Snoop Dogg: Boss Moves

Late last year I had the honor and pleasure of profiling Snoop Dogg for GQ magazine. During our candid conversation about his ascension to Def Jam Executive Creative Consultant, the rapper born Calvin Broadus made clear the mission closest to his heart: ownership of his masters, and control of the imprint he helped build — Death Row Records. On Feb. 9, a mere four days before his revelatory Dr. Dre Super Bowl halftime show performance with Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and, in a surprise appearance, 50 Cent, Snoop announced he was the new CEO of Death Row Records. Needless to say, Snoop and I had to reconnect. 

When I Ubered back to The Compound, his Inglewood, Calif., studio haven, Snoop, who turned 50 last October, was cozy in one of his long black robes. He lit up a few blunts, and I hadn’t been there long when he relayed a recent conversation he’d had with LeBron James’ agent, Klutch Sports Group founder/CEO Rich Paul: “Rich, this shit is like a player that played in the NBA that got drafted by his team, won a championship with them, ended up going somewhere else and winning five or six championships, and then coming back to buy the franchise and to assemble the team of players that he wants. Championship city, man.” Yup, it was a Dogg day afternoon. 

So how did you make it happen?

[Interscope Records co-founder] Jimmy Iovine. He told me that the people who had Death Row were at one of his parties, and he thought it’d be good for me to talk to them. Jimmy knew I wanted my masters. That’s what I was after. So he put me in contact with Dave [Kestnbaum, Senior Managing Director at the Blackstone investment firm], and we started talking about different things. I liked him because he was real. He was like, I’m a fan of you, Snoop. I’m with you. I ain’t trying to hold this shit. I want to see you with it. So we started communicating, built a relationship. It made sense. It made sense for where I’m at in my career. I got damn near everything else but that, my [musical] foundation. 

So is Def Jam in the past now? It’s strictly Death Row?

No. Still got a year. Still at Def Jam as a consultant. Making sure that the records come out right. I still do what I do. I’m just thinking about me, because Def Jam didn’t want Snoop Dogg the artist. They wanted Snoop Dogg the businessman. So Snoop Dogg the artist has to think about what’s best for him. I don’t want to be on nobody’s label. But I’d be on Death Row if I own it. That’s a boss move.

I mean, you got Griselda’s Benny The Butcher signed!

The Benny deal was crazy, because he was working with DJ Whoo Kid when I first got the Def Jam gig. I wasn’t even all the way on paper yet, I just was flying to New York to establish the fact that I’m about to be in the building, and I know some of the New York artists. I’m just an up-close-and-personal guy. I already like Griselda. I like Benny. Whoo Kid’s like, “I’m in the studio with Benny.” So Benny came to see me, not to talk about no business but to maybe get on a song.

I’m like, “What’s up with you and Def Jam?” He’s like, “Oh man, they lowballed me.” I said, “Lowballed you? They don’t know who you is?” He’s looking at me like, “Damn, you know who I am?” I’m like, “Yeah, I know exactly who you is and what you worth. I’m over at Def Jam now. Who was you talking to?” He told me who he was talking to. “We’re not going to talk to them. I’m going to call the boss. You’re going to tell the boss what you want, and he’s going to give you what you want and you’re going to sign.” 

You can bring me in to do executive shit, but remember I’m an artist, so I’m going to always pattern it for the artist. Especially hip-hop artists. You never know what you’re worth until you overcharge. That’s what we need to know. A lot of times we be scared. No. I go in and overcharge. Fuck that. “I need this.” Then they look at me like, “Damn, what…?” It’s just what I’m worth. When I wasn’t worth shit, I took what you gave me. Now I know what I’m worth, so I aim for the stars. If you want me, you’ll pay for it. Or you’ll get close.

Let’s go back to Death Row. When you look at the press cycle around the announcement, there’s some confusion. First there was pure praise and adulation. Then it was, “Well, Snoop doesn’t have the 2Pac or Dr. Dre recordings.” And then you were quoted on Clubhouse as saying, “Death Row will be a NFT label. We will be putting out artists through the metaverse.” Can you bring some clarity? What does it mean for you to be in control of the Death Row brand?

