← The Beat with Ari Melber
The Beat with Ari Melber
BONUS: Snoop Dogg talks Tupac’s politics and iconic music in extended pod with Ari Melber
00:42:01
In this podcast extra, listen to MS NOW’s Ari Melber’s extended interview with Snoop Dogg, who reflects on his career, life, goals, music, and politics. Snoop discusses his creative ventures with Def Jam, which grew out of his discussions with Lucian Grainge; advising newer artists like Benny the Butcher; music projects including “The Algorithm” and collaborating with Ice Cube, E40 and Too $hort in Mount Westmore; and his reflections on his history and relationships, including Snoop’s live reactions to classic videos from the archive dating back to the early 1990s. (Originally aired 2022)
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- [00:01]
Ari Melber
Savor mornings with Nespresso Vertuo up and make your coffee ritual irresistible with the Nespresso Coffee plus range. With added ingredients, it's easier than ever to brew coffee your way over ice or milk at the click of a button. Shop now exclusively@nespresso.com.
- [00:15]
Snoop Dogg
there's a fire inside you you can't ignore. Stand still. Not a chance. You're a lifelong learner who's come this far. Now we are here to help you keep going further. Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella Edu to learn more.
- [00:30]
Ari Melber
I don't think people will believe this. 17 Grammy nominations, no Grammy wins.
- [00:35]
Snoop Dogg
17 with no W's.
- [00:38]
Ari Melber
There's a lot of criticism of it for a lot of.
- [00:40]
Snoop Dogg
I guess when I die, they give me about five or ten of them, probably. I really want one now so I can make it a ashtray for taking so long.
- [00:53]
Ari Melber
Revolutionary Maverick. Welcome to Mavericks with Ari Melber. And today, our very special maverick is the one and only Snoop Doggy Dog. Thanks for doing this.
- [01:08]
Snoop Dogg
Thank you for having me.
- [01:09]
Ari Melber
How you doing?
- [01:09]
Snoop Dogg
I'm good, man. Welcome to the compound.
- [01:11]
Ari Melber
Thank you. It's an honor to be here. We walked in and you were playing a new song you've been working on today. So tell me about that and where.
- [01:18]
Snoop Dogg
Where we are. Well, we inside the compound. This is my facilities that I've been in for, like, the past 12 years in Inglewood, California. I'm working on some music with Hit Boy right now. I just dropped an album called Algorithm. But Hit Boy is on. On Def Jam Records, and he's a family member, and we just feel like making music.
- [01:37]
Ari Melber
Let's start with the algorithm. The. The congratulations new album, it's you. It features a lot of people. It opens by you telling people an algorithm is a process for calculations or problem solving operations.
- [01:50]
Snoop Dogg
Especially by a computer.
- [01:52]
Ari Melber
Especially by a computer. What does that mean to you, Snoop Dog? Everything you're doing?
- [01:58]
Snoop Dogg
It just means that certain things need to be shaken up. Like, the algorithm is great in certain things, but in music, I felt like it was kind of off, so I wanted to get it back on. I thought that the algorithm was based off of a computer telling you what was a hot record as opposed to you feeling what a hot record was. So that's what this project is about. It's about breaking the algorithm and making music feel good as opposed to sound good.
- [02:22]
Ari Melber
How do you break the algorithm?
- [02:23]
Snoop Dogg
I break the algorithm by being Snoop Dogg, you know? Cause you can't. You can't write me or make me. And you can't really shape me or break me. So the things that I do is my own, you know, calculation of how I move and how I get down. And it becomes something that people want to follow and they want to interpretate and they want to, you know, try to be a part of. Because it's a great spirit and it's a great vibe.
- [02:42]
Ari Melber
Here you are at 50 with this new album and a new supergroup and leading a Super bowl performance and all these other business projects. And on the algorithm we checked, you've got artists ranging in age from 23 to 55, which is very Snoop. Do you get something different based on the age of the person you're collaborating with?
- [03:05]
Snoop Dogg
I think I get a spirit. It's all about spirit and what the person brings as an artist and vocally, you know, what their. What their voice sounds like in the mix with the music. Every artist is a instrumentation to the music. It's not a artist or a vocalist. It's a piece of the music that just compliments it. So when I'm picking and choosing the people to work with, it's never about age or anything. It's about feel what it feel like. This person feels good. I think they should be on this record, and we make that thing happen.
- [03:34]
Ari Melber
One thing that those of us who followed you. I followed you my whole life because I've met you before and told you I grew up on you. And so we feel close to you.
- [03:41]
Snoop Dogg
I'm sure a lot of people feel
- [03:42]
Ari Melber
close to you in different ways, but you've continued to evolve, grow and transcend. Right now we're talking. You have Def Jam here on the beanie. You have this role there, executive, creative and strategic consultant in addition to everything else. Why is that important to you to do right now?
- [04:01]
Snoop Dogg
That's very important. That's the job that I wanted. I went and met with Lucien Grange and told him I wanted that position and I wanted to help Def Jam and I wanted to help the music industry because I feel like I got so much wisdom and information and guidance that it's selfish for me to hold it to myself as opposed to, you know, spreading it out to the youth that want it, as well as to the established artists that don't know how to get it. So I just put myself as a, you know, a platform to help others and a spotlight to put on the talent that needs to be put on. And I felt like Def Jam is a cornerstone to hip hop. It means so much to me, being a fan of it and I didn't have a job at the time, so I wanted a job. So, you know, just like a man that likes to work, what does he do? He goes and tries to find a job that fits his abilities and capabilities. And that was the best thing for me, to be in a record company, to be able to help out other artists and then at the same time, to put out some of my new music at the same time. So giving me a chance to still be fresh and flying and giving opportunities to new artists as well.
