"The Remix:" Interview with Snoop Dogg

Article and photo by James "True" Peterson

True: First, I want to recognize that there’s a real sense of family in your camp. Can you talk a little bit about how you create that and how you've been able to establish that in this business?



Snoop: Well, it's all about how you were raised up, you know? Your upbringing will rub off on you as an adult and that's how my mama raised me: to just have fun and welcome everybody in with open arms, you know? My crew is like real small. I don't have like 30 employees working for my record label. I've got like four or five people. I can see them all, know them all and talk to them all and it's not confusing. I feel like if I had a bigger crew working for me, it would be hectic but since it’s like everybody that I know, I can reach out for him, her, them.

True: Who do you credit for that business sense? Because you do a lot of things: act, rhyme, the label. Do you have a role model business-wise to help you put that in or is it just trial and error in the industry?

Snoop: It was a lot of trial and error in the industry, but I gotta give Master P a lot of credit because until I got with him and No Limit Records, I was just a rapper, know what I'm sayin? I was just trying to be the dopest rapper in the world, and I did that real well, but I wasn't getting no money out of it, no business out of it, nothing. When I got with him, he showed me how to expand that and take being the best rapper and turn it into being the best businessman. Mixing the show with the business, now I'm the king of show business (laughter), can you believe it?

True: Okay, the first time I met you was at D&D and you were doing some stuff with Primo, [and you were on your way] to the Neptunes. You've worked with the best producers in Hiphop. Do you have any favorites or folks you prefer?

Snoop: There's so many and they're diverse. Dre, then Meech Wells, Battlecat, Timbaland, Neptunes, Premier. All of them have their own different styles and ranges, and I'm starting to find out the producers I deal with nowadays, they tend to give me more than the old school producers because new producers, they try a little harder. They haven't been seen or heard, so when they get that opportunity to shine, they put in a little more effort…You can be who you be if you want that shot, so that's why I like giving new producers that shot, but at the same time, the old producers still give me a lot, but when I'm with them, it’s more about professionalism. With the young ones, it’s gritty and dirty, and a lot of times, that's what I'm searching for.

True: Do you have any preferences for different aspects of the entertainment industry? Like with acting; do you prefer that over rhyming? Can you compare the different things you're doing in the industry?

Snoop: I like acting a lot because I'm starting to get the roles where I don't really have to reach or try too hard, but now I want those roles where I come into trying to be this real character. Rapping; ya'll know I ain't never gonna lose the love for that. That's why I went out and established a record label so that when I'm finished with it, I'll still have my inspiration by putting out other cats and different things.

True: I saw Bones a couple days ago on video. When it first came out, I read criticism about it, but after seeing it, I don't think folks really got it. I thought it was a pretty deep movie. Do you respond to critics saying he's a rapper trying to be an actor?

Snoop: A lot of things I do don't catch up to you for two or three years because I tend to think of myself as being ahead of the game, you know? I wouldn't expect my peers to catch up with me as fast as I move… It's like a phase or a fad when you see me in the big screen world until you sit down and watch it and see what I brought to the table. That's why I'm trying to get more roles where I'm more instrumental and it's all about being this character and not just sliding into a hit movie for three or four minutes but actually performing the whole movie and showing range in doing the role. Just stretching out and doing that damn thang.

True: Talk about the concept of "Chuuch."

Snoop: Bishop Magic Juan brought it to us. It's just keeping God in everything that we're doing. It's a positive expression… We just wanted to let the world know that we could use positive words in our dialect. Instead of nigga, bitch or hoe, we're saying church and putting something positive back into the game. What we do, the whole world follows, so now we've got the whole world talking about church. It’s just making them aware of God and that it is a God that this world is run by.

True: You've got this family-oriented business and you're trying to get a positive message out there. Is that a maturity thing for you as an artist, or has that always been there?

