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Snoop Dogg on Issues with Death Row Records That Led to Def Jam and New Album 'Algorithm'
Dec 4, 2021
Snoop Dogg has been an icon in music, film and more for over 30 years. Over that time he has experienced almost everything the industry could throw at you. now he is back with one of the most historic record labels hip-hop has ever seen, Def Jam, to help offer that expertise and restore it back to its prominence. hIs first project is a compilation with features from Usher, Dave East, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Mary J Blige, Ice Cube, E-40, Wiz Khalifa, and more.
Snoop sat down with Sway, Heather B and Tracy G to talk about the album and his journey to this point in his career.
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Snoop Dogg on Issues with Death Row Records That Led to Def Jam and New Album 'Algorithm'
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0:00
Ladies and gentlemen, easily the most recognizable face and voice in career to ever come out of the culture of hip-hop, to ever walk outside of this community
0:11
I've known the man since day one in the early 90s when he was sleeping on my cousin Onika's couch
0:17
And look how far he's gone, man. This dude is like the biggest endorser in the game right now
0:24
I'm hoping I'll get some beers after this conversation. and the other thing I hope I get, man, I need one of those iconic classic Def Jam jackets
0:32
Snoop, I need that. I need that for Christmas, baby. We got Snoop Dogg with us, ladies and gentlemen. Snoop Dogg
0:41
Yeah, but that, but dude, guess what, America? We love you. Yes, indeed, man. Come on
0:46
What's up, family? How y'all doing, man? It's a pleasure and a treat to be on this show. You know, this is one of the world-renowned shows that I actually be trying to get on
0:54
You know what I'm saying? Some of the shows be trying to get me, but this is one of the shows I've been trying to do
0:59
Absolutely, man. It's been a while since we had a chance to talk, Snoop
1:03
And, man, I just want to say I'm proud of you, brother. You on TV more than anybody I know, man
1:09
Nah, Mario Lopez and Shaq. Them two dudes got me beat right now
1:14
You feel like they got you beat? Every time I go to the hotel, I see Mario Lopez ass
1:19
I tell him every time I see him, I'm like, cuz, I see you in the hotel every time I turn the TV on
1:22
and I see Shaq on every other commercial. So they don't they don't want that inspired me to keep doing what I'm doing
1:28
And I love the fact that the industry is open to people like us
1:32
You got a Latino, you got a basketball player and you got a rapper who's getting all these opportunities to brand and promote because that's what the world is about right now
1:40
People. Absolutely. I want to ask you, man, because I know I watched it from 93 to now, man
1:47
The same image that you carry, the same authenticity that you have today, man, used to be frowned upon
1:53
now is what's winning for you just being yourself but i know you ain't did it by yourself man i'm
1:59
really curious about your management team and how important management is to your career
2:05
and then this is for other artists that are coming up that could kind of learn from this
2:09
well one thing about management you got to have a great relationship with them the way you trust
2:15
them and they trust you and you guys agree to you know do certain things to take your career to
2:20
another level. One thing about my management, every step of the way that we've always had a
2:25
genuine love for each other. So whether the relationship continued or it ended, it was always
2:30
love and it was always growth and development, me growing to another level to where I either
2:35
exceeded my goals or either I needed better management. So right now in my career, in my
2:40
what, 30th year in my career, my wife is my manager because I feel like she's the strongest
2:45
person to represent me and we need to have we need to have that household love and not just be about
2:51
the man doing all of the work and then when he passes away nobody in the family knows how to keep
2:56
the estate and keep everything in line so if i put my wife as my manager and me and her friends and
3:01
we understand the business in the case something ever goes wrong with me she'll continue the
3:06
business and make sure that everything is ran right as opposed to like i'm watching a lot of
3:09
my friends legacies being handled by people who aren't the same color of them or even the same
3:15
blood of them but you got to go through them to clear their music and i don't want that to happen
