Preach you are full of shit.
Name, reputation and appearance? Please. That's garbage and you know it. You'd rather he did the same shit over and over for the rest of his career? He's been there, and done it. It's about fucking time he did something new and took a risk.
Besides, it's not like he hasn't been flirtin with the funk for years. You can basically sum up Snoop's career prior to this with the formula:
funk sample +
hip-hop drums +
pimp and gangsta rhymes = Snoop
He's been kicking it with funk legends like Bootsy Collins and Charlie Wilson for a long time and I can tell he's been itchin to do something like this for a while. Snoop is making the music he wants to make, and TBH I havent felt that vibe from him since Doggystyle. This is one of the best things the doggfather has ever done and most certainly a step forward, and yes that's from a professional musicians point of view, of which I am one and can speak from that perspective a damn sight more than anyone else on here.