Snoop Dogg, who has a new album, The Algorithm, out Nov. 19, gives a revealing, hilarious, career-spanning interview on the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now. He digs deep into the origins of his flow, the making of “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Deep Cover,” and “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” his memories of Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G., and much more.
He also dropped news about Dr. Dre’s next project, next year’s Super Bowl halftime show, and the end of his beef with Eminem. “The direction I was thinking most was putting out some great fucking music,” Snoop Dogg says of his new album, which features guests from Ice Cube to YK Osiris. “It’s time for Snoop Dogg to pop back on the scene. And not only by himself, but bring an army of people with him — new artists, established artists, and some legends.”
To hear the entire episode, press play above, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Some highlights:
He’s a big fan of rapper-singer Morray, one of the many young guest stars on The Algorithm. “I love him,” Snoop says. “I’m so inspired by him. I like his style, his look, his aura, his energy. He’s got his own outgoing spirit, which is lovable. When you see him, he’s just a lovable kid — love is everything about him. And I think he gonna be here for a long time, because he’s got his head on right, musically.”
Snoop explains how he wrote rhymes for Dr. Dre and learned from West Coast legend the D.O.C. “Well, when I was writing his shit, I was thinking about how dope he sounded on N.W.A’s last album,” he says. “And the D.O.C. was the secret behind the sauce. And then the D.O.C. became my mentor.… I was writing in Dre’s voice, so whenever I was writing for him, I would say it in my voice.” (He goes on to rap a whole verse from “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” in his imitation of Dre’s voice — check out the episode to hear it.)
He clears up a misconception that he was once convicted on charges of selling weed to an undercover cop.
“No, no, no,” he says. “I got caught for selling cocaine! It was a controlled substance. That was rock! That was Rockefeller. That’s my younger years, you know, and I’m not afraid of it. I’m not ashamed of it. It made me who I am. It taught me how to hustle. Thank you, CIA.”
Snoop doesn’t want a biopic of his life — he wants a whole TV series. “You got to look at Snoop Dogg as — and don’t laugh when I say this — the Black Forrest Gump,” he says. “Every iconic moment that ever happened in the past 30 years he was directly in it or around it.… A lot of times these networks or these companies feel like ‘We just want to get straight to the action.’ They want Death Row, when it was exciting, and it was violence. Nah, fuck all that. I want to tell the story about my mom and daddy meeting each other and falling in love. How about that? Before it gets to me. And in that way, it’s a real setup for when you finally see Snoop Dogg on screen. You understand his struggle, his love, his pain, and his admiration for people.”
Snoop wants veteran rappers to get the same respect and achieve the same longevity as their peers in the rock world. “You got rappers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he says. “You ain’t got no motherfucking rock & rollers in the Rap Hall of Fame. So slow it down a little bit, and put some respect on our name. Don’t put no time limit on how old we are, because we don’t look at the rockers and say, ‘Man, he got white hair now.’ We should get that same love in hip-hop.”
He backed away from the East Coast-West Coast feud in the Nineties after he began his family life. “I was in a different mind state,” he says. “I was trying to live. You know, before I didn’t care about living or dying. But, at that point, I was into my wife, into my two boys. And I wanted to live.”
Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out three years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Neil Young, Alicia Keys, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, the National, Ice Cube, Dua Lipa, Questlove, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many others — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear Rolling Stone Music Now broadcast on SiriusXM’s Volume, channel 106.
From Rolling Stone US
