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Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Julie Swerbinks
What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
Julie Swerbinks
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
Julie Swerbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
Nate Thompson
Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
Julie Swerbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Stephen A. Smith
What's up, everybody? Welcome to this very special edition of the Stephen A. Smith show, coming at you over the Digital Airways of YouTube and, of course, iHeartRadio. Listen, I'm not gonna waste too much time talking off the top. I really, really don't wanna do that to the audience. I know you look to hear from me, but there are moments, moments where even I must confess, I got to step the hell aside so y'all can hear from the people to hear from that you want to hear from. When I tell you who I've got on next, what they going to bring to the table? When I say their names, When I say their names, it speaks for itself. The hell with the Stephen A. Smith show today. This ain't even the Stephen A. Smith show today. This is Snoop Dogg in the house and the one and only Dr. Dre. That's on my bucket list right there. Dr. Dre is sitting in the house. Okay, the hell with me, y'all. Dr. Dre and Snoop in the house on the Stephen A. Smith Show. Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. I know I'm sounding a little bit calm right now because this is what happens when you know certain things in life come your way. There's certain things that you fantasized about doing. I speak. I speak to my next guest all the time. The man sitting next to him is somebody I consider the Greatest. And it is an honor and a privilege to have the one and only Snoop Dogg in the house. And Dr. Dre himself.
Nate Thompson
Oh, yeah.
Stephen A. Smith
My brothers. What's going on, fellas?
Snoop Dogg
AKA Batman and Robin, are back in Gotham City.
Nate Thompson
Thank you for having us, Steven.
Stephen A. Smith
Please, the honor is all mine. Who's Batman? Who's Robin? I know the answer to this question, but I need you to say it, Snoop. Doctor, you don't usually do that.
Snoop Dogg
Look, Doc, when. It's when. When we together. And this is Batman.
Stephen A. Smith
That's right.
Snoop Dogg
And I'll defer to Robin. Eminem is Robin sometimes, too, but he got the E on, so he don't mind me splitting the duties, right, Dr. Dre.
Nate Thompson
Yes, indeed.
Stephen A. Smith
The honor is all mine. Anything great about music, as far as I'm concerned, that has transpired over the last 30 plus years, if not more, has something to do with you, because that's.
Nate Thompson
Oh, man. I really appreciate that.
Stephen A. Smith
I don't give it often. I don't give it up. But you deserve.
Nate Thompson
I know you don't. I watch you. I know what's up with you.
Stephen A. Smith
You watch me. Am I doing all right? Am. Is my tone okay?
Snoop Dogg
Yeah.
Nate Thompson
You there?
Stephen A. Smith
All right. All right. How does it feel to sit here today sitting next to this man, Snoop, knowing what you guys have meant to each other, to the industry, and what you're about to do with one another now?
Nate Thompson
First of all, it's all love and respect with us. That comes first. And I just want to see my brother win. That's it. So we go in and we say we're going to get down on something. Whatever it is, we put our all into it. And there's nothing less than that when it comes to the music or anything that we're trying to do with this gin and juice thing that we're about to promote and all that. It's just us, and we're brothers, and we're trying to make something dynamic happen at all times.
Stephen A. Smith
But it's amazing because you sat up there and said you just want to see the brother winning for a second. I was on. I almost stopped you because I was like you acting. Like I said it sounded like he ain't. He wins out. This man wins at every damn thing he does.
Nate Thompson
We about to win again. We're about to win again.
Stephen A. Smith
That's right.
Snoop Dogg
Let's see the support. That's the thing. A lot of people don't like to see you winning. He's happy for me to win. He criticizes me, critiques me when I'm not winning when I'm doing things the inappropriate way that he doesn't feel that's on the level that I'm supposed to be on. So winning is key with him. And it's impressive that we still have our relationship to the same level to where I still respect him and don't feel like I'm bigger than him. I'm better than him. I feel like I'm always going to be able to listen and learn from him.
Stephen A. Smith
Give me an example of what a criticism from Dr. Dre looks like when he. Does he pick up the phone?
Nate Thompson
That's a tough question.
Snoop Dogg
No, I got. I gotta.
Stephen A. Smith
I gotta hear this. What does that look like?
Snoop Dogg
This what it look like? Hey, nigga, why you do that Jack in the Box commercial? Cause they gave me four and a half million dollars. Oh, okay.
Stephen A. Smith
Just like that?
Snoop Dogg
Yeah. But it's. Cause he's watching what I'm doing. Does that help your brand? Does that really help you get to where you wanna get to? It's like an understanding of the way I push me is different than the way he push him.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, it's different, man. I want him to do less shit.
Snoop Dogg
Yes.
Nate Thompson
Oh, really?
Snoop Dogg
Less is more in his eyes.
Stephen A. Smith
Okay. Why?
Nate Thompson
I just think that for his brand and who he is, I. Jack in the Box. Okay. I'm only saying that because he brought it up.
Snoop Dogg
Right?
Stephen A. Smith
Right.
Nate Thompson
Jack in the Box. I'm like, nigga, I bet not see your head pop out of that box. That's going to be a problem.
Stephen A. Smith
Right?
Nate Thompson
You know what I mean? It's like that kind of shit. It's like, come on, man, you bigger than that. So that's how I'm looking at it.
Snoop Dogg
And I love the criticism. It's like. It's constructive criticism. It's never taken as hate or it's. He wants me to win. To him, he would rather see me do a fucking big steak commercial for a company that's bigger than Jack in the Box. If you gonna do something, do the biggest or don't do it at all in his mind. But my thing is, I like to touch everybody. I come from the streets, so I'm from the streets to the suites. Sometimes he goes from the suites to the streets. I go the other way. So I make sure I touch everybody from the bottom to the top.
Nate Thompson
That's fair.
Stephen A. Smith
Do you think that's accurate? Do you think that's accurate?
Snoop Dogg
That's fair. That's fair.
Nate Thompson
Your approach, because of this shit we're doing right now in this interview? Yeah, I'll take that it's fair.
Snoop Dogg
It is the truth. You want me in the Sweets, cuz.
Nate Thompson
That's what I do.
Snoop Dogg
But what my record sound like. The Streets are the sweets.
Nate Thompson
It's both.
Snoop Dogg
What?
Nate Thompson
More I feel like more. It's more the streets. It's more the Streets.
Snoop Dogg
I think it's more Sweets, nigga. I sound good on that motherfucker.
Stephen A. Smith
Like elevated, like, what the fuck?
Nate Thompson
That's what you're supposed to sound like.
Snoop Dogg
But only when I'm with you. Is the excellence of Snoop Dogg's vocals the excellence of you feeling what he's saying.
Nate Thompson
This motherfucker.
Snoop Dogg
It's production. You produce me.
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah.
Snoop Dogg
A lot of niggas just give me beats. It's a big difference. They give me a beat and let me run off.
Nate Thompson
No, I'm in there producing and that's what we're doing.
Snoop Dogg
Every word.
Nate Thompson
I get the drive, I get the last. I get the final call when we're in the studio, so.
Snoop Dogg
And I love Stephen A. This is the type of athlete I am, right. I know I'm good, right? Put up 50 points a night, but when I'm with this, I'm great. I'm liable to get a hundred points, like Will Chamberlain on A. And hold this up like this with a hundred.
Stephen A. Smith
What is it that makes you great in your eyes?
Nate Thompson
I'm trying to be great. I'm still searching for that. So you know what I mean? I'm just doing me, man. I just wake up with ideas and just try shit. I experiment. I'm always experimenting. You know, some shit hits the target, some doesn't, you know, so. But fortunately, my batting average is great.
Stephen A. Smith
No question about that.
Snoop Dogg
He ain't telling you, Steven, that this nigga's a perfectionist. That's what he is. He don't understand that's what he is. Cause he don't get a chance to look at himself. But it's an honor to work with him because he's a fucking perfectionist. And when you hear it, you hear back what he's done with you, then you hear the perfection.
Stephen A. Smith
How is it that you. When Snoop says something like, you don't take an opportunity, really, or you don't get an opportunity to step back and look at it? How is that possible? Being as intense as you are, being as brilliant as you undeniably are, don't you have to look at yourself and gauge and judge what you're doing on a day to day basis in order to truly reach that level of greatness?
Nate Thompson
Yes, it's a. A little bit of fear. And it's a massive amount of trust. Because I have this man putting his career in my hands. So I got to show up. I wake up every morning thinking about what I have to do when I go to sleep, before I go to sleep thinking about what I've done or what I have to do the next morning. So it was always on my mind. Because, again, it's a massive amount of trust that's been laid upon me. You know? So I gotta show up. I gotta make sure not only him, Jimmy, and everybody in our circle is impressed with what the fuck I'm doing. And that's my mission. I want to impress. I want to impress. I want to inspire and get inspired. So when I do my thing and if I do it the right way, I get that gratification from these guys, and that's a great feeling.
