Thug Life Army

Some of the biggest hits of the year -including Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot," Terror Squad's "Lean Back," Ciara's "Goodies" and the Twista/Lil'' Jon cut "Let's Go" -aren''t exactly songs. They''re sports chants backed by rhythm tracks. And none has anything remotely resembling a melody.

This anti-tune trend reached a dizzying high this week with the release of new albums from Snoop and Lil'' Jon. Snoop's "Rhythm & Gangsta: The Masterpiece" CD features his nonsong smash "Drop It." Lil'' Jon's "Crunk Juice" boasts an even more minimalist sound -if that's possible.

Lately, it seems, the less you put on a record, the more listeners love it, so both of these hip hop should rake it in big time.

"Juice" highlights Jon's basic take on the Southern "crunk" hip-hop sound -namely, a bare techno rhythm tossed under a viciously crude slogan growled by the front man.

Nearly every song repeats these country clichŽs, though some break them up with a heavy metal riff or an R&B chorus to lure in other demographics.

Compared to that, Snoop's CD sounds like "Sgt. Pepper."

Even his nonmelody, "Drop It," has a cool enough beat to make tunes seem irrelevant.

The Neptunes gave the cut an aquatic rhythm you could float away on. The CD also features lots of hot R&B flourishes -from stars like Bootsy Collins and Charlie Wilson -used to contrast Snoop's ice-cool flow.

Snoop had been coasting on his rep for years now. He dipped further than ever earlier this year when he released a throwaway CD with his not-so-super group 213.

While his new "Masterpiece" isn''t any such thing, at least it's a solid piece of hip hop in a year filled with too much crunk; as reported by the Macon Telegraph. .