Snoop: My music from day one has always been trying to educate and give up some game, but it’s all about how you give it. I don't try to beat it on you like "you gotta do this" or "you gotta do that." I slip it on you, slide it on you, to where either you do it or you don't. I made this decision. I was right there with you, but I chose to go this route and that's why I'm living this way so you can do the same, but it doesn't come overnight… I was struggling ten years before Dr. Dre got with me. When I did get with him, I was that hungry to give him some game and learn from him at the same time. That's why I didn't have a problem writing whole songs from my heart that expressed the way I felt and letting him take me to the next level. That's what I get nowadays with artists I work with.

True: That's a lot of trust there.

Snoop: Exactly.

True: Can you talk about the clothing line, SDC?

Snoop: Snoop Dogg Clothing. We've been out for about eight months now and we're gradually growing and we're trying to build. We're coming out with it slowly but surely. We got the kids’ line coming out in June. Just trying to cover a little bit of everything. We've got more West Coast flavor than anything because a lot of the clothing lines that are out represent certain parts of the world. I'm from the West Coast, so I wanted to put out a clothing line that represents where I'm from.

True: Are there other things in the future? Other aspects of the industry that you have your sights set on?

Snoop: Yep, I'm trying to sell this Cadillac Snoop Deville. I'm trying to expand into the automobile world because that's a market that we as entertainers and black entrepreneurs control. We spend a lot of money on these cars, so we should start putting our name on them and benefit from it. I saw Shaquille O'neal do it, so I came up with the idea to do it because I'm an old school car fanatic. I took my old school flavor, got with Cadillac and put it on a new car and made a cross between both. Its right outside if you wanna look at it and put your ass up against some mink. Hit the highway full speed.

True: Of the label situations that you've dealt with, Death Row, No Limit, Priority, now you have your own. Can you compare some of these experiences with the major labels?

Snoop: I was never on a major label. If you wanna be real, I was bigger than any label I was on. This is the first time I've ever been able to work with a major label. I've worked with ghetto labels that had their hearts and souls in it. They're coming from the streets and doing what they had to do from the ground up. Now I'm with a real label that knows how to deal with a Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg is a star, so he can't go back down that ghetto path as far as promoting. That should already be handled. I'm already on the streets but when you get to a certain level in the game, some people know how to jump over the moon, some people don't. I was ready to jump over the moon. I'm trying to get into Eminem's world; 10 million records sold. I feel like I can do the same shit. Why can't I get 10 million sales? I'm just sayin, you know? I'm just sayin (laughter). What the fuck?

True: Did Dre do any cuts off the new record?

Snoop: I'm not really working with Dre right now. I gave him a copy of my record and told him to listen to it and give me some feedback. This is like statement week for me. I'm trying to stand on my own two feet and be known for what I do and how I do it. Dr. Dre is gonna be my nigga 'til the wheels fall off, but I have to get up from under his wing. I'm grown now. I've got my own house. I don't have to come spend the night and sleep on the couch anymore. But I wanna go over there and check with him and make sure the shit is right and if you care to add something to it, gimme that. For the most part, I'd rather do this on my own because I'm tired of hearing "he only sounds good when he's with Dre" or "did Dre do something on your album?" Do you say that when he's putting out some shit? No. You givin him all of his, so give me all of mine. I earned that.

True: Not a lot of people know you're a family man. Can you talk about that?

Snoop: I try to put my studios at my house or near my home, so I won't be so far away from my family. I don't spend a lot of time with them, but the time I do spend with them is precious. My kids are just like me. They know what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. I know there is going to come a time where I'm going to be done with it and I'm going to be there for them every day, cooking breakfast, taking them to school and all of that. Right now, Daddy gotta go get that money.

True: What will you have accomplished when you've retired and you look back over your career?

Snoop: Right now, I'm just happy to be able to work with who I want to work with. I've worked with a lot of great people that I grew up admiring. Pam Grier, the Dramatics, Bootsy Collins, people that when I was a little-ass kid runnin' around the house, I was listening to them or trying to see them or emulate them. Now I'm able to give them some. That's a good thing. Now I'm able to see it and understand it. I'm not so far gone that I don't see it or respect the game for what it is. I just wanna put in my issue and pass down what was passed down to me, so it will be somebody else's to run with and take it further than where I took it.


Contact: James Peterson hiphopscholar@msn.com