3:20
with mine come on man i'm curious oh i'm sorry please no i was gonna say the new 19th album
3:29
snoop dog presents algorithm is out now we'll talk about that in a minute go ahead tracy yeah i just
3:33
i got so hyped when you said that snoop that just resonated so deeply with me because all the work
3:39
that you put into your legacy it has to be sustained and protected and the point of the
3:44
The legacy is for it to live without your presence, you know
3:49
And I'm curious, okay, you know how all of us, the majority of people in the world
3:55
when a new year is arriving and folks will take like December to start planning out their year
3:59
and whatever they call their resolutions and goals. What is goal planning like, you know, when there's a super like just brain to brain session
4:10
where we're like, this is how we're going to lay out the year for Snoop
4:14
as far as brand deals, as how is music. Can you give us a little behind the scenes on how you roll out your business plans
4:22
how you prepare them? That's a great question, Tracy. I think a lot of times it's spontaneous
4:29
You know what I'm saying? I like to have a plan in the calendar and a schedule, but a lot of times it's just a spontaneous reaction to, you know
4:36
whatever I'm doing or whatever I've done. For example, I'll give you a better example
4:39
When I was doing the fights, like the Mike Tyson, the Holy Spirit
4:43
me and Mike Tyson, Roy Jones fight, the Nate Robinson, Jake Paul fight
4:47
when I was doing all of that commentary, clowning and playing around, the NFL hit me up
4:52
So now I'm doing a Sunday night NFL show. And Peacock hit me up with Kevin Hart to do the Olympics
4:59
So it's like other opportunities come off of opportunities based off of me just having fun and doing what I do
5:06
Then it becomes a business play. and then it becomes, okay, let me make this into something serious
5:12
because I see that me laying down a foundation and staying true to who I am has created different business ventures
5:18
But at the same time, I do like to have a calendar and a schedule and we like to say, well, we want to go on tour this month
5:23
We want to put a record out this month. We want to shoot a movie this month. But like I say, a lot of times, the way I move
5:29
and the way my career has been, sometimes it just happens. Mm-hmm
5:34
And you just got to find the flow. Right. HB Grand Rises HB
5:38
What up y'all? What's up Snoop? Heather B. The one and only
5:43
What's up baby? How you doing? Good. Good. So, Snoop, you know I mess around heavy in the wine and spirits place
5:52
I'm a certified mixologist. I even created a drink for Snoop, the gin and ginger
5:57
I hooked it up the last time he came out to the show. Heard he was going to be in the building, drop the jug off to his people
6:04
people make sure he was good with it And I been taking classes to the next step Snoop to become a Simon year And it just been amazing sitting in these classes and watching people who are experts on wine and they straight up tear down most bottles that come through the class
6:21
They don't like anything. However, last week I was in class and 19 crimes came up and you got a rave review from one of the most pickiest Simoniers I've ever met in my life
6:32
congratulations to you on that um i don't know how that whole partnership and deal came about
6:39
but i was so proud just being from the hip-hop community and watching some of these wine snobs
6:44
taste your product and they couldn't say anything bad so i know that's something you may not know
6:49
but in the little corner of the world and in in new york you got rave reviews from a sommelier
6:54
that was snobby as hell secondly i know you also dabble in the food space and so do i
6:59
What's on your menu for the holiday? What are you personally cooking? Well, my wife didn't handle the duties of that
7:06
You know, she's been the party planner and the queen of that. But I like to cook
7:11
I like to cook ham, turkey, macaroni and cheese, cornbread. I like to make cakes
7:20
You know what I'm saying? I like to make it special. You know what I'm saying? I'm a chef boy, RG. Yes
7:26
Give us some tutorials, Snoop. that to me don't do that to me i'm gonna hook you i got you swate on trip it's a man thing i'm gonna
7:35
slide you something on the low i'm gonna slide you my cookbook so you can go ahead and get you a couple of recipes and and blow they mind one day and hit them upside the head with a meal
7:42
prepared by sway yes yes who was we talking to that said they was at snoop house and snoo cooked
7:50
