Snoop Doggy Dogg's highly anticipated debut, Doggystyle, out today, couldn't have come at a stormier time for rap.

I'd like to hear more from Snoop, less from his posse, Tha Dogg Pound. Still, Doggystyle's hypnotic funk will keep this album cranking out of cars and jeeps for months.

Of course, it doesn't help that Snoop - who earned his acclaim in a guest spot on Dr. Dre's hit album, The Chronic - was charged with murder when his bodyguard shot a so-called "stalker" in what Snoop describes as self-defense. But that's only added to the intrigue for Doggystyle, which will surely be No. 1 next week.