Song Review-Bab​y Come Around by IZA produced by Snoop Dogg

by Dan-O

I could probably get you interested in the mixtape Flower In The Jungle by IZA with a simple tagline. Polish singer does a DJ Skee mixtape produced entirely by Snoop Dogg. Those components alone would make a lot of rap fans press play just to hear what comes out.

It’s weird to think about but few rappers know R&B, Soul, or Funk as well as Snoop does. I know that Snoop collaborates across most musical genres; reggae with Snoop Lion and country collabs with Willie Nelson but this is a dude that name dropped Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes on an interlude on his first album (and worked with The Dramatics on the same album). So he produces this under the thesis that by powering up his time machine for 1977 and taking his hip hop knowledge back to disco the outcome will fit.

The Lean On Me cover is weird the Let’s Wait Awhile is even weirder but I like it. Snoop never tries to produce outside of his capabilities. He keeps it funky while her vocals remain clean and crisp and warm. Lyrically the songs have mobility and can talk about love at an upbeat hit-the-dancefloor pace without seeming awkward.

Flower In The Jungle seems like it was fun to make. You can imagine Snoops mostly closed eyes and silly smile, bobbing his head, as this track plays back for the first time in the studio. That fun is infectious and makes this collaboration one of 2014’s real gems.