them still cooked them some food was it d where's green swiss beats swizz that's right when they
7:57
was working on dmx album you know after we did the verses dmx wanted to work here so okay i'm a
8:03
hospitable person so i let him use the studio and i cook food i was the chef boy rg like i said i
8:10
wanted to make sure they felt at home as opposed to ordering out and taking the risk with uber and
8:15
all of that nah the dog is gonna handle that you in my home i'm gonna lay it out and when i was
8:20
cooking swiss beats didn't want to leave the kitchen he was in that thing he wanted me to cook
8:24
every day. I was like, look here, player. I'm going to cook every other day
8:32
Yeah, once he told us that, that's why I was like, yo, what are you cooking for the holidays
8:36
We about to pull up. I had the short ribs on that week
8:40
I was whooping him with the short ribs with that teriyaki sauce. It felt like he was in the
8:44
Asian restaurant. I see you partaking. You got something in the atmosphere right now. On the holidays
8:52
Do you, man, Snoop, I remember one time we were in Philly and we were doing, I think it was How the West was one tour
9:00
And we sat in and we did an interview. We sat in a hotel and you was breaking down how, you know, you got different strands for different occasions
9:10
So for the holiday, man, is it a different strand you're going to be? Is it a holiday strand you're going to take to
9:17
What's that right there? That's that algorithm. The algorithm. rhythm there it is ladies and gentlemen you know we got the plug and play baby come on baby i ain't
9:30
bad at that man i listen um i want to say i'm proud of you man this is i remember when jay-z
9:35
first became president of def jam and and i and i told him man we need you to win you know and he
9:42
was like why you say that i said because we got to show the world that we could be the controllers
9:47
of our culture. So you being, you know, going to Def Jam is so iconic
9:53
for so many different reasons. That's the first iconic label of hip-hop
9:58
if you ask me. You know, when you look at the- Hey, Slow, you know I went and asked for this job
10:03
They didn't look for me. I went to them. Wow. Let me tell you what happened
10:09
I was trying to get death row records and trying to get my masters back from Doggy Stout
10:13
And then E1 acted like es and didn't want to, you know
10:16
give me the deal that I wanted then they didn't want to sell it to me so I got frustrated and my
10:21
frustration led me to say what label out there could use an expert like me that needs somebody
10:27
like me and I started checking around I look at Dev Jam and a friend of mine told me that they
10:32
didn't have a CEO so I was like no I don't want the CEOs but I just want to be a creative executive
10:37
you know consultant to help the artists over there because I got a relationship with YG
10:41
2 Chainz, Jeezy on and on it's all artists over there I with them and my nephews
10:46
so i get a meet with lucian grange and i pull up on him and i tell him i want to work for you
10:51
i want to help and i want to you know restructure your shit over here dev jam he's like why would
10:56
you want to risk all of the great shit you got going on with you to come over here and
11:00
with this shit over here that ain't together i'm like for one dev jam is the greatest level
11:05
able label ever created in hip-hop if i wasn't on defraud i'd have been on dev jam and my heart
11:12
And my spirit for the culture is telling me that I need to go help Def Jam get back in the position where they need to be because it's good for me and the culture in general
11:21
So I want to work for you. So we took about three or four minutes. He finally decided to give me the opportunity
11:26
And when I came in, I was just going to help and consult. But I see they needed more than that
11:31
So I went and did a record. Went and got Benny the Butcher signed
11:35
Got a couple of other people that we at the table with right now that's big that we're about to sign
11:39
and just changing the environment to make Def Jam feel like it's supposed to feel
11:43
Def Jam was the shit. And I wanted to feel like that again. And I'm from the West Coast
11:48
Man, hey, you know, and I think that's why you're perfect for the job, man
11:52
You've been through the ringer. I saw when you talked to Wallow and Gillian talked about your publishing
11:57
And even to this day, you've got to fight for rights for something that you created
12:01
What do you see now moving forward that labels need to do differently
12:05