- [04:56]
Ari Melber
You were on the hiring side of the table in the song where you're interviewing Lil Dicky for him to work in hip hop. I guess Lucien's on the other side of the table for this. Is Lucian the most powerful person in music?
- [05:07]
Snoop Dogg
I think he's one of them. I think he's one of the most powerful people in the music industry, and he doesn't abuse his power. I love the way he conducts himself and the way he runs his business and the way he allows us to. To do what we do. So it was a pleasure and honor to meet him and to finally be able to get up on him and. And see what he was about and for him to let me exercise my skills and do what I'm doing. So it's a beautiful partnership.
- [05:28]
Ari Melber
So walk us through what you do in that role. You're. You're talking to a Davies, you're counseling a Benny the Butcher. What does that involve?
- [05:34]
Snoop Dogg
Well, what that involves is like, for example, Benny the Butcher, right? He was an artist that was dope that Def Jam had tried to get once upon a time, but couldn't get him. So I felt like I could get him. So I went and sat down with him, talked with him, asked him what he wanted and gave him what he needed. And now he signed the Def Jam records. Like certain artists like Jadakiss, I knew Jadakiss was hot. For many years, me and him got a bunch of records together. So when I did that record with Benny the Butcher, I wanted Jadakiss on it because he was a part of the family. When I flew to New York, I wanted to work with Fabulous and Dave East. So I grabbed them, brought them to the studio, put on some music, and we made a hit. It's just about brotherhood and just coming and showing up, pulling up, having my hands on it, being instrumental, being a set of ears, being a set of eyes, and also listening as well. Not just so much just giving direction, but sometimes taking direction from the artists and being able to help them implement their play to the building. So that way it's understood and relayed the right way.
- [06:33]
Ari Melber
Do you relate to them as Snoop the artist or Snoop the successful business person or something else?
- [06:39]
Snoop Dogg
I think a little bit of all. Because you have to take all of that into account when you're talking to me, especially when we talking about music and business, because I'm good at both. And if I'm trying to help you in your career, I may have a couple of things that can assist you or show you things that you don't know. And then at the same time, it's like, you know, when you've been doing this for over 30 years and you still successful, it's something you're doing right. So a lot of times they just look at that and they say, well, we love the way your career has gone and we love what you do because you so up front and personal with how you get down, how you could do something from, you know, Sesame street to damn near rated R or rated X. Because that's the world that I'm in. I'm in a world to where I can go from bottom to top. Because it's all me. And it's not me trying to play a part. It's me just playing me from X
- [07:22]
Ari Melber
to G. In these Sesame Streets.
- [07:24]
Snoop Dogg
Yes, sir, in these Sesame streets. I like that. I like that, Ari.
- [07:29]
Ari Melber
And then you go to Mount Westmore.
- [07:31]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah.
- [07:32]
Ari Melber
Again, you joke. Oh, you didn't have a job, but you're busy. These are artists that are more in your peer group, I think, definitely some of them from back in the early California 90s. Why bring E40 and Ice Cube and Too Short together for this?
- [07:47]
Snoop Dogg
Well, the pandemic brought us together. It was the pandemic and we were all just sitting at home and we wanted to make music, and we always been family. We always went on the road together. So we just decided to start making records together. E40 came up with the name and Too Short came up with the idea as far as us doing it. So once we started doing it from our homes, the record started feeling good and sounding good. And, you know, once we made the record, we didn't have a home. But once I got the Def Jam job, I settled in and seen how everything was going. So I was going to slide one of their songs onto the Algorithm album to position their album, and it worked out just fine. Big Cell, Big subwoofer is at 9 million streams. It's doing very well. It was the kickoff single for Algorithm.
- [08:29]
Ari Melber
I don't want to do the the old Head new head thing. But you've lived this. Some of the names you just mentioned, too short. Sold the cassettes out of his trunk. Yeah, it is different now that some people can get hot so quick and they didn't have to put in the time that some of you and your peers did. Do you think about that? Does that make a difference?
- [08:49]
Snoop Dogg
No, I don't make a. Because what we do is we treat ourselves as the Rolling Stones of the Beatles. So we look at ourselves as rock stars. We don't look at ourselves as rap stars. So to get to this level, it takes a lot. And we try to be an example for those who following us. If you look at all of our careers, all four of us, you got over 120 years of music. You got 30 or better from each one of us. Two shorts started in 85, 86, Cube, 86, 87, E40, 88, 89, Snoop Dogg, 91, 92. You do the math. And we've all been successful. We've all done things outside of music and we've done things to keep our name and our, you know, our image within the same realm that we started with. It's never been no breaks and no changes and no dips. It's been us from beginning to end. And it's the same time. It's like, these are my OGs. I came up buying their records before I was able to get in the music industry. So when I got in the industry, I made it a must to be their friends and to go find them and tell them how much I love them. And this is just full circle, how much we love each other. To say that we, so far in our careers, we're doing so well individually. But to take that ego and put it on pause to say that I want to formulate a group to show the youngsters that you can come together, that you can be a peaceful group to make music and do concerts where nobody gets hurt, nothing goes wrong. We just did three concerts, Ontario, Chicago and Kentucky, all sold out. Peaceful. No violence, people drove home safely, no drunk drivers, none of that. So it's like it's the projection that you bring as an artist that your audience gets. And I feel like we're at that point now to where we're able to settle in and let our fans have a good time with us while we perform.