Stephen A. Smith
Have you ever had any of them look at you and say, you did it the wrong way? He just finished telling you. You'll tell him.
Snoop Dogg
Do you that? Always tell me when I do it.
Stephen A. Smith
I know that.
Nate Thompson
Oh, absolutely.
Snoop Dogg
Oh, when he had some bad weed. This gave me. This gave me some dirt. Yeah. Cause we telling the truth. We was Stephen A. And he sent it by the homie, right? So the homie bring it to me.
Nate Thompson
No, I'm growing my own weed, right? So it's gotta be Snoop Dogg. No, the weeds gotta be Snoop Dogg approved, right?
Stephen A. Smith
Right. Absolutely.
Snoop Dogg
So he sends it over to me.
Nate Thompson
So Snoop Tech, like, FaceTime me at 6am One morning. Like, man, get this out of here, man. This is trash. Don't send this shit to me no more.
Snoop Dogg
What it takes. Like what I say now, I need help. But now what I say now the third batch.
Stephen A. Smith
What I'm about to have the world. I might go viral with this, Snoop, you know? Cause I don't smoke no weed. You know what I'm saying?
Snoop Dogg
Because you getting the second smoke right now.
Stephen A. Smith
Right now. What makes weed bad? When you say bad weed, Snoop.
Snoop Dogg
Bad weed.
Stephen A. Smith
How do you know? How do you know?
Snoop Dogg
It's from the mountains of dirt. It's from the Himalayas of trash. It's the worst of the worst. It's got seeds in it. It's not growing right. It don't have the look, it doesn't have the feel. And it doesn't make you feel what you supposed to feel.
Stephen A. Smith
Do you feel you're the greatest judge of weed? I got ass.
Snoop Dogg
I feel like I'm one of them. I'm not gonna take away from Cheech and Chon Bob and all of the great guys that are my peers. The Red Mans, Method Mans B. Real Wiz Khalifa. These are my peers, right? But I'm one of them. I'll say that.
Stephen A. Smith
I got you. Let's talk a little business for a second here, because still. Jen, Dre, and Snoop, talk about this for a second. What this project is, how y'all collaborated on this, talk about this, and what y'all.
Nate Thompson
What's.
Snoop Dogg
It's your world, Dr. Dre, because you the one all basically what this process is when it comes to this gin. Dr. Dre is the psychologist, the the scientist, the drinker, the tester. I'm the marketing, the branding, the push and promote. But he's the one that got that taste.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, I got this.
Snoop Dogg
And the look.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, I got this. It's like, Jimmy can step back, Snoop can step back. I got this. I know what it's supposed to taste like. I know what it's supposed to feel like. So, yeah.
Snoop Dogg
Oh, there you go.
Stephen A. Smith
You know what? Excuse me. Can I have a glass? Let me get a little gin.
Nate Thompson
You don't smoke, but you drink, huh?
Snoop Dogg
Oh, you already mixed it.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm gonna touch it. I'm gonna touch a little bit.
Snoop Dogg
Put some ice.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm touch a little bit. I mean, ain't that wrong? Little gin.
Snoop Dogg
Damn. I ain't that much of a drunk.
Nate Thompson
I just want my shit on ice.
Snoop Dogg
She gave me a Dr. Dre Glass.
Stephen A. Smith
There you go.
Snoop Dogg
I'm Snoop Dogg.
Nate Thompson
Y'all been to the laboratory. We developed this from ground up, so it has our official taste. And this is just us.
Snoop Dogg
So that's rgn.
Nate Thompson
This is us. Yeah.
Snoop Dogg
So that's our gin. That's not a gin that we borrowed from somebody.
Nate Thompson
Magnificent group of people that's around and these scientists and all these taste tests and all of that. And it was.
Snoop Dogg
So you put on that white jacket and the gloves and the hat and all that.
Nate Thompson
All of that.
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah.
Snoop Dogg
Where was I at?
Stephen A. Smith
I was getting ready.
Nate Thompson
Question.
Stephen A. Smith
That's my next question.
Nate Thompson
This was probably somewhere smoking.
Stephen A. Smith
Listen, he gonna show up when it's time, though.
Nate Thompson
No question about.
Stephen A. Smith
You're not just a musician. You're not just an artist. Both of you are businessmen. But, Dre, obviously, when people talk about you, we see this. We see we. Because we see him so much everywhere. The man's trying to take my job.
Nate Thompson
I'm a hermit, man. I like staying at home.
Stephen A. Smith
Right?
Nate Thompson
I came outside for you, man.
Stephen A. Smith
I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Snoop Dogg
I'm surprised to make you do the interview in his living room.
Stephen A. Smith
And I would have come if that's what he. If that's what it took to get this interview, absolutely. But when you have an opportunity to reflect on what you have accomplished in your career, Dre, when you look at who you are and what you mean to so many people, how does that make you feel at this moment in time in your life?
Nate Thompson
I mean, it's incredible. Hopefully I'm inspiring some new up and coming rappers and producers and engineers. But I don't look back. I never listened to my old music or anything like that, really. I've never listen to my old music. I never let anybody play it around me. I feel like that's masturbation at the highest level.
Snoop Dogg
I like to masturbate. And Dre and Fred have a show called Masturbators coming soon.
Nate Thompson
It's a fishing show by Matt Mill. You're right. No, but I just. I'm always thinking forward. I don't live my life with a rear view mirror. I'm always thinking forward. I don't give a fuck about what I did or what's in the past. I guess I'll sit down with my grandkids at some point and. Yep. And listen to some of the things I've done, even going back to 1985, when I started with NWA and the whole nine. And go back and listen to what I was doing at that time when I was green as shit, you know what I mean? So I'm thinking about that in the future, going back and listening to the songs again. I've never.
Snoop Dogg
Me and this Ain't never listened to the Chronic. From top to Bottom. We ain't never listen to Doggy Style from top to bottom.
Nate Thompson
I've never listened to any of the music I've done.
Snoop Dogg
Me and him together have never listened to it.
Nate Thompson
Wow. I think it's going to be a fun experience going back and listening to just like everything that I've done in the trajectory and how I've grown musically.
Snoop Dogg
Let's start with Doggy Style before we put missionary out so we can make sure it's all the way.
Stephen A. Smith
How about that?
Nate Thompson
Make sure it's all the way right.
Stephen A. Smith
Missionary. I love the title. He told me about this months ago. He told me about this. And y'all got this coming out now. And when did y'all make that decision to collaboration Dr. Dre?
Snoop Dogg
It's called Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre.
Nate Thompson
I don't know. I thought it was funny as shit. You know, Our first collaboration being Doggy Style and flipping it, calling it Missionary. I Thought that was funny and fun.
Stephen A. Smith
No doubt. The title itself, no question. But I'm talking about the overall work. The decision. Decision to regroup.
Snoop Dogg
Right. Dr. Dre seen me out there freelancing, doing my. He was like, let me do your next album. Give me two weeks. Two weeks.
Nate Thompson
No, no.
Snoop Dogg
I'm always gonna stick to my story, because my ain't gonna change.
Stephen A. Smith
That's not what we.
Nate Thompson
That's not what that is. That's not what we're saying.
Snoop Dogg
You said that's what we're gonna start with. It's not.
Nate Thompson
No, you said we can do it.
Snoop Dogg
In two weeks, not do it. I mean, we can work together starting.
Nate Thompson
Nah, n. Don't. Don't backpedal now. You said, yeah, we can get the album done in two weeks.
Snoop Dogg
You're right, I did. And then this was, okay, I'm gonna take that. I'm a man up. I'm gonna stand on business.
Stephen A. Smith
Right?
Snoop Dogg
But your favorite line through this whole motherfucking process has been, just give me two days, Nick.
Nate Thompson
Two days.
Snoop Dogg
And two days ends up being 20 days and 30 days.
Nate Thompson
Y'all said two days about 40 times.
Snoop Dogg
That's right. But I ain't mad at it. When he say, two, what I say, you get.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, three.
Stephen A. Smith
But what made you decide to do it? Was there. Did you just want to. Or were you seeing. Were you seeing his work as great as he is, and you were saying something's missing?
Nate Thompson
Well, I'm seeing Snoop and what he's doing, his trajectory and how he's doing his thing, and I'm like, yeah, he's about his fucking business, and he's doing something that's great, especially his coaching the football teams, the little league football teams. And it's like, everything that he's doing, and I want to be a part of that. I stay wanting to be a part of Snoop's legacy and what he's doing, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to reconnect with him and do this project. And, you know, I love him, and he's my brother, so.
Stephen A. Smith
You've been nominated 16 times. I think it's a crime that they haven't blessed you with Grandma. I think it's ridiculous you alluded to that not happening for you.
Nate Thompson
Let me step in. I don't think we should fucking, like, go down that road because, please, if and when he wins, I don't want it to be like, they gave it.