when it comes to these artists? What can they do? What do they need to do differently and what you plan to implement to protect those artists
12:13
that you're signing to death jam? I think the labels got to be more fair
12:17
They can't try to rape artists and make them wait 35 years to own their shit, put them
12:21
in long lifetime deals They got to be fair because what happening is it the independent market out there that a lot of these artists are getting paid and being stars and doing their own shit and feel like they don need a label
12:33
So the label's going to convert and get real like how I'm doing with Def Jam
12:37
I'm letting them understand that most artists don't want to be on a label. The only way it's fun is if you make the label attractive and there's superstars on the label
12:45
and there's superstar shit that happens on a label. Like when Def Jam was the shit, Def Comedy Jam, Def Jam Vendetta
12:52
Dev Jam movies, Dev Jam every thing. Now it's like you got to reinstate that into the community to where they feel good with
13:00
being on Dev Jam. And that's why I come in because the world of Snoop Dogg is all of what Dev Jam used
13:05
to be. Video games, TV shows, this shit, that shit. So if I could bring that spirit and that environment to all of these great artists that's on the
13:12
label and the great artists that I found that are new and up and coming, because there's
13:16
some new bad mothers I got too. Some bankers out there. They go, go, go, go
13:21
You understand me? It's like, it's just knowing the industry and knowing I got all this shit inside of me
13:25
I'm 50 years old, but I feel like I'm 25 because I got so much information that I can give
13:30
And I always give it away for free. So why not give it away in a business manner to make sure that these artists prosper from this shit
13:37
as opposed to just hearing it on an interview or hearing it over here. But no, getting up close to me and I'm helping you develop your career and showing you how to have a long career outside of music
13:47
That's dog, man. I love it, man. Me too, man. You mentioned in that, and I know recently you were all over the press because of a statement
13:55
that you made, which I agree with in terms of ageism and hip hop and how legends are looked
14:00
at in hip hop versus other genres of music. So with that being said, would you give an opportunity
14:06
maybe to a 50-year-old hip hop artist that was doing music before and has some music out now
14:12
trying to get it? Would that something you would kind of consider being over at Def Jam now
14:17
Oh, yeah. Remember, I'm the one that helped Charlie Wilson get back on. Remember, I'm the one that put the dramatics on
14:24
Again, I put them on, but I'm just saying, I can't put nobody on. What I can do is put the spotlight on
14:28
Reintroduce them. Yeah. Thank you. That's a better word, because I do not want my OGs to be like
14:33
, you ain't never put me on before you. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes I speak fast, and I got a good heart
14:39
But what I'm saying is, that's what it's all about, to be able to find talent
14:44
Like, look at this. a group I'm in right now called Mount Westmore
14:48
Ice Cube, Too Short, E-40, Snoop Dogg. I'm the youngest one in the group and I just turned 50
14:54
So we just put a single and a video out that's at 9 million streams right now
15:00
We popping and bopping right now. They loving it. We just got off the road. We did three shows that were sold out
15:05
Ontario, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky. Three parts of the world just to pop up with one song out
15:11
and the shit was sold out and people loved it. And what's happening is you got to understand our fan base grew with us
15:19
Yes. Yeah. They've been waiting on us to come together to have something that represents
15:23
them because when I was young, old people didn't really with me
15:28
Sex. Because I was making music for youngsters. So I got to think like that, like maybe the youngsters may not really be
15:34
into what we own. So let's make music for our fan base that's still here
15:39
That's like zombies sitting in the house, waiting on us to drop some shit. Facts. That's dope. Yeah
15:43
Snoop Dogg, he got a new album out, too, man. Let us not forget. I've been tuning in to it
15:48
I've been going through it, man. It's called Snoop Dogg Presents Algorithm. Man, we got a few people on the line, Snoop
15:53
that want to say something to you, man. Let me see. Let me give this a shot
15:58
Dee, you there? Hey, Dee. What up, Dee? Hey, man, I'm here. I'm here, man. Yes
16:04
He's in Charlotte. What up, Dee? Say what up to the icon. Hey, what up, dog