- [10:20]
Ari Melber
There was this dividing line in your life that is in your music that people know about that case and the song Murder was the Case and the film and everything else we dug up
- [10:29]
Snoop Dogg
just a little bit.
- [10:29]
Ari Melber
Of how that was being covered at the time. I'm gonna play this for you. Rap star Snoop Doggy Dog consistently makes headlines both for his best selling records and for his high profile legal troubles.
- [10:39]
Snoop Dogg
Lately, it is the legal problems charges he was involved in a Southland murder that have taken the spotlight. Next month, he goes to trial for
- [10:46]
Interviewer/Commentator
his alleged involvement in a Southland murder.
- [10:49]
Snoop Dogg
I'm not hard to get along with. I'm not hard to deal with. I mean, you know, it's just the media that tries to, you know, brainwash anybody that's trying to be down with some black that's positive, that's young, that can move something in this world.
- [11:00]
Ari Melber
You know, some white people really are afraid of black people in America.
- [11:04]
Snoop Dogg
Right.
- [11:06]
Ari Melber
You come out of that case, the justice system said what it said, so you're cleared. And then we have the whole rest of your life to reflect on. So people know Snoop the businessman, Snoop Martha Stewart's friend, all the rest. Do you think it's important that Americans understand that a lot of other people who are in that position being defined by the justice system or the media that way might have so much more to them?
- [11:27]
Snoop Dogg
Yes, and I feel like I'm a great example of that and I'll be displaying that with different television series and different things that I'll be doing as a part of my life coming up real soon, so people can get an understanding and a direct commentary for me how it was personal for me to go through that to get to where I'm at.
- [11:46]
Ari Melber
You mentioned projects. Are you working with 50 Cent on anything?
- [11:49]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, me and 50 Cent. Collaborations about a small piece of my life which would be based off of that murder was the case. You know, moment in time, you know, a dream that became a nightmare. You know, thinking about being the biggest, best rapper in the world and living the American dream as far as being successful. And it's all wiped away by catching a murder case, which becomes a nightmare.
- [12:11]
Ari Melber
Yeah. Do you remember the. The feeling of that stress or duality? Because at the time I read it was the first debut album to debut at number one at the time. So that's like the biggest, best musical beginning you could have. And then against everything you just said, did you. Did that feel like out of sorts for you or you just took it as it came?
- [12:32]
Snoop Dogg
No, I felt like a dream and a nightmare because with all of the success that was going on, I couldn't really enjoy because my life was in limbo as far as I know, the justice system. And I know that, you know, it didn't look good for me because my music, my background, my past record, and then my record label. So all of that went into account as far as, like, these are things that are working against me now. I got to have a great team of lawyers. Thank God for Michael Harris and Suge Knight and David Kenner and his dream team of lawyers that he put around me to, you know, speak for me, because I wasn't allowed to speak in court, you know, so they had to speak for me to portray me as who I was, not what you thought I was. And, you know, by the blessings of God, the jury was able to look past the music and the hype and the media and look at the person and look at, you know, what the lawyers was presenting as far as evidence. And they found a way to get me free to where I can continue my journey on doing what I'm doing now to save lives and be a better person.
- [13:27]
Ari Melber
You had David Kenner and Johnnie Cochran.
- [13:29]
Snoop Dogg
Yes, sir.
- [13:30]
Ari Melber
When you looked at that jury, what were you hoping and what did you learn about our justice system? Because it can go both ways. We cover a lot of problems, but sometimes it's the jury that does what the government and the police and others won't.
- [13:42]
Snoop Dogg
Well, actually, I was quite nervous because, if you recall, O.J. simpson had just beat his case. So I was thinking that since he beat his, it was a must for me to lose mine, because the justice system is not going to see two black men walk out of the same courtroom with not guilty verdicts. So it weighed heavy on my mind and on my heart. That's why when I got the decision of the verdict, I went immediately into a prayer position because I was thankful, and I prayed through the whole thing. And my mother, my whole family was praying for me through it. And we wasn't, like, praying to do anything wrong. We was praying for to heal the family of the deceased and to heal my family, because this was tragic for all of us. It wasn't like a celebratory moment where we were happy or, you know, it was a sad moment because somebody's life was lost, and then my life was in limbo. And this is something that I got to live with for forever. So that's why I went about it a different way. When I got back on Death Row Records, I was on a different wave, and they didn't understand me because they wanted me to be the old snoop and I was the new snoop.
- [14:42]
Ari Melber
Right. And that. That brought you to the Dogfather and then many more chapters. You mentioned Death Row and Suge. Visit tape. You know, YouTube is great for some things. We found just party footage with you, Suge, Dre, and Biggie all at the same party. Just reminiscent. I want to take a quick look at that.
- [15:01]
Interviewer/Commentator
Jeff Roy's one of those neighbors.
- [15:02]
Snoop Dogg
We do everything on the edge.
- [15:03]
Interviewer/Commentator
We like to take care of ourselves. We don't like to depend on nobody but us. So Forrest Dre being a director and Snoop being an actor, I'm with the right here. Dr. Dre. What's going on, baby bro? Hanging out. Chilling.
- [15:15]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah.
- [15:15]
Interviewer/Commentator
Yo, Big, hold on a second. Hold on a second. We keep it real. Like jail on the party scene. You know what I'm saying? Everything cooling? What's going on next for you? I see you acting now, and you
- [15:27]
Snoop Dogg
know what I'm saying? N. I ain't acting.
