Snoop Dogg
Interview by Black Dog Bone
In your music career you’ve had ups and downs, but you’re still on top. I wonder how you kept it going and rose to the top the way you did? What’s your secret?
My secret is to always show respect and to give love and to keep grinding and to always try to have fun. Everything I do is about fun. Even if it don’t sell, even if it don’t do what it’s supposed to do. As long as it’s fun it’s gonna be alright at the end of the d
ay.
That’s a good attitude. A lot of people are not happy with what they’re doing. If you’re not happy with the music you’re making, how can you make other people happy?
You have to love it yourself, first and foremost. You have to be in love with it. Then when you put it out to people they’re gonna get the spirit from you and they’re gonna love what you love.
I was surprised to hear that you were taking an executive position at Priority Records. With Snoop at Priority it’s going to be good for the whole West Coast. How did this idea come about?
It was my idea. I’d been going around trying to get a position at a lot of different record labels. None of them really wanted to react to me and give me the time of day to do that. I went to Priority and told them that I could really bring their catalog back to life. At the same time I wanted to put out my record on their label so I could bring it back to where it used to be. Priority is like the Def Jam of West Coast. They said, cool. And now we’re getting ready to put my album out. Later on this year and next year I’m puttin out a catalog of hit records and rereleasing a lotta great music that they’ve put out.
I’m glad you decided to do that. Priority was such an important force for the West Coast and the Rap industry as a whole.
Priority meant so much to us as West Coast rappers growing up. Every rapper wanted to be on Priority Records. NWA, Eazy E, Ice Cube—we loved the fact that Priority Records did that. Then when Master P came with No Limit it was like Priority was the best place to be because they let everybody do what they wanna do and make the kinda music that they wanna make. Then it just disappeared. So I wanna bring that feelin back. With Priority back the West Coast is back.
You being an artist, you’ll bring a lot more to the label. You see things differently than a regular business person.
Definitely, because the people in the office, they only understand the office. I had the opportunity to be an artist and to play on the field. I understand a little more than them. I know what the artist wants and I know what the people want, so that’s the advantage of having me in the office.
Are you mainly going to focus on the Priority back catalog or are you planning to put out new artists on Priority?
In the beginning I’m just gonna rerelease a lotta this great music, and put together some compilations. Then hopefully once I get that off the ground, some of these West Coast acts that are trying to be seen and heard will start comin to the table and I’ll be able to put ‘em out. Right now I don’t have to deal with puttin out nobody; I’m just rereleasing the great catalog. The only new release I’m gonna put out is my record. So it’s gotta be somebody that’s dope like me, that’s able to do what I do, that’s able to come in and do the types of things that need to be done to make the record label roll.
Your album will be the first release coming from the new Priority?
This is the first record on the New Priority, it’s called “Malice In Wonderland”. It’s me, back in the studio, feelin good, makin that music that you’re accustomed to hearin me make. The record is conceptually put together. The record will also have a movie that will come out in February to support the record. The video “Gangsta Love” and the single will be hitting in the next couple of days. You know how I do it, I just come to the plate and try to make shit that feel good, what people can appreciate—some good Snoop Dogg music.
What’s behind the “Malice In Wonderland” title? Are you into children’s stories and nursery rhymes?
It’s what you think. When you hear it you’ll see that it’s what the title suggests. Everything I do is conceptual. It’s so much malice in my heart at the beginning of the record. By the time I get to the end I’m in wonderland.
You’re probably doing a lot of mushrooms and psychedelics?
Ha ha ha, yeeeahh!
To me what is missing in Rap is that childlike innocence. Most rappers have turned into business people. Early Rap music always had a connection to nursery rhymes. It had that same magical feeling. Maybe you are bringing back that childlike wonder and innocence.
It’s always magical. Like I say, it’s gotta be fun. I’ve always had a cartoon mind anyway. I can always fall into character and play something that I’ve seen out there.
That’s what I see in you, Snoop. Even in the early days of Death Row when everyone was all serious and gangsta you kept it light and funny, with the Snoop Dogg cartoon character. I know that’s why people loved you so much. You always kept the child in you alive.
I definitely would agree with you. It’s always been a kid in me. I don’t have no problem exposing it and lettin people see it and feel me. That’s what it’s all about—you always live to be young, you don’t live to get old.
Exactly. It’s good that you can see that. Lately in Rap I seems like everybody is too serious and trying to be grown ups. And I’ve got to tell you, you seem to be getting younger and younger. You look healthy and skinny. How are you doing it?
