Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss
2002 studio album by Snoop Dogg
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Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (stylized as Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$) is the sixth studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released on November 26, 2002, by his Doggy Style Records label and it was distributed by Priority Records. This is first album following his departure from No Limit Records. The album was supported by two singles, both featuring Pharrell: "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", the latter also featuring Charlie Wilson.
| Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 26, 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2001–2002 | |||
| Studios | Doggystyle Records Studio, Diamond Bar, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Hip-hop | |||
| Length | 78:58 | |||
| Labels | ||||
| Producers | ||||
| Snoop Dogg chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss | ||||
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The album debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, selling 174,000 copies in its first week, and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). To date, it has sold over 1,500,000 copies worldwide.
Music
This album marked the beginning of Snoop's long-lasting association with Pharrell and The Neptunes.[1] The album's lead single "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace", produced by The Neptunes and featuring an uncredited guest appearance from Pharrell, was released on October 15, 2002. The song's music video was directed by Diane Martel, under the alias Bucky Chrome.
The album's second single, "Beautiful" featuring Pharrell and Charlie Wilson, also produced by The Neptunes, was released on January 28, 2003. The music video for "Beautiful", which featured Pharrell but omitted Charlie Wilson, was directed by Chris Robinson in Brazil, which helped the single to become a hit on the Billboard's charts. In a retrospective critique on the song, Pharrell would later admit he didn't think the song would be a hit. "[Snoop] really loved ‘Beautiful.’ I didn’t get ‘Beautiful,’ mainly because I was singing on there flat as fuck and I just didn’t hear it. I thought it was a fun record. And then we put Charlie Wilson on it and I was like man Charlie sounding amazing on this, and this feels good to me, but no one is ever going to go for this."[2]
Release
It was announced to be re-packaged for the album, with six of these pre-released versions of different album covers, but only several tracks were not to be included on each. Snoop's also contains two-disc's DVD, called Boss Playa: A Day in the Life of Bigg Snoop Dogg; including the first disc featuring three music videos for "Boss Playa", "Pimp Slapp'd" (where both of them, were directed by Pook Brown), and "That's the Shit"; the second disc is a DVD, named "Doggystyle Porn", which features the song, titled "You Like Doin It Too". However, these tracks were later featured in an unreleased project version of the album.
Critical reception
- Rolling Stone - 3 stars out of 5 - "Snoop stretches his silky flow over tracks by underground ace Hi-Tek and the unstoppable Neptunes."[10]
- Spin - 8 out of 10 - "The most spirited pop record of his career....Paid Tha Cost is Snoop unleashed."[14]
- Entertainment Weekly - "Snoop is reborn, a gangsta rap granddaddy in recline." - Rating: A−[6]
- Uncut - 3 stars out of 5 - "He treads a line between loving monogamy and club bangers, emphasizing accessibility throughout."[15]
- Vibe - 3.5 out of 5 - "His wordplay is still as nimble and quick as ever, giving the beats a beat down with newfound urgency."[13]
Commercial performance
Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, selling 174,000 copies in its first week.[16][17] In November 2004, the album sales, where it has sold 1,210,000 copies in the United States.[18]
Controversy
On March 24, 2003, a lawsuit was filed against Snoop Dogg by a man who claimed that his life was endangered after the rapper had included a 50-second phone message featuring the plaintiff's voice on the album's last track, "Pimp Slapp'd", a diss track directed at then-Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight. The man, identified only as John Doe for security reasons, had left the voice message for Snoop Dogg in October 2002, unaware of the intention of its inclusion on the album. John Doe, who was identified on the answering machine as "Jim Bob", insisted the album be recalled and cancelled for distribution in its current form, and stated in court papers that he had been threatened verbally several times and feared for his and his mother's lives due to Knight's Mob Piru Bloods affiliation and close proximity, as both he and Knight resided in Compton, California, at the time.