- [15:28]
Interviewer/Commentator
I'm just chilling myself, playing stupid. Our whole goal is we want me to go far number one. We ain't even worried about number two.
- [15:37]
Snoop Dogg
That was the Murder Was the Case premiere in New York.
- [15:39]
Ari Melber
You remember that night?
- [15:40]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, I remember that night. All of New York showed up for us.
- [15:43]
Ari Melber
What was that like?
- [15:44]
Snoop Dogg
It was like, remember this? I'm still a fan right at this time.
- [15:49]
Ari Melber
Okay?
- [15:50]
Snoop Dogg
So to see my idol show up to my movie premiere and love it and love me and know who I am and respect me was, like, out of body experience. I had to be cool. But I was, like, so excited that I was seeing some of the greats that I idolized as a kid, and they were positioning me as far as, like, being the next one. And it just felt amazing when you, like, think about all of the great ones that were given that position of being great by the ones before them. Just felt like it was a, we love you, we appreciate you. We know you from the west coast, but the way you represent hip hop is yours. Take off and run with it.
- [16:29]
Ari Melber
So that's still you in that evolution. Did you eventually lose that and you're like, no, I'm on it now, or do you sometimes still feel that way around some artists?
- [16:39]
Snoop Dogg
I mean, I feel like that about all the artists I've ever felt like that about, whether it's rappers, R and B, country music. Like, when I met Willie Nelson for the first time, it was, like, crazy because he was, like, calm, and I was excited. And then we went in that green room, and we both got calm. You understand what I'm saying? But, like, people like that.
- [17:01]
Ari Melber
Yeah.
- [17:01]
Snoop Dogg
You know, like, to meet Willie Nelson was, like, a height for me because I know what he means to music. And I know what he means to America. And just to know that he know me and wanted to work with me, and we made records together, we did shows together, and we built a brotherhood.
- [17:19]
Ari Melber
We gotta talk about your flow. You walked in here just fresh off the music you're making. I'm not your father. Lady of Rage, who worked with you back in the day described you like this. When I worked with him, he would freestyle. He wasn't a writer then. He was a freestyler, Doc. He didn't write nothing down. He just came in and started busting on the shiznit. It was all freestyle. When we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus, and told Snoop, just come right back in. That's when Snoop was in the zone. Do you still do it like that? And where does that come from?
- [17:56]
Snoop Dogg
I always did it like that. But sometimes I like to be, like, more into making sure that this song and this concept is locked in. And if I'm thinking too fast and freestyling, I may miss a beat. So sometimes with the freestyle, I could freestyle the whole song, and I can come back and take a few words out and move a few things around, because the body and the bass is there now. I want to make sure it's perfection, make sure that all of my words and all of my cadences are on point and making sure that my flow is right. And I'm sounding like I'm supposed to sound. So it's real particular, but then at the same time, it's not, because it's just me saying what's on my mind.
- [18:32]
Ari Melber
I pulled something you said about making your music and rapping the way you treat a baby. You remember this?
- [18:41]
Snoop Dogg
Mm. Tell me what I said.
- [18:43]
Ari Melber
Quote, you know how you would be real sensitive and delicate with a newborn baby?
- [18:48]
Snoop Dogg
Mm.
- [18:50]
Ari Melber
That's how I treat the beat. When I'm rapping like a newborn baby. Even if it's a hard track, what I'm saying will move you, because I'm delicately putting it down.
- [19:00]
Snoop Dogg
That's young Snoop Dogg.
- [19:02]
Ari Melber
That was right when. When Doggy Style came out.
- [19:04]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, that's young Snoop Dogg talking like that. If you think about all of the music I made, that's the approach of it. Like, when you hear Snoop's voice come on a track, it sounds like he's changing a baby's diaper. As far as the delicate touched it of the way he comes on, it's never like, hey, man, I'm on a song. It's always like, one, two or something. With so much. It's always the right. The right energy, the way you like it. Feels like it was supposed to slide right in there.
- [19:30]
Ari Melber
Hip hop was initially thought of as a trend. Now it's, as you said, it's rock and roll. Kanye said you guys are the new rock stars now. Is that flow gonna always work? Cause today we've got it shifting into the singing.
- [19:40]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, but I mean, if you think about me, I was singing and rapping. Respect ain't nothing but a G thing, baby. That's rapping and singing at the same time. So, you know, you can't reinvent the wheel. They gonna always try to put a new name on it, but it's the same thing. It's been going on since the beginning of time. Yeah, even the things that I'm doing ain't brand new. It's just. I got a new name for it, and it's a new Persona that's pushing it. Somebody was creating this type of vibe and doing this way before me. You just don't know who that person is, because they probably didn't have no spotlight on them or the attention on them. But I'm just a spirit of a spirit that was here before me. And I feel like after I'm gone, it's going to be a hundred years from now. It's going to be somebody doing it just like Snoop Dogg. When they be like, you know, it's somebody that used to do it just like you and you. Like who? You ain't going to know him, man, but his name is Snoop Dogg. Who? Snoop Dogg. Look him up, man. He in the history books. He right next to Jesus and Gandhi and Ali. His name is right there.
- [20:36]
Ari Melber
And someone else might be on that list, which I saw you have the art right back here of Tupac.
- [20:41]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, that's the dog. That's my dog.
- [20:42]
Ari Melber
And we have just right at the height when there was so much excitement, also tension. This is you guys, I'm sure you'll remember.
- [20:50]
Snoop Dogg
MTV at a table.