Snoop Dogg
To me out of sympathy because of.
Nate Thompson
This type of conversation. You know what I mean?
Stephen A. Smith
I feel you. I Feel you. No, that's fair. That's fair.
Snoop Dogg
My grandma always told me, let your work speak for you, son.
Stephen A. Smith
That's right.
Snoop Dogg
So you'll never hear me crying about it, complaining about it, none of that shit. My grammy is. My kids in the football league that made it to the NFL, right? That's my grammy.
Stephen A. Smith
Well, you remember, you and I talk. Hell, I ain't never won no damn journalism. I ain't never won. No, but you won the people. I never won. No comment, sports commentator.
Snoop Dogg
You won the people we talked about.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, but everybody's with you.
Snoop Dogg
That's all that matters.
Stephen A. Smith
That's what I'm trying to tell you. So it's a. It's a beautiful feeling. But I think about.
Nate Thompson
Look at how everybody's with Snoop, right? You know what I'm saying? That's what really matters.
Snoop Dogg
Can a Grammy match that feeling?
Stephen A. Smith
No.
Snoop Dogg
No way.
Stephen A. Smith
No.
Snoop Dogg
No way.
Stephen A. Smith
That's what I'm saying now.
Nate Thompson
We gonna go get that.
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah, okay.
Snoop Dogg
Anyway, that's his mission for me.
Nate Thompson
Y. I said that at the beginning of the project. We gonna go get that. We gonna go get that. We gonna earn that. We ain't got to talk about why he didn't have it up until now. Talk about it.
Stephen A. Smith
I wasn't getting in touch, just so you know. I wasn't going. Why he didn't get it. I was going to what the mission was, moving forward.
Snoop Dogg
See how my big brother protect me, though. But you see how he protect me.
Stephen A. Smith
I feel you.
Snoop Dogg
Did you feel him? Did you feel him? He went straight in defense mode.
Stephen A. Smith
Like, hold on.
Snoop Dogg
Wait a minute.
Stephen A. Smith
I can't help it.
Snoop Dogg
Watch out. I can't. He's going to Snoop Dogg defense mode. I just got to sit back and.
Nate Thompson
Be like, okay, that's what it is.
Stephen A. Smith
You're protective of each other.
Snoop Dogg
Yes.
Stephen A. Smith
How protective are you of him?
Snoop Dogg
I would not let a disrespect him, his legacy or none of the he's ever done for me or anybody else in the game. And I respect him enough to. If he calls me and I'm out of pocket and he gives me information to get my right. I don't ever disrespect his checking. I love to get checked by Dr. Dre. Right.
Stephen A. Smith
Is it possible to disrespect Dr. Dre in this business? How is it possible? I'm trying to figure out how is it possible.
Snoop Dogg
No, but when you're brothers, sometimes you have miscommunication.
Stephen A. Smith
Right.
Snoop Dogg
But long as it's love as the front piece to the vehicle, we Always get over that. Like, he always say, it's two people. He can't never be mad at me and his son. He said, every time I walk in a room, he could be mad as fuck at me. Then all of a sudden, he just.
Nate Thompson
No, man, it's up. Because they know that.
Stephen A. Smith
So they mess with you. Right?
Nate Thompson
Studio or some. As soon as I see that smile, man, it's like, ah, man, he'd be.
Snoop Dogg
Texting me all the way there. Where the is you at? We've been here for 30. Where you at? And I walk in and be like.
Stephen A. Smith
Why, Dr. Dre, I'm looking at you right now. I'm looking at all of this. Four studio albums, five collaborative albums, three compilation albums. Just elite on every level. You got 20 albums. I told you. You forgot how many albums you had?
Nate Thompson
Is it 20?
Stephen A. Smith
20? It's 20. 52 years old.
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, I'll be 53 Sunday.
Stephen A. Smith
How old are you, my brother?
Nate Thompson
59. I'll be. I'll be 60 years old in February.
Snoop Dogg
Can I say this, Stephen? They on some sports.
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah.
Snoop Dogg
And Dr. Dre ain't gonna know what I'm talking about. But to me, Dr. Dre is the next Saban of hip hop.
Stephen A. Smith
Nick Saban, seven time champion, six championships at Alabama, universally recognized, the greatest college football coach in the history.
Snoop Dogg
And I say that because look at all of the NFL stars that he put through the league that are hall of Famers. Just think about his track record as far as production and the artists that he started. That's why I say he's the next savior. He's got a great career for himself, no question. But what about the people he put on?
Stephen A. Smith
That's where I'm going with you next. What about those folks? When you reflect on who you've helped along the way, I'm sure you don't want to play favorites.
Snoop Dogg
I get that part, but I know I miss.
Stephen A. Smith
But speak to it. What you believe, you know, when you hear and see the work of other folks, Snoop is somebody that obviously touches you in a very, very positive way. Anybody else out there, I'm imagining Eminem.
Nate Thompson
But anybody else, I mean, you know, everybody that I've worked with, you know, has touched me and touched my career in a certain way. You know what I mean? It's like every artist that I put my body into has helped me and my family in a certain way, you know, so does any one of them stick out? Of course, Snoop does, right? You know, this is my brother, but, you know, we've got, you know, 50 and Eminem and Kendrick and Anderson Paak. You know, I just. I just love getting in the studio with people that I love to get down with. That's all it is to it. As corny or as generic as that may sound, that's just what I do.
Stephen A. Smith
What would y'all tell an artist today? That you know, an aspiring artist, you want to make it. You want to get in the room and put that work in.
Snoop Dogg
Be original. Be original. Because right now it's so much copycat, mimicking, sounding alike. Imitation. Be original. Find your voice, find your production sound, find your ear for who you are, and be original. Even if it ain't hitting stay.
Nate Thompson
You find your collaborator. I just like. I don't. I don't like the fact that there's like nine different producers on one album. I like the idea of one producer on one album. The continuity. The continuity is everything.
Snoop Dogg
Yeah.
Stephen A. Smith
Where did that come from? Where did it come from, where you got cast that want to be with nine different producers on one album and stuff like that? When the hell did that start?
Nate Thompson
I don't know. I don't know, but it's. I don't like it. You know, if you're producing, if you're a producer, you should be able to produce the entire album. That's what I thought it was supposed to be. That's what I was doing at the beginning.
Snoop Dogg
There's a lot of beat makers, though, Doc. That's what the difference between your era and this era is, that there aren't too many producers as much as there are beat makers. It's so easy to make beats. They're giving you all these computer packets that has the drum loop, has this. Has y'all had to make the loop.
Nate Thompson
I feel like it's a change that's happening right now, you know, from all this mumble rap thing and everything that's happening right now. There's somebody in somebody's garage that's happening right now that's going to be the next Snoop or Dre or next Prince or Michael Jackson or whatever that's coming up with something that's going to change the game. It's got to happen right now, and it's wide open. Because everything that's happening right now in the music game is especially hip hop is.
Stephen A. Smith
Is weird as I was getting ready to go there. Why do you feel that it has to happen now? What is it about now that's happening that there's a level of urgency that makes you say change for the better?
Nate Thompson
Well, let's go to get Back to the musicianship. That's. That's all it is, you know, like real players. And I'm seeing it happen. I'm. I'm watching. I'm, you know, I'm on the Internet and I'm watching Instagram and things like that. And there's like these kids that are coming up that can really play, that can really play and can really write and sing and really doing some interesting rapping and shit like that. So I'm waiting for that to come back.
Stephen A. Smith
When did it go awry from the standpoint? I'm just talking about the industry itself in terms of people doing things in a manner that you might.
Nate Thompson
By the way, I'm not disrespecting anything that's happening right now. I'm just talking about some substance that's getting ready to happen moving forward.
Stephen A. Smith
Okay, gotcha.
Snoop Dogg
I think the fundamentals was taken out of it. Like you had to have skill, you had to have professionalism in order to be an artist. Now you just have to have a phone. So it's a big difference when you had to have certain things to be qualified as an artist. Now it's just the phone makes you an artist. And something stupid or something crazy on the Internet gets you five minutes of fame. And you take that and make a record and you got a two and a half minute song that's saying the same thing that somebody else just said. Now you consider it hot as opposed to. It used to be about creativity and understanding the musicianship, you know, harmony melodies that don't even matter no more. It's just auto tune something. I want to sound like him. I want to say what she said, but I want to, you know, do the same things, but just in my own way as opposed to let me be original.
Stephen A. Smith
One of the things that I've always said is that when people get on artists, I've always come to the defense of artists. And I look at the industry itself because if you're trying to make it and somebody's over and they're telling you this is what it's going to take in order for your. For your. For your music to be played, for you to develop and cultivate whatever your brand is, somebody is over you saying, this is the way to go. And if you feel compelled, if you really, really want to make it, sometimes you got to listen to them. That's how I felt.