16:08
What up, Snoop? Dee, what it do? What you doing, man? I'm slow motion. I wanted to tell you, man
16:12
you know, I love your music. Doggy Style, probably the best album of all time
16:18
I'm going to put it out there like this, especially for hip-hop. And I just got to give you your credit
16:23
while you're still here. I love you. I want you to stay around. I want you to know the importance you are to hip-hop
16:29
And just keep doing your thing, man. You're doing commercials overseas in Korea and all that stuff
16:33
I saw stuff about you on the internet. I didn't even know it was possible. Yes, sir
16:38
Yes, sir. Hey, man, that's heartwarming. Hearing your voice is heartwarming, man
16:42
That sounds good and it feels good to hear that, man. Sometimes we in the industry, we don't want it and we don't look for it
16:48
But to hear honesty and hear what we mean to the industry is a beautiful expression
16:53
Thank you for saying that. Hey, D, you a citizen, man. Hey, in the morning, boy, boy
16:58
Let's go to Georgia. We got David in Georgia. You want to say what up to Snoop, David
17:02
What up, Dave? Hey, how you doing, guys? You know, Snoop, your single, Gin and Juice, and California Love were the first CDs that my dad found
17:12
when I was 15 years old and I got in a lot of trouble. But I stayed a fan
17:16
I love you. And I ended up buying your cookbook a couple years ago and that orange chicken changed my life
17:21
And now Thanksgiving's coming up tomorrow. And I'm wondering, what can I make my wife
17:26
to make her drop it like it's hot and make her kind of surprised
17:30
You know what? You may want to put that beef short ribs
17:33
with some rice and gravy and get some jiffy cornbread and sprinkle it inside of the rice
17:38
Don't even make them muffins. Just sprinkle it in the rice. So when she's scooping it up, She's scooping up rice, gravy, and cornbread
17:44
You understand me? Oh, man. Yo, thank you, Snoop. Thank you, guys
17:49
I love you. Thank you for everything you do. And God bless
17:54
You got to get hit, bro. You got that lined up so quick
17:58
Yeah, we had that ready for him. You got to go ride out with Jimmy is. Let me take one more caller
18:05
Let's go to Chicago. Warren, man. Warren, what you want to say to Snoop, man? Grand Rises, Warren
18:10
What up, Warren? The thing I want to say is original salute to Uncle Snoop
18:15
And if I got time for four things I can say. You got one. Man. Get your best one
18:20
Shoot your best shot. Go ahead. All right, I'm going to try to tie it all into one. First of all, Snoop, you already know
18:26
You was a star long before your name hit the boulevard. So I salute you on hitting that Hollywood star
18:31
Secondly, man, just keep doing what you're doing. You one of the most authentic people And the thing I love most about you Snoop is that watching you I followed you all the way from 91 to 2021 right now And look you may have evolved and you continue to evolve but you never switched up on it
18:48
Since a lot of guys have switched up, you just stayed, Snoop, from beginning to end
18:52
I love you for that. And the third and last thing I want to say when we're talking about food, I got up at 5 o'clock this morning
18:57
I got two 15-pound briskets on the smoke along with a Cajun turkey
19:02
and following that with a peach bourbon ham and another apple cognac turkey
19:07
so I get it in, too. Come on, bro. Hey, you cold-blooded with your chef hand, baby
19:14
Apple cognac. We love you, too. Love you back, brother. Keep it up, man. Keep up your great work
19:19
You a citizen, Warren. You a citizen, baby. Wait for him, bruh-bruh. Snoopy, before you go, man, the Algorithm album is great, man
19:26
I love it. You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of a chronic, in a sense, where you put together a compilation of a lot of the different artists that are going to be featured on Def Jam
19:39
Jane Hancock, I think she's incredible. Malaya, I think she's incredible. There's a few songs on there
19:46
D Smoke and Wiz Khalifa got that steady joint that's on there, too. You know, all of these different songs, man
19:51
I went through it. Don't put smut on my name, man. Don't put no smut on my name, baby
19:55
that's my joint too man if that's indicative of what we're going to see i think it's an exciting
20:03
time um for what's happening with death jam and then i love the fact that um i want to say was it
20:11
who did you put on don't put smut on my name that's baby battle loco from san diego
20:16
and see one of the things man one of the things that kind of hurt my heart is when general jeff