- [20:52]
Interviewer/Commentator
There's no dream of making an album with Biggie and Puffy or none of them. We not sweating it like that.
- [20:56]
Snoop Dogg
This is our family.
- [20:57]
Interviewer/Commentator
We peacefully coexist right now. Cause we all cool. Everybody's here. Everybody's. They make. They sell records, we sell records. Well, I guess you could call that selling records. What they do, we sell large amounts of records and they sell a few records. And really there's no. There's no competition.
- [21:12]
Snoop Dogg
He was so sarcastic.
- [21:15]
Ari Melber
How do you remember Pac?
- [21:16]
Snoop Dogg
Now, Pac didn't give a. If he Loved you. He loved you. If he hated you, he hated you. Were no in between. Wasn't no cut. And he, he loved to love people. So he just. He wasn't just a natural, aggressive, mad at you kind of person. He naturally loved people because if you notice, everybody hated. He used to be in love with him. He loved people. He loved to represent for his people. He was the voice for us. If you think about his music and the things he was saying and doing, he was speaking to a lot of things that I'm speaking to now and doing now. He was speaking to 20 some years ago.
- [21:52]
Ari Melber
He was so far ahead. And he wasn't angry at the justice system. He was angry at injustice.
- [21:58]
Snoop Dogg
He was angry at the system. Not the justice system, the system in general. The system that's designed to bring the black man down because remember, he's a Black Panther. So he's saying it directly as far as how the Black Panthers was organized to help out the black community, put back into helping the kids and just structure us as far as having our own values and the way we live. And then you see Edgar Hoover is documented now. They killed him. They killed him. So how you think he's supposed to feel when the only. Let's imagine like our positive role models, the football players and the basketball players and the athletes and entertainers and they decide to come together and say, okay, we're going to help out our people. Then all of a sudden the government kill them. How do you think they kids going to feel about the next generation? So that's the way Tupac felt. That's the way we felt. But just not feeling that way. We made a difference. We was able to do something. We was able to have a voice and we was able to move mountains. We was able to unite people and we was able to even unite color lines because Tupac loved all people and I love all people. He didn't just make music for black people. It was just we were trying to help black people because we seen what was done to us when we tried to help each other.
- [23:05]
Ari Melber
And those facts were there and documented. But so much of establishment America and white America lied about it or ignored it. And we've had a little bit more of this reckoning in the last few years along with rising hate. You mentioned the Malcolm X case. You've got the actual prosecutors and FBI clearing people that were set up and talking about police misconduct and wrongdoing. You've got more videos now. The things that were obviously documented back then. We have some APOC on all These issues, I want to play for you because it's one thing to be right at the time, it's another thing to be ahead of your time. And we were just preparing this and thinking about speaking with you. Snoop, so much of this is so ahead of the time of what people are. Some people are only waking up to. So I want to play this for your thoughts.
- [23:54]
Interviewer/Commentator
I don't want to be 50 years old at a Bet We Shall Overcome achievement awards. You know what I'm saying? Not me. Every time I speak, I want the truth to come out. You know what I'm saying? Every time I speak, I want to shiver the same crime element that white people fear.
- [24:09]
Snoop Dogg
We fear.
- [24:10]
Interviewer/Commentator
So we defend ourselves from the same crime element that they scared of. It's not my. My liking for guns. What about the nra? We all have a right to bear arms. I have that. I have that same right as you do. Just because I'm black doesn't mean I shouldn't have a gun. I have a law. Legally owned gun. All the society is doing is leeching off the ghetto. They use the ghetto for their pain, for their sorrow, for their culture, for their music, for their happiness, for their movies. I definitely feel for the mothers. I think that what we need to do as a community is start taking control back of our communities. We just need to regulate it so that we can at least have, like, a peaceful zone where we can all be cool, you know, or else we gonna all die. We gonna all be destroyed. Well, we asked 10 years ago, we was asking with the Panthers. We was asking with them, you know, with the civil rights movement, we was asking. You know, now those people that were asking, they're all dead and in jail. So now what do you think we're gonna do?
- [25:07]
Snoop Dogg
Ask? No, now you get it. Even watching that, my spirit is bubbling right now. Like, I feel like somebody up from just hearing that, just because I know that it puts me in that era, in that zone when we. Our voice didn't matter back then, things we were speaking to, as far as corruption and violence and all that, they would take it and reverse it back on us as if, no, you got a problem. You're violent. You're this. You know, America's violent. We was peaceful. The Black Panthers was put together to bear arms and do all this peaceful stuff. Y' all came and shot them down and knocked them down. And now we don't have a voice. And now when we try to speak as rappers, you want to lock us up and say our music is making people Kill each other and this and that, and then we can't bear arms. Like, all the stuff he was speaking to is happening right now, but this is 25 years ago. So it's like, if we don't stand up and make a difference and make a change, it won't change. So that's why we do what we do and we moving. Like, we moving right now.
- [26:02]
Ari Melber
Yeah. Where would he be now, do you think?
- [26:06]
Snoop Dogg
Right where I'm at or farther.
- [26:08]
Ari Melber
Does it strike you that many young people today, born after he died, they still come to him and his words and his music.
- [26:18]
Snoop Dogg
Well, I mean, you got to think about it. It's the gospel. I mean, he was all about the people. Tupac was in the streets for the streets for the people. Like, that's why he could click with Death Row so fast, because he was already engaged with the public in the streets. People already loved him. He just needed a home. So one thing about him, like he said, whenever you think about him and the vocals coming out of his mouth, is truth.
- [26:41]
Ari Melber
Yeah.