Snoop Dogg
We never made music for that reason, Doc. We never made music for the radio, right? We never was like, let's make a radio version. We always made Music that felt good to us. Then when it got out to the public, if we had a label that had ideas of do a radio version and do this, but we never went into it with that intent. Go ahead.
Stephen A. Smith
I know you going to say something about that.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, I mean, I. I've always been a fan of shock hop. Just. We just do what we feel in the moment. And that's what I've been doing from the beginning of my career from nwa, Fuck the Police and Straight Outta Compton and the whole nine. It's just like we're just doing what we feel you've been feeling? Yeah, absolutely. We just put it out there and you know, at the beginning we're like, fuck the radio. If they don't play it, it doesn't matter because we know what the streets is gonna say, you know, so. And that's still my mentality.
Stephen A. Smith
Still your mentality. That's why you still winning. Stephen A. Smith show in the house, special edition. Snoop, the one and only Dr. Dre right here with your boy. Back with more in a minute. Okay, everybody, you know what time it is. It's time for Stephen A. Sports Picks. Everybody already knows I live and breathe sports, okay? But sometimes that's not enough and I need to actually be right there in the middle of all action. So how do I fix that? I'll tell you how. I use Prize Picks. Of course. You see, Prize Picks is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in all the land with over 3 million members. With Prizepix, you just choose 2, 3, even up to 6 of your favorite players and then pick more or less on their projected stats for the game. All right? Choose all the players you love to watch. Jamar Chase, Steph Curry, Garrett Cole, Coco Golf, all in the same entry. And get this, sign up with code SAS and prospects will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive received a $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a five dollar lineup on prospects and you'll get fifty dollars instantly. Now let's look at my winning picks. Today I'll be picking players for this weekend's NFL games. Let's look. First up, New England Patriots quarterback Drake May. More or less than 203 and a half passing yards. We can debate cause he's a rookie. First start last week, lose the game to Houston, but still didn't look completely awful, didn't have any protection, protection, etc. Etc. Here's what I'm looking At he's playing Jacksonville. They just stink right now. 203 passing yards shouldn't be that damn hard. We gonna go with that as in more for Drake May with the 203 and a half passing yards. Next up, Jaguar signal caller Trevor Lawrence. More or less than 236 and a half passing yards. Look, I expected more from the Jacksonville Jaguars and I damn sure expected more from Trevor Lawrence. I mean, they have just stunk. I think Doug Peterson's job is on the line. Seriously, he might not make it through half the season. It's been that bad. There's no excuse. There's no excuse. This brother, Trevor Lawrence got all the tools. Why he doesn't look better beats me. But that don't mean he's gonna look awful this game. 236 and a half passing yards. This is something he should be able to do against New England, even though their defense ain't too shabby. They just don't have much of an offense. But I still think he could pass for more than 236 and a half passing yards. I'm going with more on this one, too. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. More or less than 2,261/2 passing yards himself. Geno had a good start. He's been struggling over the last few weeks, but he's had a good start. He could make some things happen. Atlanta's tough, but I think you're gonna need more than 261 and a half yards in order for Seattle to have a chance to beat Atlanta in this game. So I think he will do that. I'm going to go with more for Geno Smith on this one as well. Finally, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. More or less than 268 and a half passing yards. Look, Kirk Cousins, his agent is phenomenal because he always gets his money. Gets it guaranteed. Can't win in the playoffs as far as we know. But in the same breath, he does win you a lot of regular season games. Has a lot of fourth quarter comebacks and stuff like that. Kirk Cousins does his thing. I just think in this game he won't have to. It'll be tough for them. But I think if Atlanta's going to win this game, it's going to be because of their running game, not because he's flinging the football all over the place. I'm going to pick less on this particular one. I think Kirk Cousins is going to throw for less than 268 and a half passing yards in this game against the Seattle Seahawks. So let's recap right here. Let's take a look at all four of my selections on this. All right, I got Drake May, more with New England. Geno Smith, more with Seattle. Trevor Lawrence, more with Jacksonville. Kirk Cousins, less. I know it says more right there. That's a typo on the screen. Okay, don't worry about that. It's less for Kirk Cousins, and it's going to stay that way. You hear me? Foreign.
Hunter
I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez. She was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car, and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save our girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Unknown
Snakes, Zombies. Sharks, Heights. Speaking in public, the list of fears is endless. But while you're clutching your blanket in the dark, wondering if that sound in the hall was actually a footstep, the real danger is in your hand when you're behind the wheel. And while you might think a great white shark is scary, what's really terrifying and even deadly is distracted driving. Eyes forward. Don't drive distracted. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council.
Stephen A. Smith
Welcome back to Stephen A. Smith show right here over the Digital Airways of YouTube. I mean, Dr. Dre, I gotta tell you something, man.
Nate Thompson
What's up?
Stephen A. Smith
I ain't getting in your pockets. It's your business. I just want. I just want to be clear.
Nate Thompson
Give it to me.
Stephen A. Smith
I do know this. Beats by Dre.
Nate Thompson
Yeah.
Stephen A. Smith
Everybody got one.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, everybody got one.
Stephen A. Smith
You collaborated with Apple to launch the streaming service Apple Music.
Nate Thompson
Absolutely.
Stephen A. Smith
That's Apple, bro. I just want you to know that I looked at that market cap. You know, Chain Chang, people like ESPN and Warner Brothers and Fox. You collaborate them, they worth a few hundred billion. I looked at Apple, their market cap was like, at 3 trillion. That's a lot of money, Dre. And the way I look at it is that there ain't no way they could be that successful. If it were not for you, could you talk to us about how life.
Nate Thompson
You know what, Stephen? I'm not going there.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm just saying that. Can you talk about how life is?
Nate Thompson
Let's just say life is good. And I'm very comfortable right now.
Stephen A. Smith
It's very comfortable. But could you elaborate on the entrepreneurial spirit and how all of this came about?
Nate Thompson
Could you? Well, it came about. I have to give Jimmy, Ivan and a lot of other people credit for that. It's just like, I'm just a creative man, you know?
Stephen A. Smith
Just a creative.
Nate Thompson
I'm a creative person. I'm a creative person. I'm. Yeah, I'm a innovator in all of that. And I get in and I play my position. I say what I have to say to make things move around, and everybody else does their thing and we collaborate. And to be honest with you, man, there's nothing that I've ever done in my entire life that wasn't a collaboration.
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
Nate Thompson
You know, I love collaborating. As a matter of fact, I don't even want to do anything alone. Wow, that sounds boring as fuck.
Snoop Dogg
No, that sounds dope.
Stephen A. Smith
No, I think it sounds dope.
Nate Thompson
I think it's small. It's a big collaboration with everything that I've done from Beats by Dre, from the music, the films and everything, everything is a collaboration.
Stephen A. Smith
I remember you acting a little bit and trained today in a couple other spots as well.
Nate Thompson
I don't know if I want to talk about that.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm just asking.
Nate Thompson
I mean, you know, that's not my proudest moment, the acting, you know, I tried it. I'll try.
Stephen A. Smith
My bad.
Nate Thompson
Well, you weren't bad. I'll try.
Stephen A. Smith
As a wannabe thesbee.
Nate Thompson
I'll try. I wanna try anything. I was all right, but I'd rather be on the other side of the camera.
Stephen A. Smith
I feel you. But when you think about who you are and what you've done, particularly from an entrepreneurial position, what advice would you give to the youngsters out there who have similar aspirations? Because, you know, everybody looking.
Nate Thompson
It's about collaboration. Casting is important. And what I mean about casting is finding the right people to collaborate with. Finding a partner, finding your Snoop Dogg. You know what I mean? Finding your Eminem, finding your Jimmy Iovine, finding somebody that's really great to collaborate with, but how do you do it?
Stephen A. Smith
Well, I'm not being you, but I'm saying how do you know when the person is right?
Nate Thompson
Well, it's just as difficult as anything else.
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
Nate Thompson
You know, finding the right Person to collaborate with, finding the right business venture or whatever, you know, finding that person that is like minded, that you can collaborate with, that you guys are thinking the same and you're on the same mission. That's what it is. Which is a really difficult thing to find because you'll find a friend, somebody that may be janky or something like that, that may be greedy or narcissistic or whatever the fuck. It's really important to find the right people to collaborate with.
Stephen A. Smith
How the hell have you. How the hell have you done it? You collaborate with everybody.
Snoop Dogg
Real is rare. You know, I'm. I'm the people's champ. You are I with everybody. Like, that's how it's so easy for me to do it. Cause I just. With everybody and it's like, if you. If you of my spirit and you my light and I get down, like you get down, I give it a try. Like, I don't have no problem with trying. I don't mind living on the edge.
Stephen A. Smith
But when you do that again, I'll ask you the same question I just asked Dr. Dre. Finding the right mix, finding the right person to collab with. How do you determine what is right and what is wrong for you?
