Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told

Background

In September 1996, shortly before the release of Snoop's second album Tha Doggfather, his friend and Death Row label-mate Tupac Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting, an event many fans and rappers linked to rising tensions between East and West Coast hip-hop scenes. In March 1997, East Coast rapper The Notorious B.I.G., known as Biggie Smalls, was also killed in a drive-by shooting attributed by fans to those coastal tensions. Snoop Dogg began to fear for his own safety due to these murders and because Death Row Records was later acknowledged by its artists as an unprofessional environment, with label founder Suge Knight incarcerated and many individuals with criminal pasts associated with the label.

In 1997, No Limit rapper Mystikal invited Snoop to appear on his record Unpredictable on a song called Gangstas with label head Master P. Snoop developed a good relationship with No Limit rappers, and after another guest appearance on a Silkk the Shocker LP, Master P reported in March 1998 that Snoop had signed to No Limit. Snoop stated at the time that No Limit handmakes material fitting to the artist and knows what type of material Snoop Dogg should be on.

Singles

The first single from the album, "Still a G Thang," dropped on July 3, 1998, with production by Meech Wells. This track serves as a follow-up to Dr. Dre's 1992 hit "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" from The Chronic. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 26, giving Snoop his first appearance on that chart as a lead artist since 1994's "Gin and Juice," and eventually climbed to number 19. The follow-up single, "Woof," featuring Mystikal and Fiend, reached number 62 on the same chart.

Critical reception

Snoop Dogg's third album shifted away from the purely West Coast sound of his first two records, instead leaning heavily on collaborations with other No Limit artists. Critical reception was mixed to poor, with many reviewers ranking it among his weaker efforts. Q magazine awarded it three stars, praising Snoop's vocals as occasionally sublime and noting the album's soulful undercurrent. Elliott Wilson at The Source gave it three and a half mics, observing that few West Coast MCs have earned such broad acceptance and that Snoop, as No Limit's newest member, seemed content not to challenge the status quo. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis gave it just two stars, arguing that the album lacked the confidence and originality of Snoop's earlier work.

Commercial performance

Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 520,000 copies in its first week, making it Snoop Dogg's third consecutive number-one album in the United States. In its second week, the album remained at the top, selling 246,000 copies, and spent five consecutive weeks in the top ten. The album was certified 2× Platinum on October 22, 1998, and by November 18, 1998, had sold 2.5 million copies in the United States, ranking as the 39th best-selling album of the year. As of March 2008, it had sold over 4.4 million copies in the United States, making it the second best-selling Snoop Dogg album in the country, behind only Doggystyle.