- [26:42]
Snoop Dogg
So if you want the truth, you go to your historians and you go find truth, and it's Tupac. That's why they teaching Tupac in colleges. They teaching Tupac and different universities around the world. As far as the rhymes that he wrote and the quotes that he said are being taught. As far as, like, education.
- [26:59]
Ari Melber
Yeah, it's really. It's really something, especially looking at what was cut off. So what more there would have been, right.
- [27:05]
Snoop Dogg
At 25 years old. Just imagine what he was doing at 25. That was 25 years ago. So he only got to live half of what I'm doing. Yeah, but he was so far ahead of the game that things he's saying from 25 years ago resonate right now.
- [27:20]
Ari Melber
Yeah, absolutely. I have a couple Snoopisms here for you, because, you know, we. We study the dog. To survive in a dangerous environment, you have to have fear or respect. What does that mean?
- [27:36]
Snoop Dogg
Wow, that's like certain. Like, when we grew up in the hood, certain gang members would run the neighborhood based off of fear, and some were running the neighborhood based off of respect. The ones who push fear would be aggressive, violent. When you seen them coming, you could possibly. Something could happen to you. The ones with respect, you respected them so much that you would not do anything to violate, to make them put hands on you or to be violent with you. So it was just two levels of fear or respect. And I've always wanted respect more than fear, because when people fear you, they want to do something to You.
- [28:16]
Ari Melber
It's easy to hate, but hard to love.
- [28:19]
Snoop Dogg
It's so, so easy to hate. You can just hate somebody off of nothing. But it's hard to love because you got to pull back your pride and your emotions and your ego to actually say that I actually love that person. I'm into what they doing. I didn't create that, but so what? It's still amazing. So I feel like it's a double sword. But it's so much easier to hate. And it's so hard to love. But I try to put the easy side on love and the hard side on hate.
- [28:47]
Ari Melber
Yeah, I don't give a about no beat.
- [28:50]
Snoop Dogg
Oh, yeah. That was when I was working on the Dog Father, and they was questioning. They was questioning whether I was going to be all right without Dr. Dre Beats. And that's what I was on. I was like, my rhymes are what's going to carry everything. It doesn't matter who I'm produced by. Just because I had to have that ego and that stigma about myself. Because I knew Dre was gone, and I knew it was.
- [29:11]
Ari Melber
But you took it personal. They were trying to minimize what you'd done by saying you were only dependent on the. On the good Beats.
- [29:17]
Snoop Dogg
Like, you're not gonna be as good without his music.
- [29:20]
Ari Melber
I quit school cause of recess.
- [29:22]
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, they was playing games, so I had to, you know, create a whole nother game.
- [29:28]
Ari Melber
This one's classic. My mind on my money, My money on my mind.
- [29:31]
Snoop Dogg
Stay focused at all times. Keep your money where it needs to be, and keep your mind where it needs to be. If you focus on money, you're trying to live. You're trying. Make sure you're taking care of you and your others and responsibilities, and you got a reason to want to get up and get out and be there tomorrow. And that's the whole focus of it that you want to live. When you got your focus on those two things, your mind and your money. Your money on your mind. You want to live. You want to survive.
- [29:53]
Ari Melber
Music people know this, but not everyone might. You've been through maneuvering this industry with doing the Def Jam stuff. Now, you've done a lot of things as an artist. The total number of labels, at a minimum, Death Row, no Limit Priority Capital, emi, Geffen Records. The role with Def Jam, is it a strength? You've worked with all these labels, or did you have to keep moving because you were evolving?
- [30:14]
Snoop Dogg
I think it was a strength relationships, because a lot of those people from these labels have shifted into bigger positions and bigger Roles. And they remember me when I was young. Snoop. They remember me when I was hot. Snoop. They remember me when I was cold. Snoop. They remember me when I was trying to figure it out, Snoop. So, you know, it's a beautiful story, like, to see the journey. And now that I'm inside of the corporate world, as far as with Def Jam, this is like the first time you've ever seen me in an executive position. Normally, I'm just a rapper and just rap and do my rapping. Now I'm actually looking out for me and others. So these relationships are going to go a long way, especially for these artists that I'm in contact with who may not know anybody. And I know everybody. And now I could be the plug and play to maybe this artist from this label who you want to do a song with them. But I have a relationship with the CEO based off of something that's 15 years ago. And they give you the clearance and not charge you as much money to have their artists on your song.
- [31:06]
Ari Melber
It's like Biz Mark, he said, all samples cleared.
- [31:08]
Snoop Dogg
You better know it.
- [31:09]
Ari Melber
Hard to do sometimes.
- [31:10]
Snoop Dogg
Come on, now. Rest in peace, biz.
- [31:11]
Ari Melber
My guy rip 100. This is one. That's funny. I don't think people will believe this. First of all, Is this true? 17 Grammy nominations, no Grammy wins.
- [31:26]
Snoop Dogg
I gotta. Let me see. This is what they be giving me every time, but won't never give me an award. But this is like the little. The little Grammy little.
- [31:36]
Ari Melber
That's. You got 17 of those, which is hard to get.
- [31:39]
Snoop Dogg
17 with no W's. With no W's, no W's. But you don't hear me complaining or crying about it.
- [31:46]
Ari Melber
I mean, it's an industry award, and it's. There's a lot of criticism of it. For a lot of critics.
- [31:51]
Snoop Dogg
I guess when I die, they give me about five or ten of the motherfuckers, probably.
- [31:54]
Ari Melber
How do you feel about it?