Snoop Dogg
The spirit gotta be right first and foremost. Our spirit's gotta match. Like, we gotta damn near be the same people. Like when I work with Pharrell, Wiz Khalifa, whoever I work with, other than Dr. Dre, it's the spirit thing. It's like we brothers, we. We family. It's not just an opportunity to work with each other. It's like I get a chance to embody you and your team and your spirit, and you get a chance to do the same thing with me. So when we collaborate, it feels like it's family rather than just a moment.
Nate Thompson
Let me tell you something. People tell you who they are. You just have to listen. Everybody tells you exactly if you're supposed to be fucking with them or not. They tell you. You just have to listen.
Stephen A. Smith
How soon?
Nate Thompson
Their body language. Their body language. Certain shit that they say. They let you know. They let you know. Listen, don't fuck with me. I'm bad for you.
Snoop Dogg
Wow.
Nate Thompson
You just have to listen to that shit. You have to pay attention to that.
Snoop Dogg
Docking J. Say, hey, Stephen A. Don't fuck with me.
Nate Thompson
Don't fuck with me. I'm bad for you.
Stephen A. Smith
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you didn't listen?
Nate Thompson
Absolutely.
Snoop Dogg
Many times.
Nate Thompson
Absolutely. And every time, what you do is you give people the benefit of the doubt. You try to believe that they're gonna be a good person, and you try to believe that this motherfucker has your best interest at heart. And then they burn you every time they tell you off top. They tell you with the body language or with their words or whatever the fuck if you should fuck with him or not. And it's your fault if you keep pushing with that certain motherfucker.
Stephen A. Smith
Is the definition of somebody who's not like that. Somebody that's got your spirit, right? Somebody that you think is the right person to collab with simply or as simple as. Somebody who's rooting for your success as much as they're rooting for their own.
Snoop Dogg
That is a key component. It has to be somebody that genuinely loves you. You don't want to work with nobody who hates on you behind closed doors like, you want somebody that champions you, that speaks on you, that really represents you. So that way, when you're together, you know, it's the same feeling when you're not together.
Nate Thompson
That's it. You asked the question, how do you know? They tell you. You just have to pay attention to what they're saying and what they're doing. They let you know if you should fuck with them or not.
Stephen A. Smith
Do you know more now at the age of 59, 52.
Snoop Dogg
I know so much more a decade.
Stephen A. Smith
Ago, two decades ago.
Nate Thompson
I mean, it goes back. What's the difference?
Stephen A. Smith
What's the difference?
Nate Thompson
It goes back to that whole generic fucking saying, like, I wish I knew then what I know now. I mean, I wish, whatever the fuck, I wish I knew then what I know now. It's that same thing. You have to pay attention to the signs. That's all it is. People, like I said, they tell you exactly if you should be fucking with them or not. They tell you. They, they. They. They speak it or they move it. That's all it is.
Stephen A. Smith
Snoop, let me dissect you a little bit here. Outside of your music. I mean, let me bring up. I mean, now you on the Voice. You're on the Voice. I mean, it doesn't stop with you, man. It doesn't stop. I. I'm just saying, do you ever find they're gonna start calling you Shaq? You know that, right? They're gonna start calling you Shaq. They'll be like, can somebody else have a job? I mean, you doing it all, brother. You're doing it. I'm telling you right now. Dream this brother can walk into sports commentary now. Now. And I'm not just talking about this box office. I'm talking about talking sports, breaking that shit down. This brother's better than most right now. Right now, I'm looking at you like that. It doesn't stop with you. It really, really doesn't. Talk to me about the Voice right now and that new project that you are a part of right now.
Snoop Dogg
I took that deal with the Voice and didn't know what I was getting into, but I'm glad I did because it gives me a chance to coach a lot of artists that are young, just like, I was rough around the edges. So I give. I give them information, toolage, knowledge, and then at the same time, it's a fun experience for me because I get a chance to just sit back and be a real person rather than be a superstar and get on a one on one with these artists and inspire them. So it's a great look for me and it's a great feeling. I didn't know it would feel like that, but I'm having a great time with the whole cast over there.
Stephen A. Smith
What about the Olympics? You did the Olympics too? I mean, I don't know if we'll ever get over listening to you call boxing and Jake Paul.
Nate Thompson
Oh, Lord, who does not like listening to Snoop commentators is wild.
Stephen A. Smith
It's off the charts, but it's big time. I'm like this. He's right. He's right. And he says shit that a lot of us wish we could say, but we don't have. We can't say it on certain platforms. So that's what you bring to the table. And I don't know if you. If you realize this. Snoop has actually opened up opportunities for people who were already in the sports world before him because they let you know, you do what you do.
Snoop Dogg
Like this Marsh, he getting it right now.
Stephen A. Smith
He getting it in. He getting it Beast. But I'm loving it because, you know, listen, there's got to be a pioneer, right? They got to be somebody that sets the stage. The hell with.
Snoop Dogg
But it was people that. It was people that I was aspired to be. So it's not. I'm not the pioneer. I'm just the one that took the flagship to run with it when somebody passed the baton to me. So naturally I gotta pass it to somebody else. You know what I'm saying? So it's about when you get that opportunity, what do you do with it? Are you professional Snoop Dogg? Are you gonna be high on set? Are your lines gonna be dragging? Are you gonna know what you're talking about? Every opportunity that I get I always outwork the contract, always make sure to study, to be on deck, to make sure that I know information wise, what I'm supposed to be talking about. So if anything comes to me, I have an answer for it. If I don't have an answer, I could freestyle my way up out of it. But it sounds professional enough to know that he's qualified for the job.
Stephen A. Smith
Is that why you feel you've ultimately not only have been exceptional at what you're doing, but you've evolved to being that mentor kind of individual? Is that the kind of advice that you give to a lot of cats on the come up who look to you, wanting you to espouse your words to them? Is that what you tell us?
Snoop Dogg
It's crazy, Stephen, that they look at me as Uncle Snoop and as somebody to get information from when I was just a young, wild individual that had none of this wisdom. And now that I have it, I love giving it away. I love talking to athletes, entertainers. I love when it's an issue in the hip hop industry or any industry where someone needs me to step in and be the resolution to it all. I feel like that's my mission. That's my journey. That's part of the carrying the torch. When they gave me that torch, that lady said, the only people that get to touch this torch are peace bearers, people who are peace messengers. And you are a peace messenger.
Nate Thompson
And that's what makes Snoop Dogg undeniable and forever.
Stephen A. Smith
People say that about you too, though, Dre. A lot of people that talk, I'm.
Snoop Dogg
Telling you, people who talk about you speak on it.
Stephen A. Smith
They love you, they revere you. They talk about how you give them words of wisdom, how you espouse a lot of the same stuff that Snoop said. Snoop has told me this on many occasions. I'm just letting him tell it to my audience. But he's told me this personally. The kind of information that he just finished articulating. And he always talked about how you say the same exact things. He's open about it, though. You're not why.
Nate Thompson
I am open about it. It's just, you know, they know.
Snoop Dogg
Right? We know.
Nate Thompson
You know what I mean? It's just like, it's not for the cameras and all this shit, you know, My thing is, they know what it is with me. They know what love is. And my definition of love is so much deeper than most.
Stephen A. Smith
And why do you say that?
Nate Thompson
I don't. Well, my definition of love is just like, it's family. It's so, you know, It's I can.
Stephen A. Smith
Fuck with you, but anybody else try that, it's gonna be a problem.
Nate Thompson
That concept, it's a really deep definition for me.
Snoop Dogg
And Dr. Dre don't mind sharing the ball. Like, you know, you got a lot of people that like to hot dog and just keep shooting or keep trying to score. Dr. Dre want to make sure everybody get the ball.
Nate Thompson
I want to make sure everybody's eating and everybody's happy.
Snoop Dogg
He makes sure everybody get the ball. That's one thing I don't.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, we don't. We never talk about money. We never talk about credits or none of that shit.
Snoop Dogg
Nope.
Nate Thompson
It's just all love and respect. That's how we operate.
Stephen A. Smith
Dr. Dre, how do you react when if you see somebody that you love, that's a brother that, you know, hearts in the right place, but they're getting in their own way? What's that like? What's a conversation at that moment?
Nate Thompson
That's when the big brother shit comes out.
Snoop Dogg
Okay.
Nate Thompson
You know, I'm. I'm talk. You know, I'm gonna say what I. I. I'm gonna say what the I have to say. Like, nigga, you fucking up.
Snoop Dogg
He gonna say it just like that, too.
Nate Thompson
Nigga, you fucking up. We need to pull back. What the fuck are you doing?
Snoop Dogg
I'm laughing, but I'm serious. This nigga. You don't even see my face.
Stephen A. Smith
I see your face.
