Following the mixed reception of his previous album, Snoop began to work again with Dr. Dre and returned to the west coast sound of his earlier career while on Death Row Records.
[3] No Limit Top Dogg debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, selling 187,000 copies in its first week in the United States, only being second to Ricky Martin's self-titled album.
However, contract problems emerged that prevented the release of said version (Snoop's verses were eventually replaced by east coast rapper LL Cool J and included in the soundtrack to the film Bulworth).
"[10] In comparison to his previous release Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told which according to Snoop only took three weeks to make,[11] work on this album spanned over many months beginning in 1998.
Instead opting to work with more fellow west coast artists and producers in a "conscious effort" to return his brand of music that was present earlier in his career.
[13][14] The overall production of the album has been noted to be heavily rooted in early '80s funk with a mixture of both West Coast and southern influences coming from his label at No Limit and his associates from his tenure at Death Row.
[2][15] In comparison to Da Game, only two tracks on the whole album are produced by No Limit's in-house production team Beats by the Pound.
[14] The album also ventures further into soul than previous releases with tracks like "Somethin' Bout Yo Bidness" and "I Love My Momma".
[16] Less apparent in the album's production is also the chiming keyboard loops found in Dre's earlier work that was highly popular at the time.
[13] Top Dogg generally gained positive reviews with many critics citing it as a return to form after the mixed reception and different direction of the previous two albums released.
[25] Source writer Frank Williams called it nearly flawless and said "By returning to his original 1993 flyness, Snoop meshes all his influences to create an album that will ride for a long time."
"[21] Neil Strauss of The New York Times positively compared the album to Snoop Dogg's previous release calling it a major musical improvement.
[26] NME mentioned "...the silken, sumptuous flow of yore is back, threading deluxe soul and full-bodied grooves....the cool drawl of Snoop...captivates, unveiling tales of love, thuggery, surviving and succeeding in the wild west....a certifiable return to form.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said "...it runs way too long and is filled with superfluous, even irritating cameos, and also that Snoop is content to haul out low-rent gangsta clichés."
Criticism is also drawn to the tracks with features from other No Limit artists which writer Nathan Rabin considers to be the lowest points of the whole album.
[11] Rolling Stone in particular criticized Snoop's lack of growth as a lyricist while declaring the whole album as not worthy of being compared to his debut.
[31][32] Although the release of the single 'Bitch Please' which gained popularity on both the radio and television helped album sales with a 16% rise on the Billboard 200 after months of declining on the charts.