Songoftheday 1/5/24 - I know you gon' lose it this new Snoop sh!t, come on baby boo you gots to get into it...

 

 

"Beautiful" - Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson

from the album Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 17

 

Today's song comes from rapper Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop Dogg, who had remained in the hip-hop conscious even if his presence on the charts wasn't as strong as his debut on Death Row Records. In the early fall of 1998, he returned to the Hot 100 top-40 with "Still A G Thang", when he began his stint with No Limit Records. Shortly after Snoop was featured on R&B singer/producer Keith Sweat's top-20 pop hit "Come And Get With Me". He would go on to release two more studio albums on No Limit, and while both No Limit Top Dogg and Tha Last Meal both sold over a million copies and topped Billboard magazine's R&B Albums chart, neither spun off a credible crossover hit, with "Lay Low" from the latter set coming the closest at #50, though making the R&B top ten at #8. Instead, Snoop had more exposure as a guest on reunited collaborator Dr. Dre's 2001 album, with "The Next Episode" reaching the Hot 100 top-40 and nabbing a Grammy nomination. In 2000, he also formed a group with local rappers Tray Dee and Goldie Loc called tha Eastsidaz, Their album again sold over a million, and also came close to the Hot 100 top-40 with "G'd Up". 

After his contract with No Limit was up, Snoop appeared on a few notable soundtracks, and even landed a top-ten hit in France with "Mission Cleopatra" with Jamel from the live action take on the country's fave comic franchise Asterix & Obelix movie of that name. Then the rapper took his Doggystyle vanity imprint to Capitol Records, where he returned with Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss in 2002. The lead single from the record, "From Tha Chuuuch To Da Palace", paired Snoop up with producer/singer Pharrell Williams and his production partner Chad Hugo of the Neptunes. The bouncy party track returned him to the R&B top-40 at #31 and the Rap Songs top-20 at #16, while hitting #77 on the Hot 100. It did better across the pond, landing a top-40 hit in the United Kingdom at #27.

 

For the second single from the record, Snoop also went with a Pharrell/Neptunes cut that was more laid back, "Beautiful". Written by the rapper and the Neptunes with a sample of the Isley Brothers' hit "Contagious" that gave R. Kelly writing credit, the song's production doesn't use the sample as a crutch but twists it into a groove Snoop hasn't seen in a decade. The lyrics are the usual come-ons to the ladies, but Pharrell and Charlie Wilson from the Gap Band sweeten the pot at least a little with his chorus. The music video takes the pair to Rio De Janeiro...

"Beautiful" brought Snoop Dogg back to the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 for the first time in nine years in April of 2003, while spending three weeks at #3 on their R&B Singles chart and hitting #2 on their Rap Singles list. On the radio, the song rose to #24 on the Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, took a week at the top of the Mainstream R&B list, and rose to #6 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in Australia (#4) and New Zealand (#4), and made the top-40 in The Netherlands (#13), Denmark (#14), Italy (#17), Austria (#19), Switzerland (#19), the United Kingdom (#23), Germany (#27), and France (#39). The Paid Tha Cost album, which came out in November of 2002, peaked at #12 in the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #3 on their R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2004, "Beautiful" was nominated in two categories, losing Best Rap Song to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration to Beyonce and Jay-Z's "Crazy In Love".

Both Snoop and Pharrell will be back to the series, including a chart-topped trip together.

(5/10)

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Here's Snoop and Pharrell on an awards show live in 2003...

And three years later with Charlie Wilson on MTV...

Tomorrow I'll have my top 100 hits from this past week, and Monday SOTD will be back with a lovelorn country singer.