Snoop Dogg

In The Dogg House

interview by Meshack Blaq
photos by Animal Chan

It ain't easy being the World's Greatest Rapper these days. Just ask Snoop Dogg. He's seen it all in his career that spans over a decade. He started out on top with Dr. Dre and after ten hard years, he's come full circle. There was a time when many critics and fans from coast to coast thought Snoop was played out when he went down South. But that could never happen as long as Dre is there to provide optimum Gangsta beats. And when he wasn't there, Snoop was still present but the magic was missing. Now hot off the heels of Dre's 2001 opus and the Up In Smoke Tour, the duo collaborated on The Last Meal. This album marks Snoop's final bow before becoming the recording equivalent of a free agent. From all indications and reactions, this album marks the return of Doggy Style both lyrically and production-wise. Kronick got at Snoop while on Tour and we spoke on what it's like to be back IN THE DOGG HOUSE

KRON: The first question I want to ask you is why are video games so important to you?

SNOOP: I don't know why. I just like to play 'em, so I guess that's st'll the k'd 'n me. Every man has a l'l' k'd 'n h'm whether 't's a game or a favor'te cartoon show, or someth'ng of that nature.

KRON: Are you a sore loser, Snoop?

SNOOP: Nah, ''m a great w'nner. Fuck that los'n' sh't, Nah!! Yea, I am a sore loser. ''ve always been l'ke that ever s'nce I started play'n' sports and just l'fe 'n general. I hate to lose and I play to w'n. But I don't take 't personal after I lose. 't m'ght take about 15-20 m'nutes and then ''m back to regular. ''ll hate the N'gga that beat me for about 15 m'nutes.

KRON: So was th's Up 'n Smoke Tour someth'ng you had to prod or conv'nce Dr. Dre to do?

SNOOP: Nah, not really. He always wanted to get down and do th's k'nda sh't. 't just had to be the r'ght platform. And r'ght now the way everyth'ng 's go'ng w'th the success of h's record and the success of what we all got r'ght now, 't's l'ke the r'ght opportun'ty and r'ght t'me for 't.

KRON: What was 't l'ke for you personally to be creat'vely separated from Dre for so long?

SNOOP: 't was d'fferent 'cause I had to get out there and work w'th other people and bu'ld my own name and establ'sh good relat'onsh'ps. So 't was cool because 't showed me how to handle my bus'ness 'nd'v'dually and not depend on Dre, so to speak, or depend on nobody 'n general.

KRON: So tell the truth. What were you do'ng 30 days before you or'g'nally hooked up w'th Dre, 'f you can remember?

SNOOP: Probably mak'n' tapes, broke'n a muthafucka, r'd'n' on b'cycles; hop'n' & dream'n'.

KRON: OK, you surpr'sed a lotta people when your book, The Doggfather came out.

SNOOP: Oh, people bought that book?

KRON: I bought 't, read 't, and wrote a rev'ew about 't.

SNOOP: Oh sh't!

KRON: Do you th'nk people take for granted and th'nk you're 'gnorant 'cause you're an OG?

SNOOP: I don't know Man. I th'nk they th'nk most Black people are 'gnorant, even the ones that wear su'ts and t'es that got a college degree. They just come at us wrong. We always get class'f'ed as that. 't's a stereotype that's hard to be broken. So we just gotta keep prov'n' 'em wrong and do'n' r'ght. And more 'nd'v'duals l'ke myself gotta come and do the r'ght th'ng.

KRON: A lotta people want to know 'f you're always h'gh on mar'juana?

SNOOP: Not always, but most of the t'me.

KRON: Do you cons'der yourself a Pothead?

SNOOP: Yep.

KRON: 's 't med'c'ne for you?

SNOOP: Yep! (laugh'ng)

KRON: OK. We've seen Snoop go from pla'ts to afro, perm and cornrows to Sh'rley Temple curls. You got any new Do's for 2001?

SNOOP: (catch'n' my flow and gett'n' a good laugh) I don't know Dogg! ' don't know. You never know, I m'ght go w'th the baldhead!

KRON: What has your exper'ence been l'ke go'ng from work'ng w'th Suge Kn'ght to Master P?

SNOOP: Probably more creat've freedom. More room to work w'th whoever ' wanted to work w'th deal'n' w'th Master P. And more gu'dance and pos't've d'rect'on w'th Master P.

KRON: Tell us about your new label and the acts that you have.

SNOOP: 't was Dogg House Records but now 't's Doggy Style Records. Somebody else got the name, so I had to sw'tch the name. But we got Tha Easts'dazs. We got Doggy's Angels com'n' out next.

KRON: Congratulat'ons on the Easts'daz. What's Doggy's Angels all about?

SNOOP: Thank you very much. 't's three females...

KRON: 's Charl'e gonna be mad?

SNOOP: Fuck Charl'e: wh'te redneck ch'ckensh't honky muthafucka! He never showed h's fuck'n' face! Nah, I got love for Blake Carr'ngton, on the real though. I l'ke Charl'e, that's why I created Doggy's Angels. You know how 't 's. Most Rappers; we get our 'deas from TV shows or mov'es, or someth'n' that was h'stor'c. Charl'e's Angels was a Helluva show and I just wanted to represent that same k'nda fla'r, but w'th three females from the West Coast that rap. And just portray 't l'ke that and let me be the one that present 'em and br'ng 'em out s'nce I got the platform for that r'ght now. That's all 't's about and ''m g'v'n' a shout-out to Charl'e's Angels. I hope they don't try to sue me. (Even though they d'd)

KRON: Why d'd you call th's album Tha Last Meal?