- [31:56]
Snoop Dogg
I really want one now so I can make it an ashtray for taking so long. No, I mean, I know the politics. I mean, I've been in it long enough to know because, like, when I was supposed to win it, I didn't win it. Like, I felt like when I was at my best and at my peak and at my prime, they would never give it to me because I was too controversial. And they wasn't looking at the music. They was looking at the life outside of music, which is faulty to me, because if you're gonna give an award, it should be based off of music. Just like in sports, like when they took Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy away. That didn't have to do with what he did on the football field, what his daddy did with cutting a side deal for money or whatnot. So I feel like, you know, they cheat us sometimes when it comes to those award shows, but we, me personally, care more about Soul Train Awards, BET Awards, and my American Music Award that I won. You know, things like that. Rest in peace, Dick Clark. Cause Dick Clark, I gotta tell you this story. I was nominated for an American Music Award, and ABC and Disney didn't want me to come to the show because I was fighting a murder case. And Dick Clark went to war for me and said, he's going to perform. He's going to do what he's got to do. This is America. He's innocent to proven guilty. And I like his music.
- [33:14]
Ari Melber
Dick Clark said that.
- [33:15]
Snoop Dogg
And Dick Clark had me come on and I performed at the American Music Awards, and I won that night.
- [33:20]
Ari Melber
What did that tell you about the way he views the world, man?
- [33:25]
Snoop Dogg
It made me love Dick Clark that much more, man. Like, just because as a kid when you was watching American Bandstand, you're like, I'll never be on that show. This is so far away from me. But then to be able to make music and to have my song talked about by him, and him go to war and say, no, he's coming. And then when I got there that day, he was waiting on me. He was waiting on me, man. I'm like, man, Dick Clark is waiting. Hey, Snoop Doggy Dog, come on in. He was, like, laid it all out for me. We chopped it up for, like 30 minutes. And he was like, when you go out there and perform, make me proud.
- [34:00]
Ari Melber
That's awesome.
- [34:01]
Snoop Dogg
And I'm like, that's a moment for me. Like, come on, man. Dick Clark is one of the greatest to ever do it.
- [34:05]
Ari Melber
Yeah.
- [34:06]
Snoop Dogg
And he stood up for the dog when the dog didn't have a voice.
- [34:09]
Ari Melber
Well, and this is your spirit, where you'll make it yourself and you'll make it better and bigger, and then people will come to you. Which we noticed in your recent Hollywood Star ceremony where you're sort of quoting yourself because these are bars, but also making the point.
- [34:25]
Snoop Dogg
I want to thank me. I want to thank me for believing in me. I want to thank me for doing all this hard work. I want to thank me for. For having no days off. I want to thank me for trying to do more right than wrong. I want to thank me for just being me. At all times. Snoop Dogg, you a bad.
- [34:46]
Ari Melber
I feel like we got treated to what might happen in the mirror, but it's just out there. Is that how you really feel and how you motivate?
- [34:51]
Snoop Dogg
Man, that was a freestyle that came to me right there.
- [34:54]
Ari Melber
Really?
- [34:54]
Snoop Dogg
Cause I didn't have no speech wrote. Yeah. So it was like, you know, thinking about that day. I was thinking about, okay, I'm getting a star on the Walk of Fame. I know I gotta thank a lot of people for my success. So I'm, like, looking in the crowd, I'm like, I see my mom, I see Dre, I see Warren G, I see Doc. I see key people, Quincy Jones, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I'm like. I'm like, they really didn't do the work that I did. Like, not trying to be conceited or selfish, but just, like, just thinking about, like. And I'm thinking about mental health and self esteem and how others would really need this moment right now. So instead of it being about me, I made it about me and said, I want to thank me for all of this stuff that I did. So people took that the right way. They took it like, hey, man, maybe I should pat myself on the back for the work that I've been putting in so that way I can feel good about what I'm doing. So no matter what you say, I feel good about what I'm doing.
- [35:58]
Ari Melber
What's the difference between that motivation and arrogance?
- [36:03]
Snoop Dogg
That is inspiring because it makes you understand that everything I'm saying is true. I wanna thank me for never giving up. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, all the things I'm saying is motivation. Because it's like, damn, that's how Snoop Dogg got here. Cause he put in that work and he's finally taken the time to thank himself for all the work that he put in. Like, imagine how many athletes and entertainers that have done way more than me that have never said, man, I've done a good job. I want to thank myself for doing a good job. They sitting back, waiting on confirmation from somebody else. And sometimes that drives depression because we forget. Because when you're not hot, we're moving on to the next. And all the stuff that you did, the people from back in the days, like even the historians in music, the James Browns, and the people from way back in that era, people don't even talk about them no more. And they're the greatest to ever do it.
- [37:01]
Ari Melber
People just across walks of life around the world, they feel Something from you. You seem so yourself. So I don't know how to ask this other than to say, do you know how you were so you. Despite being really globally famous?
- [37:17]
Snoop Dogg
Do I know how.
- [37:18]
Ari Melber
How you stay you.
- [37:21]
Snoop Dogg
No, I think it's my upbringing. I think it's the way I was raised. You know, we all got a little kid in us. Just a matter of how much of it you gonna expose. And I think the kid in me was always a people person. Like, I went to school with people. I don't care what color they was or what their background was. They were people. And I love them. They love me. We had fun. We interacted. Then when I went to junior high school, I went to school with more people. Some of them didn't look like me. Some of them did. Then as I got into the world, I started encountering more people. And I love people, and people love me. And that's just what it is. It's nothing in between. It's not like, oh, I don't like y'.
