In His Own Words
Do you plan to tone down any of your lyrics for the Middle East?
Tha fans paid for Snoop Dogg and they gonna get Snoop Dogg. I wouldn’t wanna disappoint tha people that paid to see me, ya dig?!?
Are you worried about turning 40 later this year? Are you still planning on making the most of the hip hop lifestyle?
I’m only gettin’ better with age… I’m like a fine vintage jacc!!! And I’m only adapting with the times. It’s a Doggy Dogg World and it’s a Doggymentary lifestyle…..
Is there anyone out there you’d still love to work with? Any chance you’ll be bringing any of your big collaborators to Abu Dhabi with you?
The Rolling Stones – holla atcha boy!!!! I’m bringin my neffew Fred Wreck to Abu Dhabi – I know he gotta lotta luv out this way and he gonna roll out tha blue carpet for me.
What’s the biggest myth about hip hop stars? Do you really only wear trainers once?
Don’t believe the hype! What are trainers?!?
Any more movie work coming up? What would be your ultimate role? Would you want to star in a film about your life?
I gotta movie I’m doin with my neffew Wiz Khalifa. We gonna be shootin’ it next month. We tha present day Cheech N Chong. My ultimate role to play in Hollywood would be a lawyer. But Hollywood keep bullsh**tn…
The Man
From a young age, the nine-to-five grind never seemed a likely fate for Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. He received his first jail sentence – a six-month stretch at Los Angeles Wayside County Jail – shortly after graduating from high school. As the beginnings of a hip hop career simmered, the years that followed saw Snoop’s run-ins with the law continue, most famously when he was held on suspicion of murder following the drive-by shooting of LA gangster Phillip Woldermarian in 1993. Though Snoop was acquitted, his involvement with the case dragged on for three years. But, regardless of his growing infamy, Snoop was by now a fully fledged American icon. Predictably, the limelight had minimal calming effect on Snoop’s controversy-courting ways.
However, with his recent re-marriage to his childhood sweetheart Shante Taylor (the pair were originally wed in 1997 and divorced in 2004), Snoop has shown signs of mellowing into the role a family man. In 2008, he made a cameo appearance on American soap opera One Life to Live and, during a stop in the UK last year, declared his desire to do the same on Coronation Street – a soap set in a sleepy Manchester suburb. The show’s bosses, we’re sad to say, turned him down.
The Music
Believe it or not, during all of the above, Snoop still found time to forge a phenomenally successful music career.
Having experimented with rapping as a child, Snoop cut his very first tracks back in 1991 as part of hip hop group 213 (named after an LA area code), together with Warren G and Nate Dogg – Snoop’s recently departed cousin. The trio recorded their first demo in a back room of the now famous VIP record store in Long Beach and, by chance, the tape was heard at a house party by Dr Dre, just as he was coming to the fore as one of the west coast hip hop scene’s key producers. As a result, Dre invited Snoop to collaborate with him on his debut album The Chronic, which was released in 1992 and immediately recognised as one of the greatest hip hop records of all time. Suddenly, the ambitious delinquent was a superstar.
Just 18 months later, Snoop released his debut solo album Doggystyle to a similar fanfare from the music press, with critics clambering over each other to praise Snoop’s back-to-basics vocal delivery and his slick, witty lyrics, alongside Dr Dre’s tight production. By the time Dre got round to releasing his follow-up to The Chronic in 1999, Snoop had already released a further two records – Tha Doggfather in 1996 and
Da Game is to be Sold, Not to be Told in 1998, both of which topped the charts in the US and repositioned Snoop as the star of the Snoop Dogg/Dr Dre partnership. Thirteen years on, Snoop now has 11 solo albums to his name, and boasts worldwide record sales topping 30 million.
The Media Machine
Of course, the album sales, the globe-trotting tours and the headline shows represent just a small portion of the Snoop Dogg empire. As the figurehead of a scene where ‘selling out’ is not only accepted but actively encouraged, Snoop has never been shy of capitalising on his image. He’s lent his name to everyone from Chrysler cars to creators of anti-virus software, emphatically proclaiming, ‘Hack is wack!’ from billboards the size of double-decker buses. You can even download his voice to your sat-nav and have him bark out directions at you. Call him shallow all you want, but coming in seventh in Forbes magazine’s 2010 richest rappers list with an estimated turnover of US$15 million, Snoop’s business sense is as shrewd as they come.
Snoop’s also made a name for himself in Hollywood. His first big role came in 2001 when he appeared in cop drama Training Day (he played a dealer). He then enjoyed a part in 2004’s Starsky & Hutch remake as Huggy Bear (also a dealer), while his latest cinematic outing sees him join Atonio Banderas in neo-noir crime caper The Big Bang.
And the future? Right now, with Snoop breaking new ground in the Middle East, neither the man nor the brand have ever been bigger. As the man himself once immodestly declared, ‘The world keeps spinning to the D-O-double-G’…
Snoop plays Yas Arena on May 6. Tickets Dhs250-Dh595, www.timeouttickets.com.
Snoop’s Top Five Historical Collaborations
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted with Tupac (1996)
One of the Dogg’s most memorable collaborations of all time, not in the least because of Tupac’s untimely death.
Next Episode with Dr Dre (2000)
We’ve heard this song everywhere from Beirut to Canton, often accompanied by much head-bobbing.
Red Light Green Light with Limp Bizkit (2003)
Just to show he isn’t soft, the big Dogg gets up and collaborates with some of the industry’s loudest rockers.
Drop It Like It’s Hot with Pharrell Williams (2004)
Not only hard, but rich; Snoop shows the younger G the ropes, complete with diamonds and a Rolls Royce Phantom.
Buttons with Pussycat Dolls (2006)
Not that he doesn’t have a gentle spot for the fairer gender. This video is a testament to Snoop’s ability to launch music careers.