20:22
um past recently general jeff for rodney y'all that was my guy come on man and we did a whole
20:30
like commentary about who he is and who he and what he contributed and what he did with skip
20:36
roll in la and helping homeless people and i realized that not a lot of people especially
20:41
in hip-hop know our west coast history you know if i mentioned when people mention top mcs if i
20:48
if i mentioned rask has what you gonna say about rask has snoop rask has dope as he'll dust
20:54
any one of these mothers off that want to get in the ring with him he'd be from my area that's
20:59
my peers you know i'm saying we was in the battle arena late 80s early 90s you understand me
21:06
course yes you know and it's people like breeze from la posse what come on the young son of no one
21:15
yes you know and you know and even la posse rbx all these different names all know what i need you
21:22
know what i need to do when i've been talking about it for years i need to do a documentary
21:26
called the architectural structure of west coast hip-hop and what that will be is it will be the
21:32
beginning from the mixtapes from the egyptian lovers to the uncle jam armies to the lorenzo's
21:38
and the wrecking crews and the la dream teams and all of that shit before you get to the king t's
21:43
and you get to the Ice-T's, and you get to the N-W-A's, you know what I'm saying, the foundation of West Coast hip-hop
21:50
and how it was built and how it was created and how when we got a hold of it, it was shit that we were standing on
21:56
It was people that was on before us. We just happened to get the light and get the attention
22:00
But if you ask any of us that made it, my top 10 got Ice-T, Ice Cube, Too Short
22:11
it got s from this 50 to 50 club it don't have no young s in there if you
22:17
and nobody in there young and that ain't with no disrespect that's just put all love because
22:22
my foundation is hip-hop whether it's rock him slick rick it's hip-hop but you can't spell the
22:30
west without the es so it's all combined well look man i'm gonna do you like you did def jam man i'm
22:36
coming to you for a job brother because uh i want to work on that with you okay you do yeah i'm
22:43
proud that's why i'm getting at you i want to work on that with you and it's look i look at all of
22:47
these hip-hop platforms they nobody covered general jeff i realize they don't know they cover who they're
22:53
fans of you know what i mean and that's that's whatever but let's get together let's do it man
22:59
we could walk it from northern cali to you know down to when russ parr was making you know look
23:04
at all these roaches. You know what I mean? They don't have to because look, I'm going to tell you this because I even spoke
23:08
with DJ Poo and Bobcat about like how they was with LL Cool J
23:12
and made music and took, they was once some of the first mothers from here
23:16
to go there to get that shit and put this shit together. Poo made King T's album
23:20
in New York while working on LL Cool J's album. Wow. Act of Fool. You feel what I'm saying
23:25
Then you got to talk about the branding and the endorsements that St. I's
23:30
created not only for the West but for hip hop in general
23:33
st oz was the first company to actually pay s in hip-hop to brand their beer and they
23:39
knocked old english 800 out the box and st oz became the number one beer off of branding through
23:45
hip-hop yeah hip-hop man and the list goes on and on hey so i'm i'm on board what we doing
23:51
we making it happen me you dj pool need to sit down and chop it up and figure this out because
23:56
you so hip-hop oriented your mentality your knowledge and then you culture so it'd be dope
24:01
hope to have you be most of the conversation and we just be the history because we're gonna need that piece anyway somebody that's speaking you go and let's get old g poetess in there too she
24:09
got a lot of god is good man we want the whole team man god is good you know how i play better
24:14
when i got teammates man there you go hey hey man i love you snoop man enjoy your holiday with
24:21
your family brother hey man it's so good to see you man we got so many more stories we got to talk
24:27
about, all right? Man, I love y'all, man. Y'all stay strong and y'all enjoy y'all holidays
24:31
with y'all family, too. Peace and love. God bless you, Snoop Dogg
24:35
Get the new album Snoop Dogg Presents Algorithm is out now. Look for
24:39
him in the Addams Family, too. The legend, the icon, Snoop Dogg
24:43
Me and that, too, baby
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