I’m eating good. Family life is treating me right. I don’t drink alcohol no more, that’s part of the reason. I drink water and cranberry juice, eat a lotta salads and fruits, eat a lotta vegetation.
You can be a good influence on other rappers. A lot of people in America eat unhealthy food and as a result have health problems and mental problems.
I think so too. We all need to better ourselves. That’s what will keep you around longer. Your body is your temple and you have to take care of it. It’s like a car. If you put bad gas in the car and bad oil, it ain’t gonna run right.
You don’t seem to be stressed out or overworked. I would expect that, being such a big star, you would be running crazy and busy. But you seem clear and calm. It makes me happy to see you like this.
I’ve got a strong team around me. I made a lotta mistakes in the beginning. When you make mistakes you either get better or you keep makin those same mistakes. I got better as I made mistakes. I don’t wanna make the same mistakes again, I want to avoid mistakes. That’s why we have our team strong. You’ve got to have a strong time, cause I could never do it by myself. It’s the team that’s in place.
When you talk about your team, who are you talking about?
I’m talkin about the people behind the scenes that make it happen. I can get up and do it, but it’s gotta be people that make it roll.
On this new album, who did you work with for production?
I worked with a lotta new people. I worked with some people that I really wanted to work with, and then I worked with people that I hadn’t worked with in a long time. Whenever I make a record it’s gotta feel good and it’s gotta be an expression where people can believe in whatever I’m puttin out. Right now this is what I believe in.
If you’re feeling good while you make the record, we’re gonna feel good listening to the record. Who did you work with from the old times?
Battlecat, Kokane, Lil Jon, DJ Quik, Dr Dre. I had to get with these dudes cause it feel good when I work with them. The new people I got with were The Dream, Jazmin Sullivan, Soulja Boy, and Nipsey Hussle.
Real good. Right now Rap has come into a good place as far as the music. People are experimenting with different sounds and Rap music has opened up a lot.
I love when Hip Hop grows. I love when it gets diverse and it’s not just the same sound over and over again. That’s what it was made for, to grow and become a part of everybody’s life.
In your new record are you staying with the classic Snoop sound or are you moving in new directions?
No, I’m staying. This Snoop is me, it’s classic me. But it’s them coming into my world. Everybody that’s on this record, it’s them comin into my world. Adventures in the world of Snoop Dogg.
When I first heard your music you were so different from anybody else. I always saw you as an artist that never joined the mainstream, but you let the mainstream join you.
Exactly. That was my thing. I never wanted to cross over. They was always telling me you gotta cross over to sell. I was like, “Fuck that! They gonna cross over to me. Cause I don’t know what it is to do what they do, I’m gonna do what I do.”
You really thought about it and created your own path.
Yeah. I wanted to do it my own way. I wanted to create my own lane and do it like nobody did it before me. Once I seen that that’s what I needed to do, I just locked and loaded and stayed down with it. I stayed down with it from day one until now.
A lot of artists in Rap get involved in the business side of music and forget about creativity. You’ve managed to keep a good balance, without getting carried away by the business aspect.
Definitely. It can happen because you’ll get outweighed by what’s more important to you. Is it the money or your creative expression? My thing has always been creativity. I never did it for money. I always was doing it before any money came in. A lot of people can’t differentiate which one matters most. They focus on becoming rich and on becoming famous; the money is what they’re after as opposed to being creative and innovative like they was before they had money. Most artists, their first record is always their best record, cause that’s when they was hungry. At first there was no business, it’s all creative. Everybody’s first record, nobody was doing business. We’re just creating something new and different. Then once you become successful the business comes in and you have to balance both. Some people don’t know how to balance two things at one time.
When a talk to a lot of artists they act like they’re all grown up now and responsible, but I can see that you’re really a grown man in every sense. That could be why you could come up with an album title like “Malice in Wonderland” CD, a very childlike theme. I love that. I feel like Snoop is in a good place in life.
I don’t have no problem bringing out the kid in me because people need to tap into that more often. That will help you live long and be more happy with your life. When you were a kid was most likely the happiest part of your life because you was carefree. You need to keep a little bit of that inside you. Then you’ll be able to have that great expression and not be so down on yourself when it ain’t going right.
You must have some extra space in your life right now if you have the time to think about your childhood.
I always think about my childhood. Through my kids, through the football program that I created, through the music that I make, or sometimes just driving through my old neighborhood. I always look back on it.
