since the monolithic, Dr. Dre-helmed Doggystyle, don't call it a comeback, call it lark, and a funky, welcome one at that. ~ David Jeffries

ライオンの次はスヌーパジラ? しかも相棒はスティーヴ・アーリントンとのコラボ盤も鮮烈だったデイム・ファンク! そんなコラボ上手な両名による手合わせは、予想以上の成果にいろんな汗や汁が止まらない逸品だ。デイムのラップ仕事ではMCエイトが後から入った“HoodPass Intact”も思い出されるが、最初からスヌープと組むことを想定して作られたと思しきビートはいわゆるGファンク以上にザッピーな風情もあるメロウなタッチで、彼一流の浮遊感たっぷりなシンセ・ワークが初期スヌープの纏っていたふわふわな不穏さを連想させるのも巧い。アーリントンやブーツィー・コリンズも駆けつけ、ジュニーっぽいPファンクネスが広がる“Systematic”にはドッグ・パウンドも登場。気持ち良すぎて……。
bounce (C)出嶌孝次