Snoop Dogg
He talk to you like he want to punch you. Like, it's be that serious. But I'm still.
Nate Thompson
That's my face. Like, nigga, what the fuck is wrong with you? The fuck is wrong. What the fuck are you doing, man?
Snoop Dogg
Especially if you're in his living room. You feel cornered. When he starts saying that kind of shit, you like, I don't know what I was thinking.
Stephen A. Smith
Because you see the face, though.
Nate Thompson
Like, nigga, what the fuck is wrong with you?
Stephen A. Smith
Cause you're mad about them getting in their own way.
Snoop Dogg
When he went to his high voice. Nigga, what the.
Nate Thompson
That's a problem.
Snoop Dogg
Nigga went to his high voice.
Nate Thompson
N. Yeah, my falsetto was a motherfucker.
Stephen A. Smith
Stevens.
Nate Thompson
Yeah.
Stephen A. Smith
What could possibly get in your way at this stage and point in time in your career?
Nate Thompson
Only me. The only thing that can get in my way is me making a fucking.
Snoop Dogg
That was a great fucking answer, Dr. Dre. That was a great fucking answer.
Nate Thompson
Yeah.
Stephen A. Smith
And how does that feel?
Nate Thompson
And I'm asking, hey, Steve, that could never happen. I stay to myself. I'm a fucking hermit, man. I stay to myself. I stay in my house. I don't even like leaving my house. Like I said, I came out here to do this shit with you and Stoop. That's it. I want to. You know, I like staying at home. Everything that I need is in my house. I like staying at home, and I'm comfortable and I enjoy my solitude.
Stephen A. Smith
But what I was asking was to know that the only. To reach a point in time in life where you know that the only thing that can get in your way is you. Nobody else can fuck with your life but you. That is a level of freedom most human beings on this planet don't feel they have.
Nate Thompson
That's exactly what it is, a certain level of freedom that I have. It's freedom and it's bliss.
Snoop Dogg
That's the level that every woman and man should try to get to in life. That's called mastering yourself. When you master yourself, you understand? You don't require nobody but yourself. And it's only you that can make it better or make it worse.
Stephen A. Smith
Let's get to missionary again, because obviously y'all collabed in 1993. It's the first time 30th year anniversary, and now here you are again. What's this album gonna be like, fellas? What's this album gonna be like? I mean, the floor is both of y'all.
Nate Thompson
I'm proud of you. It's your time. I'm really proud of it. I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish. And Snoop coming in the studio, letting me take the driver's seat, he's like, yeah, you know, I got my. Yeah, yeah, take the driver's seat, Dr.
Stephen A. Smith
Dre, cuz sounding like you on Long Island Drive, but go ahead, Go ahead, cuz.
Nate Thompson
Take the driver's seat. Yeah, you got that. Yeah. And we were able to just go in and write and produce, and we had a. I don't even know how many laughs we've had during the process of making this album.
Stephen A. Smith
But how long did it take you make it?
Nate Thompson
You know what I'm not sure about.
Stephen A. Smith
You know, I'm only bringing it up because you kept saying two days. Two days, two days.
Nate Thompson
Today he said we could do it in two weeks. But, you know, I would have to say actual work time. A few months. You know, maybe five or six months is. Or something like that. Off and on. We just work when we had time to work together.
Stephen A. Smith
Got it.
Nate Thompson
You know, we're both doing, you know, and, like, what, you know, you got some time next week? I need three days or whatever, you know, so that's how it happened.
Stephen A. Smith
What can we expect from this album?
Snoop Dogg
Elevation. He got me rapping like I'm living. Just picture that.
Stephen A. Smith
Rapping like you living.
Snoop Dogg
Yeah, the way I live right now, like.
Stephen A. Smith
And how do you live right now? Explain it.
Snoop Dogg
I live like a boss. I live like a leader, like a mentor, like a father, like a role model, like an example of what you need to be. I think my past record that I made with him was me trying to figure out who the fuck I was. Who am I, what's my name, drinking gin and juice, trying to figure this shit out. He was trying to figure out himself as a producer. Now, I think we perfected our craft, and this is the highest level of perfection because I allowed him to perfect me, which. That's when I'm at my best. Not to fight him, not to, man. I think we should do the song like this. No, fuck that. What you think the song should be called? Which Way Should I Be Rapping? How should I stop, pause, and do what? Pop my peas, do this, follow full direction, lay down and let him put this project in effect. And I just think that it's the best work that I've done. I listened to it over and over again. I played in front of people, and when I played, I played it for Antoine Fuqua the other day.
Nate Thompson
Oh, I didn't know that.
Snoop Dogg
That's the. That gave me the idea about the lyric book.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, right there.
Snoop Dogg
He was like, it need to be a lyric book. That's what I was saying.
Nate Thompson
I didn't know Antoine.
Snoop Dogg
Yes. We was in the back of my sprint event. We was at the Pittsburgh Steeler game in the back of the sprinter van. I was banging it on the jbl. That was like, this is exceptional.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, it's some. You know. You know, when we did the first album in 93, I was still green. I'm still learning the SSL mixing board and like that. But I'm seasoned now, so, you know, I think this is some of the best music.
Snoop Dogg
That chicken tastes good now.
Stephen A. Smith
Damn right. And in your 50s, you're sitting here telling me that you think this might be your best work yet.
Snoop Dogg
You don't ask questions like that to rock and roll musicians. You don't never answer. You don't never ask what the age. You know what I'm saying? So we should be age appropriately, saying that our music is always gonna outweigh how old we are. Cause that music that we made 30 years ago still sound better than some of the shit that's out right now. So what makes you think we can't outdo that?
Stephen A. Smith
Oh, I think you can quite.
Snoop Dogg
That's why I'm saying that's why.
Nate Thompson
Wait till you hear the shit.
Snoop Dogg
That's why when you hear it, it ain't gonna have shit to do with age. It's timeless. That's the only thing that's age is relevant to him. This record is 10 timeless.
Stephen A. Smith
What are you hoping it accomplishes? I'm asking you. It might be just great music, but with you, it always seems to be something else.
Nate Thompson
I got to hear this.
Snoop Dogg
My thing with this album is to reset the music industry.
Stephen A. Smith
Reset the music industry? How so?
Snoop Dogg
Get back to musicianship. Get back to making quality music. Get back to having a whole body of work and get back to having a project that visually connects to the Sonics.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, I think that right now the artists and producers are using all the same software and all the same technology, which is why all the music sounds the same. I think that all the music that has come out over the last five, maybe even 10 years are using the same drums. The 808, the rolling 808 drum. All of these artists are using the same exact drum beats. Right. Which is a little bit of a cheat, in my opinion. So I'm waiting for musicianship to come back. Artists that are actually, like really planning, not depending on the computers. I want to hear what the next level of hip hop is going to be and where it's going to go.
Stephen A. Smith
How did it get to the point where the artists were compared depending on the instruments, the equipment, as opposed to their natural gifts or whatever. When did that happen?
Nate Thompson
Well, it started happening because of computers and the Internet and this software made it easy. You could just go and download a beat and rap over it and make a fucking hit record. You know what I mean? But now I think it's getting ready to turn back into real musicianship and people that are really studying music, getting in the studio and really getting down like that, so.
Snoop Dogg
And the reason why I say that he's right for that, because most of these hit records are based off of a sample. You taking somebody music that was a hit and you redoing it, you either.
Nate Thompson
Want that too, right?
Snoop Dogg
But now they fucking it up. It ain't like they making it better. Like, we complimented the sample that we use. If we took a sample from somebody, we didn't make your record depreciate. We actually made it appreciate because you made more money because you had more eyes on it. And now it has a different sound or a texture to it that you probably didn't. That didn't exist at that time.
Stephen A. Smith
And people in the business will be. They're going to be receptive to it because you're going to show. You're going to show them. You don't. You don't have to do what you've been doing in order to succeed. I imagine that's your goal.
Nate Thompson
Yeah, absolutely. I want to. I want to hear where it's going to go next. And hopefully it's like guys or girls that study and actually are playing. That's where I wanted to go.
Stephen A. Smith
You know, people talk about the power of music and the influence it breeds. And I'm thinking about you, Jimmy Ivey, and what you're doing at USC and the millions y'all gave the aspiring students. I want you to talk about that for a quick second. I want you to talk about some of the stuff you're doing. I'm gonna get in that flag football joint as well. Yeah. But I want you to talk about what you and Jimmy Ivey are doing over at USC and how that's been panning out over the last year.
Nate Thompson
Well, the USC thing is like the education system has been just the same curriculum year after year after year after year. And. But I feel. And what we feel they're doing is training kids to be employees instead of leaders. You know, that's the same curriculum that's been happening year after year after year. You're training kids to be employees, you know, so why not train kids to be leaders? You know, that's what our academy is doing at usc and everything that we're doing with these high schools that we're trying to build, change the way that the education system is operating for these kids.