What do you remember about your childhood, Snoop? I feel like you had a good childhood.
I remember not having much, but I remember having fun. It wasn’t always about having a video game or a TV in my room or having the best clothes. We had fun. My mother made it fun at all times. My life was always special around us meeting people and being interactive around the community.
There was a lot of love around your house?
Yeah. Always a party.
You have a good time with your kids and family now?
My kids and my family, we always grew up in front of each other, so it ain’t no secret. We all get a chance to make mistakes and get it right. It’s all about having that family bond.
Do you get enough time to spend with your family and just relax?
I always find time to relax and tone it down and have some fun. At the same, time I’m involved in more business now. I’m trying to build a business that can be here in 20 years, where I don’t have to go to work and it’ll just be makin money for me.
Why do you keep pushing yourself so hard? You must have enough money. Is it because you love the music or what?
The music comes first and foremost. That’s what I got into it for, for the love of it. When I became successful, that made me love it even more cause I knew I was supposed to be doing it. I could see that people loved my music.
From the time you started writing lyrics have you changed your style and approach?
Yeah. In the beginning I was drawing more on personal experience that I was goin through at that time. Now I’m reflecting back on what it was and I’m drawing on experiences that are completely different. From the background that I come from, from the gangsta lifestyle, from the shoot-em-up and sellin drugs—from that lifestyle to the family and grown man lifestyle that I’m living. So it’s a different form of writing and a different style.
What music have you come across lately that impressed you? What is Snoop listening to?
I like a White boy named Mayer Hawthorne. He’s an R & B singer. He’s dope as fuck. I like him. He sounds like an old R & B Black group. I like his style. I like The Dream, he’s dope as fuck. I ain’t really into no rappers right now.
You’ve toured all over the Western world. Have you ever toured in Africa or Asia?
Yes, I’ve been to Asia and Africa, and I try to go to places that I have yet to go to. I also like going to places where they treat me with love and where they always respect me. It’s hard when you’re just one person trying to go everywhere. I know sometimes I miss certain spots, but I try to go and see everybody. Recently I went to Beirut, Lebanon. That was my first time going to the Middle East. I went to Nigeria, I went to South Africa, I went to Brazil, and other spots that I never dreamed I’d go to. When I went there I seen that people loved my music, and that made me wanna come back.
I’ve been travelling all over the world and everywhere I go they love Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg is the biggest star in every country. When I was in Sri Lanka I would always go to the beach, and there are lines of clubs where DJ’s play music and they would always be blasting Snoop Dogg. Other rappers and people at the TV station, they would love if you came there. It would be the biggest show ever
In Sri Lanka? Most definitely. What country is Sri Lanka in?
It’s an island below India. It’s really pretty there.
I think the women are pretty there!
If you go there you might not be able to come back. The girls might try to keep you there.
I believe it. I’m gonna try to put my people up on Sri Lanka, see if I can do a show over there. I’m gonna definitely do that.
When you travel and perform outside the United States, what do you see to be the major difference?
The people in other countries, they don’t get a chance to see me every day, so they love me 20 times more than the people in America. At the same time, my struggle is their struggle. And they understand me, because I don’t do it the normal way. I don’t agree with the way America programmed us to see things. People in other countries see that I’m not with that program. They see that and they love that attitude.
You don’t like the way they program people in America? That’s what I see in you, you are a person who was never programmed or domesticated. You’re on your own track, a truly free human being. Too many people in America are programmed and stuck in the grid.
That’s the truth. People feel like they have to do it a certain way, the way they’ve been trained, instead of doing it their own way. Sinatra said, I’m gonna do it my way. That’s why he was so, cause he always did it his way. That’s the way I always felt. I’m gonna do it my way. Why would I wanna do it the way you say, when I can do it my way and be original and live my dream?
You’ve had a long and successful career. What high or low points do you remember from this time?
One of the low points was when I had to figure out what I was gonna do from Death Row. My transition from Death Row. I didn’t really know what to do. Not too many people wanted to give me action. But when Master P stepped in, he gave me a breath of fresh air and showed me how to become a better business person. I never had done any business, I was just creative. Master P showed me how to do business too, how to create opportunities for other people. Like I put out the East Sidaz and created Doggy Style Records. I did things with a business mind as opposed to just thinking about me. That’s how I worked from a low point to a high point, and I’ve been there ever since.
It’s been great talking with you. It’s always good to hear your voice. Snoop. I love you.
I love you too. You always take care of me. You know I’ve got you, Black Dog.