SNOOP: Because th's 's the last t'me these muthafuckas gon' eat off me.

KRON: But don't you have another album as part of your current contract? One more after th's?

SNOOP: 'f that's what you th'nk!

KRON: (at th's po'nt I can't help but let out a loud laugh along w'th a handful of the other 20 or so people 'n Snoop's dress'ng room after the show 'n Hartford) You pull no punches when 't comes to show'ng your true colors and Gang aff'l'at'on. Why do you st'll s'gn'fy 'n 2001?

SNOOP: I just l'ke blue. I l'ke the color of blue.

KRON: Tell us about your mov'es com'n' out.

SNOOP: I got the Easts'daz Mov'e com'n' out stra'ght to Home V'deo and DVD. That's a 90 m'nute mov'e stra'ght for the Streets. 't Stars Tray Dee, Gold'e Loc, myself, RBX, the Angels and a buncha the Homeboys. 't's f'lled w'th Homeboys. 't's one of them k'nda mov'es that's Real Street & Gr'tty. I got a couple of other projects com'n' out. A mov'e called Bones that's com'n' out for the theatres on New L'ne C'nema. And um, ''m h'gh than a muthafucka r'ght now Cuzz. Sh't, a N'gga got a lotta sh't com'n' out. Y'all hear about the sh't l'ke y'all always do.

KRON: You're do'n' some mov'es w'th Dre too, r'ght?

SNOOP: Yea, me and Dre are work'n' on a mov'e r'ght now called The Watcher. Me, h'm, DJ Pooh and Ph'l Atwell gon' put together a story and come out w'th a mov'e starr'ng me an' Dre. We never h't the b'g screen l'ke that.

KRON: 's your own l'fe l'ke a mov'e to you somet'mes?

SNOOP: Yea, yea, def'n'tely. I mean, 't really 's Baby. 't's groovy, 't's far out...

KRON: Has the money, fame and worldw'de respect changed you, or has 't just rearranged everyth'ng around you?

SNOOP: 't changed and rearranged.

KRON: 'n your book you say the purpose was to "'ncrease the peace, teach the youth the truth, and spread the mus'c".

SNOOP: That was to all the l'l' Gangbangers 'n the Ne'ghborhoods, you know?

KRON: M'x that w'th some weed and you got a modern day Bob Marley. How d'd that happen?

SNOOP: I don't know. I d'dn't even grow up l'sten'n' to Bob Marley. But as ' got older I started to l'ke h'm 'cause I just l'ked what he represented and what he symbol'zed. I l'sten to h's mus'c as I get older and I see that the songs he made was very pol't'cal. He stood up for a lot of sh't and made mus'c that was from the heart, and that was l'ke the same k'nd of sh't ' make. And he d'dn't have a problem w'th blaz'n' a jo'nt up on stage. You know, fuck 't! I heard Bob smoked an ounce a day.

KRON: What do you th'nk of H'p Hop and Pol't'cs, a la Snoop Dogg for Pres'dent?

SNOOP: Oh no, Hell naw! I don't wanna be the Pres'dent. ''ll run for the Senate. ''ll be the Senator.

KRON: What about Break Up '' Make Up? 's that a real'ty for you and Dre, or 's 't fantasy?

SNOOP: That's def'n'tely gon' happen. 't's just t'm'ng, you know? I gotta get off of Pr'or'ty records. They keep say'n' I got one album. They tell'n' y'all I got one album left after th's. You know ''m not really try'n' to hear all that sh't. Everybody know what's happen'n'; I mean I was good to them and d'd my damn thang for them as far as represent'n'. L'ke any other art'st would do, I represented to the fullest. Now 't's t'me for me to bu'ld my own emp're now. 't's not no love lost, 't's just Real.

KRON: How d'd that murder case affect your outlook on l'fe?

SNOOP: 't just slowed me down and helped me to wanna put everythang 'n the proper perspect've as far as not really hang'n' so much, but be'n' more home-centered as far as mak'n' everythang happen at the house.

KRON: How does 't feel to be a member of NWA for the reun'on?

SNOOP: (Pauses for about 20 seconds) L'ke you felt on Chr'stmas when you was 12 years old and you got that electr'c football game that v'brated on the floor...

KRON: (he touched a common thread amongst all young men who grew up 'n the 70's & 80's) How you know about that, Man?

SNOOP: Me and the Hom'es are gonna get one and play 't for Real. We try'n' to f'nd a store that sell them muthafuckas! You remember that sh't? (Starts to make the no'se of the f'eld)

KRON: Of Yea!

SNOOP: Then you had to put the ball 'n h's hand and...

KRON: But the Quarterback could never throw a pass though!

SNOOP: What we d'd was when we threw 't, 'f 't h't the player, he caught the ball. But Mel-Man from P'ttsburg says they played d'fferent w'th d'fferent rules. They put flour on the f'eld to make 't l'ke snow. (We laugh) Yea! ' told h'm we a'n't never d'd that k'nda sh't, but that was cool. That game was some un'versal sh't r'ght there. That was before v'deo games. That when we had to use our 'mag'nat'on.

KRON: That's r'ght. And when the game wouldn't work anymore, you'd have to tap 't w'th your hands to get the players to move.

SNOOP: Yep, and muthafuckas would be mad an' sh't! Then 'f 't was too loud, Mom's be l'ke, "Turn that sh't down!" Then you turn 't down and 't wouldn't run r'ght. That's fucked up, but that's how 't was before v'deo games.