To be in control of the brand means that I got all of the pieces that I need to do what I got to do, from the masters to the publishing, to the IP, to the label, to the logo, to everything. It’s all mine. I’m able to move it around and do what I need to do with it. As far as 2Pac’s masters, 2Pac’s masters came back to him last year. But I got a great relationship with his estate, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be able to work something out … to continue some Death Row 2Pac business now that Snoop Dogg is in control of Death Row. Same with Dr. Dre and The Chronic. I got The Chronic album. I got Doggystyle, Tha Doggfather, Murder Was the Case, Dogg Food, Above the Rim. I got all those records. [Ed. note: According to recent reportage by Rolling Stone, Dr. Dre’s lawyer maintains that his client continues to own The Chronic.]

There’s a period in time where … the artist has the right to say, “I’m taking my shit away from here and putting it somewhere else,” or, “You know what? Snoop Dogg is here. It’s in great hands. He made me this amount of money. He’s got my records in the metaverse. He’s got EDM versions for my songs now. He’s got Latin versions of my songs now.” When we made these records, EDM and Latin wasn’t much. Now EDM and Latin run the world, and that’s with no disrespect; that’s with all due respect. Those genres have been working to become great for years, and now they finally reached that high point. What I mean by that is, look at Latin music. Look at J Balvin, Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez. Then look to the EDM community. Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Steve Aoki. Fuckin’ will.i.am. These genres are gigantic. So to be able to take Death Row music into those types of collaborations, it’s interesting. I may explore that.

What about some of the lost pieces of the catalog? Like your first recorded appearance, on “Deep Cover,” from 1992. We don’t really have that on the DSPs. Or classic B-sides like Dr. Dre’s “Puffin’ on Blunts and Drankin’ Tanqueray.” 

I’m bringing all that back. I got all of that. I’m thinking about doing a DJ Snoopadelic mix with all of those hidden gems from Death Row that you can’t find. Then once I put them in a mix, then you got them and you can mix them and blend them however you want to. I want to mix it, talk over it, give you some history when you hearing it, like, “This record right here, ‘Puffin’ on Blunts,’ it featured Daz, Kurupt, Lady of Rage, produced by Dre. Check this shit out.” Give you a little insight when that shit come on.

Yeah. I remember you rhyming over the “Bitches Ain’t Shit” beat, I think it was for a “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang (Freestyle Remix)”? There was rare stuff on those 12-inch releases. 

Yup. You remember that, huh?

Hell yeah. Young Snoop in the pocket.

That shit, it started off like, “Now I be mobbin’ like [a] muthafucka every single day.” Yeah. All that shit got to come out.

The history is so strong. Is Death Row going to sign new artists? Are you looking for new West Coast artists? 

You want an artist to be dope in their own mind, to be able to create. You’re just the pathway to them becoming who they are. I’m not in there trying to develop: “Hey man, you should rap like this. You should do this.” I’m trying to find muthafuckas that got that shit that’s already locked and loaded that just need me to be, “Here you go. Come on, put the Death Row logo on that. Let me take you to the metaverse.” Bang! Let me let your shit get all the light it need.

You made history a few Sundays ago. The ratings were sky-high and your Super Bowl performance with Dr. Dre and company was epic. 

Man, when I got home and watched it on playback, I thought it was the greatest shit ever. Being there, it felt like the greatest concert of all time. When I first came out, that meant a lot to me that Dre would let me come out first. The first vocal was me. To let me kick that off and have enough confidence in the D-O Double to say, “OK. The biggest moment of my career, I trust the D-O Double. He’s going to lead off, and then he’s going to come back at the end of the ninth inning.” You’ve got to walk the dog back out … boom boom boom, and have all the Crip Walkin’. You know what I’m saying? It’s the West.

I saw Angie Martinez put up a shot on Instagram of her, Mary J. Blige, you and JAY-Z. I think it was backstage after the performance. 

Your new album, BODR, is really strong. I love the four songs with [three-time Grammy-winning producer] Hit-Boy, but I think my favorite is “We Don’t Gotta Worry No More.” It really hits your soul.