On February 3, 2004, the lawsuit was dismissed for common law appropriation of voice and intentional infliction of emotional distress, under the ruling that privacy cannot be maintained while leaving a message on another's recording device.[19][20][21]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don Doggy" | 0:42 | ||
| 2. | "Da Bo$$ Would Like to See You" | E-Swift | 1:59 | |
| 3. | "Stoplight" |
| Jelly Roll | 4:26 |
| 4. | "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" (featuring Pharrell) |
| The Neptunes | 4:40 |
| 5. | "I Believe in You" (featuring LaToiya Williams) |
| Hi-Tek | 4:34 |
| 6. | "Lollipop" (featuring Jay-Z, Nate Dogg, and Soopafly) |
| Just Blaze | 3:48 |
| 7. | "Ballin'" (featuring The Dramatics and Lil' ½ Dead) | DJ Battlecat | 5:19 | |
| 8. | "Beautiful" (featuring Pharrell and Charlie Wilson) |
| The Neptunes | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Paper'd Up" (featuring Kokane and Traci Nelson) |
| Fredwreck | 3:49 |
| 10. | "Wasn't Your Fault" |
| L.T. Hutton | 4:30 |
| 11. | "Bo$$ Playa" |
| Fredwreck | 5:53 |
| 12. | "Hourglass" (featuring Kokane and Goldie Loc) |
| Jelly Roll | 4:20 |
| 13. | "The One and Only" |
| DJ Premier | 3:49 |
| 14. | "I Miss That Bitch" (featuring E-White) |
| Hi-Tek | 3:12 |
| 15. | "From Long Beach 2 Brick City" (featuring Redman, Nate Dogg, and Warren G) |
| Fredwreck | 3:43 |
| 16. | "Suited n Booted" |
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| 3:16 |
| 17. | "You Got What I Want" (featuring Goldie Loc, Ludacris, and Charlie Wilson) |
| Jelly Roll | 3:36 |
| 18. | "Batman & Robin" (featuring The Lady of Rage and RBX) |
| DJ Premier | 5:02 |
| 19. | "A Message 2 Fat Cuzz" | 1:40 | ||
| 20. | "Pimp Slapp'd" |
| Leimberg | 5:42 |
| Total length: | 78:58 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. | "Mission Cleopatra" (featuring Jamel Debbouze) |
| Daz Dillinger | 3:51 |
Sample credits
- "Da Bo$$ Would Like to See You" contains a sample from "It's My House" as performed by Diana Ross.
- "Stoplight" contains a sample from "Flashlight" as performed by Parliament.
- "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" contains a sample from "Buffalo Gals" as performed by Malcolm McLaren.
- "Ballin'" contains a sample from "Fell for You" as performed by The Dramatics.
- "Paper'd Up" samples "Paid in Full" as performed by Eric B. & Rakim, and "Don't Look Any Further" as performed by Dennis Edwards.
- "Wasn't Your Fault" contains a sample from "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" as performed by Cherrelle.
- "Bo$$ Playa" contains a sample from "Riding High" as performed by Faze-O.
- "Hourglass" contains a sample from "I Just Want to Be" as performed by Cameo.
- "The One and Only" contains a sample from "It's You, It's You" as performed by Tyrone Davis.
- "I Miss That Bitch" contains a sample from "I'm Your Mechanical Man" as performed by Jerry Butler.
- "From Long Beach 2 Brick City" contains a sample from "Wikka Wrap" as performed by The Evasions.
- "Batman & Robin" contains a sample from "Batman" as performed by TeeVee Toons, Inc.
- "Pimp Slapp'd" samples "Rapper's Delight" as performed by Sugarhill Gang, "Tonite" as performed by DJ Quik, "Flashlight" as performed by Parliament, and "Streets Is Watching" as performed by Jay-Z.
Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.[22]
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Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[42] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[43] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[44] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[45] | Platinum | 1,210,000[46] |
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* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