Stephen A. Smith
How's that coming along?
Nate Thompson
It's coming along great. We're at the beginning stages of it, and it's going great. You know, we have kids coming out of our academy that, you know, Google are hiring and Apple, they're. They're hiring as well. It's like kids that are brilliant, that are leaders. You know, like I said, the education system, for this to time, from the beginning of the education system has been training kids to be employees.
Stephen A. Smith
Right. Oh, I'm guilty of.
Nate Thompson
That's all it's about.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm guilty of that. I stepped out. Like, I ain't step out and try to be an entrepreneur till my 50s. Crying out loud, I'm late. I'm late as hell to the party.
Snoop Dogg
All because long as you in the.
Nate Thompson
You have to get up at. You have to Be at school at 8 or 9 o'clock, and you get out at 4, 3 or 4 o'clock. It's like you're training kids to be employees.
Stephen A. Smith
Snoop, what about you? I'm looking at Snoop Youth Football. Go ahead.
Snoop Dogg
What about me?
Stephen A. Smith
Ain't nobody stopping him. I know. I already got a contact high.
Snoop Dogg
We want to see.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm good, though. I mean, with everything that you've been doing, your Snoop Youth Football League, flag football, and obviously this album's gonna take off. You know, I'm gonna be talking about it. It's just gonna elevate your impact.
Snoop Dogg
Right?
Stephen A. Smith
How does that make you feel? How much differently do you feel about yourself when you think and imagine the impact that you're gonna have moving forward? Because it's only growing. I don't know if you've known if you noticed this or not, but the Snoop impact has only grown. It hasn't lessened.
Snoop Dogg
I like that. I like the fact that the demographic of it all, like, it's little babies all the way up to senior citizens. When we was on your show today, she was telling me about how her daughter listens to my music. Doggieland. Then we was at another function the other night, and somebody was telling me and Dre how they listened to my kid music. Doggyland. This is music that I made for my grandkids that's becoming a big hit for me on the low. And it's not publicized because I don't want it publicized. It's something that I'm doing for the kids to give them education, like Dre said, to change the system. Like, I'm not changing the curriculum, but I'm changing that toddler age from toddlers to five. What type of music are you listening to? What inspiration are you getting before you start learning about education in school? So that's the thing that I'm most proud of. Then I got the Snoop Youth Special stars where we deal with kids with autism and special needs. And that's been going on for, like, six, seven years. And we show parents how to take those kids that they've been hiding and bring them out and have a good time. We've been doing great functions with them. Like, these are the moments that mean the most to me. Like, that's my accolade to be able to give back to a kid that has no opportunity, because I was that same kid. Dre was that same kid. We had to make the most of whatever we had. But now that we have so much, it's only right to give back so they can work with more than we have.
Stephen A. Smith
And how do you feel, both of y'all? Where y'all come from? Cali.
Snoop Dogg
I mean, you know, we feel good, man. Compton and Long Beach.
Stephen A. Smith
I mean, come on, now.
Nate Thompson
Come on.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm just looking at.
Nate Thompson
Come on, man.
Stephen A. Smith
It's a special thing when you consider, to me, it's the road travel. It's not where you at. It's what you had to go through to get there that counts most, man.
Snoop Dogg
We made our cities proud. We made our cities worldwide. Like Compton is loved and respected around the whole globe, just like Long beach is. And it's a beautiful thing that we could take something that you looked at in a negative manner and we can make something positive out of it. And now it's an honor to be from those cities.
Nate Thompson
Imagine what we've been able to accomplish. You know, Compton is only 9.9square miles. It sounds big as, right? You know, it's. Yeah, it's. Imagine what we've been able to accomplish over the last 30 years, what we've been able to build, you know, us as a duo, all the things that fall with us and under us, and what we've been able to accomplish. And not only that, how many people and kids and families we've been able.
Snoop Dogg
To help and how much gang violence that we stopped from coming together, that's the ultimate. Like, before me and Dre got together, Compton and Long beach didn't see eye to eye. So when we got together, we forced the issue because our music was so good, and it connected both of us to where we realized, man, what we tripping with them for, man, and my homeboys. And it established a relationship to where gang violence dropped between those two cities. And that's something that I'm proud of, because I think so many people that was gang bangers became rappers.
Nate Thompson
Look at what we've been able to do and what we've been able to accomplish and how many people we've been able to touch in a positive way. That's what people need to look at, you know, that's what y'all are giving.
Stephen A. Smith
Them no choice, to be honest with you. Y'all are giving them no choice whatsoever. And I know this because being in the media business, I'm like, what the hell you talking about them for? This more is far more positive. They don't want to hear that shit. Everything that they do, everything that they bring to the table, please. We got to look at it from that standpoint. I want to take a second to let you all know that with the baseball playoffs in full swing, NFL games filling up my Sundays and the NBA season right around the corner, I could not be more excited. But what is even more exciting is that Prize Picks wants to help you cash in on every single one of those big time games you see. Prize Picks is a daily fantasy app where you can pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Pick one player's rushing yards, another's rebounds, and even another's total hits all in the same entry. I make my picks and submit early, all in less than 60 seconds. Then I sit back, enjoy the games and watch all that big time money roll in and get this. Sign up with code SAS and prize picks will give you $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. You don't need to win your lineup to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. All you have to do is play a $5 lineup on prize picks and you'll get $50 instantly. Pick more, Pick less. It's really, really that easy.
Hunter
I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I show share bite sized stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting Black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save our Girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Unknown
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Stephen A. Smith
The Super Bowl.
Snoop Dogg
Uh oh.
Nate Thompson
Oh shit.
Snoop Dogg
You see how big what was?
Stephen A. Smith
What was that?
Nate Thompson
Y'all can edit this later.
Stephen A. Smith
What was that moment like, Dre? I mean, listen all Timer right there. We all want an award for that, okay? Give it to me.
Nate Thompson
I have to say this. I've never in my life look more forward to a Monday morning in my life. You know, that was the most nervous Sunday ever. You know, I mean, I didn't have butterflies. I had bats rolling around in my.
Stephen A. Smith
You know, you were nervous.
Nate Thompson
I was nervous as shit, you know, because anything can go wrong. I'm on my way to the. To Sofi Stadium that Sunday morning. I knew we were rehearsed and everything was right, but anything could go wrong. You're depending on literally 3,000 people to do their job properly, right? You know, to get the stage set up in six minutes. And we have. I think we had 13 minutes on the stage so nobody could fuck up. You're talking about depending on 3,000 people, not the up, right? And the cameras and all of this going in and. And, you know, thinking about this while we have to perform at the same time was crazy, right? So. But everything went off. Everything went off great. And we had no hiccups. There was actually two mistakes during the show.
Snoop Dogg
But they'll never know.
Nate Thompson
They'll never know.
Snoop Dogg
But, yeah, you know, the mistake was he forgot to tie his shoes, and then somebody had fell off or something small.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm not asking about.
Snoop Dogg
Cause, you know, I wasn't nervous. I was smoking like a mother.
Stephen A. Smith
You was ready. I was like, N5, Dre, I'm going to Snoop next. I ain't got nothing to ask about Kendrick. I'm tired of Kendrick Lamar, Drake, all that. All right, here's what I want to ask Drake. I plan on going to Jay Z. I plan on going to the NFL.
Nate Thompson
Okay, here we go. Okay, give. Give it to me.
Stephen A. Smith
I need part two, except this time.
Nate Thompson
Part two of what?
Stephen A. Smith
No, no. Super Bowl.
Snoop Dogg
Super Bowl.
Stephen A. Smith
I mean, having Mary J. Eminem, Kendrick, you know, Fitty. All.
Nate Thompson
That's cool.
Stephen A. Smith
That's cool.
Nate Thompson
All right, but, but, but, but, but.
Stephen A. Smith
I want to see you again, right?
Nate Thompson
I don't know.
Stephen A. Smith
Steve and Snoop. I want Snoop. I'm talking about without everybody else. I'm talking. I'm talking Snoop right there. I'm talking Dre and Snoop.
Nate Thompson
I like Snoop. I don't like.
Snoop Dogg
I don't.
Nate Thompson
I don't know.
Stephen A. Smith
You got 20 albums.
Snoop Dogg
You.
Stephen A. Smith
You certainly got enough material.
Snoop Dogg
Only 13 minutes.
Stephen A. Smith
It's only 13 minutes. That's what.
Nate Thompson
Where's the next Super Bowl?
Stephen A. Smith
Listen at the New Orleans, Santa Clara, Frisco. I'm trying to tell you.
Snoop Dogg
Oh, goodell, 20, 26.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm just letting you know who's gonna.
Nate Thompson
Show up in Frisco?
Stephen A. Smith
Oh, they might need y'all in Frisco. They might need y'all.
Snoop Dogg
This album should be. This album should be banging by this like, bang, bang, bang.