- [37:59]
Ari Melber
All.
- [37:59]
Snoop Dogg
Cause y' all look like this or dress like this or act like that. Nah, I'm Snoop Dogg. I With everybody.
- [38:05]
Ari Melber
Can I push you on that a little bit?
- [38:07]
Snoop Dogg
Oh, yeah.
- [38:08]
Ari Melber
What if somebody's watching this, going, oh, cool. You let your inner child, your kid, yourself out. But everybody likes that kid inside you. I mean, a lot of people do, I think it's fair to say. What about someone hearing you, Somebody maybe younger and thinking they may not like the little part of them they let out? They're afraid people aren't gonna like them. They're not gonna be charismatic like that inner Snoop.
- [38:32]
Snoop Dogg
I think you just gotta master you, you know, that comes with time. Spend some time with yourself. Learn how to master you. Because the world we living in right now makes you focus on others instead of yourself. So you need to pull back from social media, Pull back from all of the things that aren't real, and just focus on you and learn how to be a better you. Because you gotta live with you every day.
- [38:51]
Ari Melber
Facts. I like that. I'd like before, before we let you go, I'd like to do some lightning round. Favorite party Snoop song. Gin and juice or beautiful or drop it like it's hot Party.
- [39:06]
Snoop Dogg
Gin and juice.
- [39:08]
Ari Melber
Favorite funky Snoop track, Vapors. Snoops upside your head or pimp?
- [39:15]
Snoop Dogg
Snoops upside your head.
- [39:16]
Ari Melber
Very funky. Favorite smoking Snoop track. No Bam. Or weed. Smoke the weed or young, wild and free.
- [39:27]
Snoop Dogg
So what? We get drunk so when we smoke weed. Young, wild and free.
- [39:33]
Interviewer/Commentator
Amen.
- [39:33]
Ari Melber
Favorite Latin Snoop track, Grande Ligas mito Snoop or K Maldicion. All right. And finally, most iconic Snoop track is hard but shiznit two of America's most wanted. G's and Hustlers or what's my name?
- [39:58]
Snoop Dogg
I hate to say it, but from the depths of the sea back to the block Snoop Doggy Dog Funky as the the the dock went solo on that ass, but it's still the same. Long beach is the spot where I serve my cane.
- [40:11]
Ari Melber
Amen.
- [40:12]
Snoop Dogg
What's my name, baby?
- [40:13]
Ari Melber
What's my. I mean it's just iconic.
- [40:15]
Snoop Dogg
It is. That's the one. Snoop Doggy do
- [40:22]
Ari Melber
or a sentence Covid
- [40:24]
Snoop Dogg
Disaster Trump America Biden liar Kamala Harris Libra gang same birthday Libra gang doctor Dre Quincy Jones 2.0 Kanye musical genius
- [40:40]
Ari Melber
too short P I N P Ice
- [40:43]
Snoop Dogg
Cube, Don Mega, Warren G, the Regulator, lady of Rage, Pam Grier of hip Hop Lil Dicky, greatest white boy basketball player, hip hop star ever played with.
- [40:57]
Ari Melber
Can he dunk?
- [40:58]
Snoop Dogg
Hell no. But he got shot that can play basketball good. We was in a celebrity game and 2 Chainz had him on his team. So everybody was like, I ain't sticking him. Nobody that had 18 points in the first half. The second half we started fouling the out of him like he ain't getting nothing. We just fouling him on purpose, like, nope, no more baskets for you, little Dicky. He real good though.
- [41:18]
Ari Melber
I love that Tupac.
- [41:20]
Snoop Dogg
It's like he's. He's the world we living in. He was telling us about 20 something years ago.
- [41:24]
Ari Melber
He saw it.
- [41:25]
Snoop Dogg
Yes, sir.
- [41:25]
Ari Melber
The best part of smoking is.
- [41:27]
Snoop Dogg
The best part of waking up is smoking on somebody.
- [41:34]
Ari Melber
The worst part is when you don't
- [41:36]
Snoop Dogg
have no papers and you gotta smoke out of a coke can.
- [41:42]
Ari Melber
When you were young, the best part of music was.
- [41:46]
Snoop Dogg
Mm. The way it felt. The mm mm. The way that felt. Felt good to me.
- [41:53]
Ari Melber
And now the best part of music
- [41:54]
Snoop Dogg
is that it's actually growing and growing and accepted by all walks of life.
- [42:01]
Ari Melber
Someone you have not worked with, whom you want to Sade Best advice you ever got, do you Best advice you ever gave do you Failure to you
- [42:12]
Snoop Dogg
is to not try.
- [42:14]
Ari Melber
Success is effort. I know I'll be done when When
- [42:20]
Snoop Dogg
God called me on. Being a maverick means doing it your way and your way only.
- [42:26]
Ari Melber
Snoop Dogg.
- [42:27]
Snoop Dogg
Thank you for doing this, Top Dog. Appreciate you. Bang bang
- [42:32]
Ari Melber
Lifelock.
- [42:33]
Snoop Dogg
How can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.
- [42:37]
Ari Melber
One in four tax paying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.
- [42:40]
Snoop Dogg
What do I do? My refund, though. I'm freaking out. Don't worry. I can fix this.
- [42:44]
Ari Melber
Lifelock fixes identity theft, guaranteed and gets your money back with up to $3 million in coverage. I'm so relieved. No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way. One in four was a fraud.
- [42:54]
Snoop Dogg
Paying American.
- [42:56]
Ari Melber
Not anymore. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com Special offer terms apply.