Stephen A. Smith
I'm gonna give y'all both the last word.
Nate Thompson
I didn't know that because I can't.
Stephen A. Smith
Thank y'all enough for taking time out. I really, really appreciate it.
Nate Thompson
Thank you for having us.
Stephen A. Smith
He knows I've loved you for years, my brother. Oh, my God, you're the best. And this is my brother right here, missionary in this album. What it's going to mean to the culture, what it's going to mean to the industry, what it's going, what it's going to do. I want to give you the last word on that. What you're hoping for from it moving forward, considering all you've already accomplished.
Nate Thompson
What I'm hoping for from this album is I'm trying to impress producers and especially engineers with the sonics because I put my body into the mixing and the engineering and the whole shit, and that's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping to inspire the new and up and coming young engineers the way I was inspired by Bruce Switian with the Thriller album. Because that was my go to when I was trying to. When I was an up and coming engineer and learning how to mix and turn the knobs and shit like that. So hopefully I'm an inspiration for all the new and up and coming producers and engineers.
Stephen A. Smith
How about you.
Snoop Dogg
Just to, you know, add to my legacy, you know what I'm saying? It ain't about numbers. It ain't about nothing but the way it makes you feel.
Nate Thompson
Nigga, you showed up on the album.
Snoop Dogg
This record make me feel. It made me. No, the record make me feel good.
Nate Thompson
Come on, say it.
Snoop Dogg
No real shit. The record make me feel good. And I hope it make you feel as good as it makes me feel like. I ride around listening to this shit like it's out now. I pulled up in the little whoop whop yesterday with my boombox banging it. They don't even know what I'm banging. They just rocking to the motherfucker.
Nate Thompson
Steve Snoop killed this shit. Yeah, he fucking murdered it.
Stephen A. Smith
So what about Dre?
Snoop Dogg
The greatest to ever do it. You understand me? And he did it. He did it again. This is what he do. It's in his DNA not to do nothing but this. And the way he took his time with the sound and the sonics, it don't sound like nothing. That's out. It don't sound like nothing we've ever done, and I'm not saying any of the shit that I've ever said. So for him to be precise, with the words, with the production, with the. With the feeling, with the things that I'm saying, like. And we wrote some of these records before a lot of this happened. So a lot of the records come into life right now as we speak. So it's like for him to have that vision, that's what I love about him as a producer. He embodies the artist. He don't just make a beat. He, like, I need to know who the you is, what you own. So when I project this record, it's a piece of you. It's not just something that you running with. It's going to be a piece of your life.
Stephen A. Smith
Got a little surprise for the birthday boy.
Snoop Dogg
For me?
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, sir.
Snoop Dogg
Oh, wow.
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, sir. You the one told us you turned 52 years old.
Snoop Dogg
53, baby. Put one more on it.
Stephen A. Smith
Here we go.
Snoop Dogg
I'm 53. Ooh, a cake.
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, we did.
Snoop Dogg
Oh, birthday to you.
Nate Thompson
We doing this song.
Stephen A. Smith
I don't know. Where's 57? I don't know. We gotta look.
Snoop Dogg
Go, go, go. Who made this motherfucking cake? Thanks.
Stephen A. Smith
All right, that's it for the Stephen A. Smith show. I'm out of here. The one and only Snoop Dogg. The man himself, the myth, the legend of one only Dr. Dre. Thank y'all for blessing me with y'all presence. Until next time, everybody. Stephen A. Signing off.
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday. Keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft, listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Julie Swerbinks
What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
Julie Swerbinks
The Name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
Nate Thompson
Each week, we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
Julie Swerbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
Nate Thompson
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads, going that you wouldn't believe.
Julie Swerbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Summary of "The Stephen A. Smith Show" Episode: Interview Exclusive with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
Release Date: October 18, 2024
Duration: Approximately 70 Minutes
In this special edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show, host Stephen A. Smith welcomes two iconic figures in the music industry: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Expressing his excitement, Stephen A. emphasizes the significance of having these legends on his show.
Stephen A. Smith [01:02]: "When I tell you who I've got on next, what they going to bring to the table. When I say their names, it speaks for itself. The hell with the Stephen A. Smith show today. This ain't even the Stephen A. Smith show today. This is Snoop Dogg in the house and the one and only Dr. Dre."
The conversation begins with playful banter, highlighting the deep-rooted friendship and professional bond between Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. They refer to themselves as "Batman and Robin," illustrating their collaborative dynamic in the music world.
Snoop Dogg [02:39]: "AKA Batman and Robin, are back in Gotham City."
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around their latest project, "Missionary CD." Both artists express pride in their work, emphasizing the album's quality and its role in revitalizing musicianship within the industry.
Snoop Dogg [48:15]: "My thing with this album is to reset the music industry."
Dr. Dre [65:24]: "I'm hoping to inspire the new and up-and-coming young engineers the way I was inspired by Bruce Switian with the Thriller album."
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg critique the current state of the music industry, particularly the over-reliance on technology and the prevalence of "beat makers" versus "producers." They advocate for a return to genuine musicianship and originality.
Snoop Dogg [24:04]: "There's a lot of beat makers, though, Doc. That's what the difference between your era and this era is, that there aren't too many producers as much as there are beat makers."
Dr. Dre [23:28]: "There's somebody in somebody's garage that's going to be the next Snoop or Dre or the next Prince or Michael Jackson."
Both artists stress the significance of collaboration in their careers. They discuss finding the right partners who share their vision and spirit, ensuring that their creative endeavors are cohesive and impactful.
Snoop Dogg [34:07]: "Our spirit's gotta match. Like, we gotta damn near be the same people."
Dr. Dre [35:05]: "Finding the right person to collaborate with is as difficult as anything else."
Stephen A. Smith delves into how Dr. Dre provides feedback to Snoop Dogg. Snoop explains that Dr. Dre’s criticisms are always constructive, aimed at helping him grow and succeed without feeling diminished.
Snoop Dogg [04:19]: "I love the criticism. It's constructive criticism. It's never taken as hate."
Snoop Dogg [09:18]: "He just tells me when I do it wrong."
The duo reflects on their roles as mentors and their influence on younger artists and producers. Dr. Dre emphasizes his desire to inspire the next generation of engineers and producers, while Snoop Dogg discusses his involvement in programs like "The Voice" and youth football leagues.
Dr. Dre [65:24]: "I'm hoping to inspire the new and up-and-coming young engineers the way I was inspired by Bruce Switian with the Thriller album."
Snoop Dogg [43:33]: "I love giving back to a kid that has no opportunity because I was that same kid."
Nate Thompson, co-host and former NHL player, discusses their philanthropic initiatives aimed at transforming the education system to cultivate leaders rather than just employees. They highlight their efforts at USC and the establishment of youth football leagues to support children with special needs.
Dr. Dre [53:08]: "We're trying to change the way the education system is operating for these kids."
Snoop Dogg [55:26]: "We show parents how to take those kids that they've been hiding and bring them out and have a good time."
A standout moment in the episode recounts their performance at the Super Bowl. Dr. Dre shares the immense nerves leading up to the event, while Snoop Dogg humorously downplays his own anxiety by mentioning he was "smoking like a mother."
Dr. Dre [61:58]: "Anything can go wrong. You're depending on literally 3,000 people to do their job properly."
Snoop Dogg [63:30]: "I was smoking like a mother."
In closing, both artists reflect on their journeys and the positive impact they've had on their communities and the music industry. They underscore the importance of self-mastery and remaining true to one's roots, emphasizing that their success is a testament to their dedication and authenticity.
Snoop Dogg [46:48]: "When you master yourself, you understand? You don't require nobody but yourself."
Dr. Dre [38:27]: "It goes back to that whole generic fucking saying, like, I wish I knew then what I know now."
Stephen A. Smith [01:02]: Announces Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as special guests, highlighting their stature in the industry.
Snoop Dogg [04:19]: "I love the criticism. It's constructive criticism. It's never taken as hate."
Dr. Dre [23:28]: Discusses the emergence of new talent in the industry poised to make significant impacts.
Snoop Dogg [34:07]: Emphasizes the importance of matching spirits in collaborations.
Dr. Dre [35:05]: Talks about the challenge of finding the right collaborators.
Snoop Dogg [48:15]: "My thing with this album is to reset the music industry."
Dr. Dre [65:24]: "I'm hoping to inspire the new and up-and-coming young engineers…"
The episode offers an in-depth look into the collaborative genius of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, their commitment to elevating the music industry, and their dedication to mentoring the next generation. Stephen A. Smith masterfully navigates through their stories, providing listeners with valuable insights into their careers, philosophies, and ongoing projects.
This summary encapsulates the core discussions and highlights of the episode, ensuring that even those who haven't listened to the podcast can grasp the essence of the conversation between Stephen A. Smith, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg.