Snoop Dogg sits down to take us inside the stories of some of his biggest hits including, the real reason Katy Perry created “California Gurls,” his interactions in Brazil’s favelas, what he wanted to emulate in “Sensual Seduction,” morphing into a doberman in “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?,” working with Akon on “I Wanna Love You,” the impact of “Drop It Like It’s Hot” on his career and more!
What’s your favorite Snoop Dogg? Let us know in the comments!
What’s your favorite Snoop Dogg? Let us know in the comments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00What's crack-a-lack and it's your boy Big Snoop D-L-double-G and this is my
00:03Billboard chart history.
00:21I got a bunch of homegirls that are like Katy Perry so it's like for me to have a
00:26record like that that actually fits in their world. It was a treat. She had hit
00:31me because she was you know out and about and she kept hearing the Alicia Keys
00:35and Jay-Z songs and she was like we need a song to represent the West Coast
00:47of California because I don't hear nothing like that saying where we from
00:51when I'm in the club. So that's how that song came about. She was looking to have
00:56an answer to that record. I think she did an amazing job like aiming at the target
01:00and hitting the target and delivering and picking the right tempo, the right style
01:04and the right person to combine it on the song with. One thing about a great
01:08collaboration what it does is it brings two fan bases together. I think it
01:12brought both worlds together to where you know Katy's fans and my fans were able to
01:17take a ride together and that's the beautiful part about a collaborative
01:20effort in the studio that translates to a video. I had to have that song on my
01:24playlist overseas. There's a couple of shows I did when that record came out and I
01:28didn't perform it. It was mad. Like very mad and I was like damn I got all this
01:33gangsta shit y'all want me to do this song? So then I started adding it to my
01:36playlist and I seen how when it would come on. They're going crazy so
01:42then I added a component where I have girls come out with beach balls and they
01:47throw them in the crowd when that song come on. You can just see them. They just
01:50catching the beach. They love catching balls.
01:53I really wish you all could be California girls.
01:59When the pimp's in the crib, drop it like it's hot. Drop it like it's hot. Drop it like it's hot.
02:07See all that spray paint on the wall? That's my original work. There's two dance moves that
02:10became infamous in this video. My crib walk and then when I popped this on them. That video
02:16was fun for me for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons was both of my sons was
02:20in that video. My oldest son was playing the drums. Boom, boom, boom. Pharrell taught
02:25him that shit and he learned it. That shit was gangsta. And then Lil Snoop, he was on
02:28the bike with me at the end. Dusted his shoulders. He dusted mines off. It was just
02:32some G shit to have my boys in a video that was so impactful to my career. That is my
02:37first and only number one single as a solo artist. I know that for a fact. To have my
02:43boys in it. To be working with Pharrell. To do something outside of what I was accustomed
02:48to which is the G-Funk Death Row Dr. Dre sound. And to find a new relationship with Pharrell
02:54and for him to give me a dynamic sound that was catered to me. And not to a form of music
03:00but catered to me and the results. It was like I said my first number one single. I was able
03:04to do things where I had a companion that was we see eye to eye. There was nobody bigger
03:10to nobody. So we could criticize we could critique and we could always make each
03:13other better. When I wrote my first verse to drop it like it's hot Pharrell said
03:19that ain't it. So I had to go back in and write my verse all over again with new
03:25words that you hear now. But just the challenging side of it to challenge me to
03:29say you can be better. And the results is what we got out of it. One of my best
03:35songs, one of my biggest songs and my first number one song which was 2004. So my
03:40first album came out in 1993. So it took me this long to get a number one
03:45single. And just think about my first album debuted number one. But there were
03:49no number one singles off of that album. I told Pharrell that our brotherhood was
03:54was undeniable. That it was an accomplishment for me that he really
03:57wanted me to have. Like when you got people that really push for you and really
04:00want you to win, his success is my success. So it's our success and it's
04:04beautiful that we did it together and we could cheer each other on.
04:10Check this out. Let me see if I know it. Money in the air as Mo Phil. Grab you by your
04:21coattail. Take it to the motel. Wholesale. Don't tell. Won't tell. Baby said I don't
04:26talk though. Then she told on me. Oh well. Take the picture with me. What the flick
04:30gonna do? Baby stick to me and I'm gonna stick on you. Now if you pick me then I'm gonna pick
04:35on you DO double jig and I'm here to put this dick on you. I'm stuck on pussy cause
04:40yours is right. Rip riding the poles cause the doze is tight. And I'm gonna give me a
04:44shot for the end of the night. Cause pussy is pussy and baby your pussy polite. That is a
04:48record that behind closed doors. Here's the scenario. So we do the record and the
04:56label that Akon is on is up under the umbrella of the label that I'm on at the time. Once
05:04the umbrella hears the record they say we need to put this on Snoop and Akon's album cause it's
05:12too big of a record. So what they did was they created an umbrella connection to where it was
05:17on Akon's album and it was on my album. And we both reap the benefits of the song being a
05:22big hit record. And I thought that was dope because normally in those situations
05:26you have a label that says no this is my artist song. You're not getting a piece of
05:32it and having it on your album. But we was able to work that out. I think it worked
05:35because Akon is a great spirit when it comes to music and songs. He's a giver.
05:39That's when Akon was at the hype. We had both had enough control and enough
05:44power to say that. I'm cool with it. I'm cool with it. So if you got the artists agreeing
05:48and you got the labels trying to put it together then it's an easy scenario.
05:52We performed it many times. It's one of my biggest songs on stage. And I just remember
05:57the fact that when we did the video the chemistry between me and the girls and the chemistry
06:02with the director it just felt like it was a hit. You know some things you just feel that
06:06magic moment when you're on the set. That's what that felt like. And just to see how people
06:09reacted to the song. You think about the words. It didn't matter. The song felt so good
06:15that people sing it. Even though it's kind of a derogatory song. But...
06:18What a video. Looking back at it Dr. Dre was so cinematically together he was making movies.
06:39They don't even look like a video. He thrusted me into the limelight like that. With no experience.
06:45No camera. You know vision at all. Like I wouldn't even look in the camera. Certain
06:50things to that effect. For him to know that song. That visual. And having me as that young
06:56rapper. With that spirit. To be able to capture that and look at it right now and see that it's
07:01timeless. When we made the record I was in jail. And I wrote some of it and I went to Tenth and Lime to my cousin's house and wrote the rest of it. And to be able to
07:09record that record. To hear what it sounded like in the studio and see how people was reacting to it. Then to put it out. And there was a video channel called The Box. That's when you could order the video. You could order like I want to order this video next. That motherfucker came on back to back to back to back 20 times in a row. It was the video of the year. Just to know that I'm okay I'm in here now. People know me now. So it made me have more pressure on myself to be like what can I do better than this. Knowing that
07:39everybody's listening to this. So when I think about that. When I hear that and I see that. How can I be better than this. Because this is amazing. But this was the first song that actually like broke radio and broke color lines. Everybody played this record. Deep Cover was a strong record. It came out. It was dope. But when G thing came out. Everywhere. It was like it opened up so many different doors.
08:06That song created. That move. That created. That movement. That created. That career.
08:10We got no love for those. So just chill. Till the next episode.
08:18This shit was bang.
08:25Shout out to Nicole.
08:27And the rest of the homegirls from the PCD.
08:29They had a song called.
08:30Don't you wish your boyfriend was long like me.
08:34And busting rhymes on that shit. I'm like that shit banging.
08:37I like them girls.
08:39Jimmy Iovine.
08:40Plugged me up.
08:41With them.
08:42And they was like we're fans.
08:43We want to.
08:44Do something with you.
08:44I'm like let me hear what y'all got.
08:45And they played that motherfucking beat.
08:47I took off on that motherfucker off to a rip.
08:49Like it wasn't even supposed to be a rap at the beginning.
08:51It was just supposed to be the beat.
08:52I'm like let me get that 8 real quick.
08:53Bam.
08:54Then I came back again with another 12 on the back end.
08:57Girl groups was the shit back then.
08:58And they had it together.
08:59They looked.
09:00They styled.
09:00They sound.
09:01It was different for me because you think of Snoop Dogg as this style of music.
09:05But this is around the time where I started doing everything that felt good to me.
09:08Getting outside the box.
09:10It was beneficial to me and to them.
09:12At the time I was bigger than them.
09:14But after this record I watched them get bigger than me.
09:16And that's what it's about.
09:17To be able to trade that energy and focus and refocus.
09:21And I maintain a relationship with the members of the group after the fact.
09:26So thank y'all PCD.
09:28Put your buttons back on.
09:30Ashley, Nicole, Parmy, Jessica, Kimberly, Melody, you telling me?
09:37It's like I'm 17 again.
09:39Peach fuzz on my face.
09:40Looking on the case but trying to find a hella taste.
09:43Oh my God.
09:44I'm on the chase.
09:45Chevy is getting kind of heavy.
09:47Relevant selling it.
09:48Tipping away.
09:49Time keeps slipping away.
09:51Zipping the safe.
09:52Flipping for pay.
09:53Tipping like I'm dripping in paint.
09:54Up front fold blunts like Khalifa.
09:56Put the weed in the J.
09:57Pookie Brown.
09:58My director slash friend who has been a part of my vision for a long time.
10:04He came up with that treatment.
10:05And he wrote the movie High School.
10:07So to get down behind that is me and Wiz became friends.
10:11Started hanging out in my apartment in Hollywood.
10:14I loved him so much that I loved his spirit and his energy.
10:16I said, man, we should do a movie.
10:18He's like, man, I ain't never been in no movie.
10:19I'm like, cub, we need to do a movie.
10:21We're going to be in high school.
10:21I'm going to be an old ass nigga that can't graduate.
10:24You're going to be a senior.
10:25We're going to have a relationship.
10:27It's going to be like a buddy, buddy comedy movie.
10:30Give me $100,000.
10:31And I'm going to put up $100,000.
10:33We're going to pay for it.
10:33Man, I don't want to do no movie.
10:35Man, just give me the money, man.
10:37Shit, it's going to be easy.
10:38Just do it.
10:39All right, fuck it.
10:39Boom.
10:41Then we get the idea together.
10:44He say, I got a song that we should do.
10:46I say, I got a song we should do, too.
10:48Play your beat.
10:49He play the beat.
10:51I play the beat.
10:51It's the same beat from Bruno Mars.
10:54Now he's saying, I don't want to fuck with him.
10:56I'm like, man, we need to fuck with this.
10:58This is a hit.
10:59I don't know, man.
11:01It's too poppy.
11:02No, it ain't.
11:02This shit is a hit.
11:03Just take off on it.
11:05He take off.
11:06I come behind him.
11:07We do it.
11:08Give it to the director.
11:09The director like, oh, that's all I needed to write the movie.
11:12He take it, write the movie.
11:14We get to the set of the movie.
11:16The first day on the set, Wiz got his lines inside of a book.
11:20So he carrying books on the first scene.
11:23He talking to a girl, but he carrying his books, reading his lines off his book.
11:28She right here, he acting like this.
11:30Something, something, something.
11:31Yes.
11:31Something, something, something.
11:33Yes.
11:33Yes.
11:33Yes.
11:34Yes.
11:34By the time we got to the second day, we got that paper out of there.
11:39And he was an actor.
11:41And he was, he was getting good.
11:43He was getting so good.
11:44We wrote him a sex scene and he killed it.
11:47I said, you a star, Wiz.
11:48So to see him go from not wanting to do it to like, nah, I don't want to put in no money
11:54on this, to actually doing it, to it becoming what it became.
11:58And then watching him go from that young MC to being a fucking mega star with big, gigantic
12:05records.
12:06And he's loved and he's beloved and he's a great father, great friend, great man.
12:11Like that right there just reminds me of the humble beginnings and the friendship that we
12:18maintain and the fun that we have when we make records together.
12:21So we went on a high school tour, then we went on a high school reunion tour, 10 years
12:26later.
12:27Shout out to my boy, Wiz.
12:29That's your bastard.
12:30You gots to get into it, not going full with the plan, what the cool with.
12:42Yeah, yeah, you know I'm always on that cool shit.
12:45Memories of Brazil, sitting in my, um, in my living room with Chris Robinson, spinning
12:50the globe around.
12:51We had a little globe, spinning the globe around.
12:53Where we going to do a video at where we never been before.
12:56Spinning that motherfucking globe around.
12:58Let me see.
13:00Brazil.
13:01Look, I said, Brazil.
13:03That motherfucking pulled out a brochure, opened it up and showed us what Brazil looked
13:07like.
13:07And they said, oh, we going there.
13:08Then they said, it's the number one spot for kidnapping.
13:15And they said, what?
13:17What?
13:18Yes, they kidnap celebrities out there.
13:21What, what, what, what, what?
13:24They showed me that brochure again.
13:26We just going to get kidnapped.
13:28We're going.
13:30So as soon as we get out there, they like, don't go to the favelas.
13:36I said, what's the favela?
13:37That's the word for the hood in Brazil.
13:42Okay.
13:43I'll be back.
13:45Straight to the favelas.
13:46They looking at me and they said, this is the kidnap capital of the world.
13:50I walk up in there.
13:52I can see the goons and the, I see all the killers.
13:56So I'm like, hey, who the leader around here?
13:59They bring out some little motherfucker about this big.
14:04He come out.
14:06He got about a hundred niggas with him.
14:09As soon as he see me.
14:10Snoop Dogg.
14:12Man, I love you.
14:13Man, I respect you.
14:14He speak English.
14:16I love you.
14:16I respect you.
14:18He like, yeah, man, I run this.
14:19This is my neighborhood.
14:21He said, can I rap for you?
14:23I said, yeah, go ahead.
14:25This nigga started rapping and everybody in this favela was singing every word of his song.
14:31So I said, all right, cub.
14:33I'm doing a video with Pharrell.
14:35Bring you and your homeboys to the set.
14:37I'm going to put y'all in the video.
14:38So when you see the part when they doing like this, that's him and all his homeboys.
14:44That's what it's.
14:44We straight now.
14:45This is politicking.
14:46It's what you do to avoid the whoop-whop.
14:48Get them in the video.
14:50Next time I come back to Brazil, kidnapping is down 70%.
14:54Tourism is up 80%.
14:56You can change the dynamics through music.
15:00Beautiful.
15:06Beautiful song.
15:07Beautiful place.
15:08Beautiful meaning.
15:09Beautiful experience.
15:11And Pharrell tapped me into a side of music on that record that I had never went into.
15:15He showed me how to be vulnerable towards women rather than be disrespectful to women.
15:20Because the rap that I come from, that's natural just to be disrespectful to women.
15:24He showed me how to be respectful to women with this record and gave me a different version
15:29of who I was rather than who I've been.
15:31So this record was more than just a video and a song with pretty girls.
15:35It gave me a chance to find ways to make music to speak to things that I love rather than
15:41hating on things that I love.
15:42We built a relationship off of being fans of each other.
15:46So by the time we got to beautiful, we was already family enough to say, hey man, you
15:52need to make a record like this.
15:53What you mean?
15:55Like this.
15:56Let me play it for you.
15:57Oh, I like that.
16:05My first verse probably was going to be, bitch, let me tell you.
16:08No, hold on.
16:09Stop, stop, stop.
16:10It can't be.
16:11It's got to be about a beautiful woman.
16:13Oh, okay.
16:14I know you're going to lose it.
16:16This is no snoop shit.
16:17Come on, baby.
16:18Boogie.
16:18Got to get into it.
16:20Yeah, like that.
16:22Boom.
16:22Do you still carry some of that with you in your music making today?
16:25All the time. I make a lot of beautiful records for women.
16:29On my last album I just dropped, Is It a Crime?, which is in stores now.
16:33There's a song on there called Can't Get Enough, featuring Jane Hancock,
16:37where it's a light dedication to my lovely wife, like specifically for her.
16:42I've learned to express myself, you know, to my wife, to my kids, to my mother,
16:47to the people that I love in life and not feel no kind of way but feel good about it.
16:52Shout out to Melina. She went on to become a big fucking movie director now.
17:06She had a dope ass video that she had did for Solange and I said,
17:10I want that director and they was like, that's a woman. I said, so?
17:13And I met her and we chopped it up. I played her the record and she was like,
17:18I'm going to give you something that's going to be different.
17:21I'm like, I don't give a fuck. I'll be printing this motherfucker. Shit.
17:25You know what I'm saying? Like, I put on a woo-wop, woo-bop and she wrote that shit just like that.
17:30Like, you're going to be here. It's going to be like nostalgic.
17:34It's going to be like an era of where it feels like it's throwback, but it's going to be new.
17:39I'm like, can I do the keytar? She's like, yep.
17:42I just want to be able to hold that keytar and get down because I know certain artists had it back in the days.
17:47They'd be rocking out with it. All of those levels. Then she showed me the outfit.
17:50I was like, uh-oh. I got to put this little shit on? I put it on.
17:55My homies was there. They started laughing. Y'all got to go.
17:58I told all the homies, y'all got to get the fuck out of here.
18:01Kicked all my homies out. Y'all can't be here. I got to be in character.
18:05I can't have you niggas laughing at me. Cracking jokes.
18:08Because we come from a family where we're going to bag on you.
18:10We're going to talk about you, so I don't give a fuck.
18:12We're going to talk about you. This nigga got on some tight ass pants.
18:15He's like a cheap hotel. What does that mean? He has no ballroom.
18:19Like, come on, man. Like, stop.
18:22I'm not going to let y'all do me like that while I'm shooting this motherfucking video.
18:26So I kicked all the homies out. I told them niggas, y'all got to get the fuck out of here.
18:29So they left.
18:31So remember, Melina got all women that work with her.
18:34So it's just me and all these beautiful women that's handling my hair, my this, my that.
18:40Just making sure I'm on deck.
18:41So now it's time to shoot. I'm in full character now.
18:44I'm like, I ain't got nobody laughing at me, so I'm like, fuck it.
18:47And the girls is like, this is so amazing. They pumping me up.
18:52So by the time this shit come out, naturally, motherfuckers feel some kind of way in the beginning.
18:59Man, what is this nigga doing singing like T-Pain? You see that video?
19:04And then that shit start growing and growing.
19:07And then it went to everybody was singing it.
19:09And I had to put it in my show.
19:10So it was like, I have to actually sing this record.
19:12I'm like, I'm a fucking rapper and I don't like lip syncing.
19:16So it was like, I really have to sing this record when I perform it.
19:19The song Shorty Red from Atlanta wrote and produced that record and Ron Fair mixed it.
19:25But I think when we got to the visual side, it made us feel like it was a Prince inspired record with the keys and the arrangement and just the way it felt.
19:35So naturally, I wanted to pay respects to somebody who I really, you know, loved in the music industry to try to imitate, duplicate or replicate.
19:43Sensual seduction, all the time, any time.
19:47Sensual seduction.
19:53From the depths of the sea, back to the blocks, new doggy dog, funky as the, the, the, the doggy.
19:57Yeah, first of its kind, the first of Morph, old Morphy dog.
20:01I morphed on y'all asses into a Doberman.
20:03That was my, uh, lead single off of my first album, Doggy Style, paying tribute to George Clinton, Atomic Dog.
20:10And that's one of them records where I motherfucking knew that was it.
20:13I ain't even gonna front.
20:14We knew that that was like, if you didn't like that record, something was wrong with you.
20:17It was like one of them ones where it just automatically felt like the shit that the Snoop Doggy.
20:23The video in my hood, Long Beach, rapping on top of the roof at the VIP.
20:31Like just doing shit that hadn't been done for the culture from this side.
20:35It had been done before on the East Coast.
20:37I seen a tribe called Quest rapping on the roof.
20:39It was the first time we had did it out this way and it was just like Long Beach.
20:45This ain't Compton, this ain't L.A. It's Long Beach.
20:48So a new city from California was on the, on the come up.
20:53And that video was like the kickstart to what came after.
20:57Because after that, Long Beach was in the game.
21:00I love it that it was, that it was us that put the city on our backs.
21:05Naturally, it was people that came before us.
21:07But the thing that we did was we took it to a national, global experience to where Long Beach is tourism now.
21:14Long Beach is respected as far as when you speak of California, you can't not take Long Beach.
21:19We took our small little thing called rap and made it bigger than rap.
21:23More autographs, more pictures.
21:25Like wow, little kids like me.
21:28Like wow, his mother likes me.
21:33Damn.
21:34So it's like a thought process now.
21:36Like when you make records, you make records for the people you intend to make it for.
21:40Then when they go outside of that, then you have to cater to that.
21:43You have to cater to your fans that look like you, look like you, look like you.
21:47It can't just be the ones that look like me.
21:50Everybody fucking loving it now.
21:51So it's like wow, this is different.
21:54Now when I'm performing, I'm thinking about everybody.
21:58Now when I'm back in the studio, I'm thinking about everybody.
22:01And I'm feeling the love, so I'm trying to give you back what you've given me.
22:06Because this is my album now.
22:07This ain't the chronic.
22:08This is my album.
22:09So it's like I get to walk around with, yeah, that's my work.
22:13You like it.
22:14You love it.
22:15You love me.
22:16I love you.
22:17What can I do to make you feel more better?
22:21Because you made me feel good by enjoying my music.
22:40That's probably one of my best videos right there.
22:42As far as dance-wise, choreography-wise, storyline-wise, just the way that record felt.
22:47It just felt like a Snoop Dogg party anthem.
22:49And there was so many different dance crews in that video and different dance styles.
22:54That became a viral moment to where people would use this in dance competitions.
22:58This became that record of choice when it was a battle.
23:01You know, when you got this crew against this crew.
23:03When they play that big record where they all getting it in.
23:06So it was like for me to break into that culture meant a lot to me.
23:10Every time I can knock down a wall and bring more people in, it's beautiful for me.
23:15And my music is made to make you dance.
23:18So for me to have a record that just automatically translated to dancing, bringing in the dance culture.
23:24New York played the shit out this record.
23:27Shot the Funk Flex and all the DJs and the Big Apple.
23:30When we do things, we try to make a statement from the West Coast.
23:35We try to make music that the whole world can feel.
23:37Because we're so inspired by the foundation of New York.
23:40And what New York did to hip-hop to make us want to be a part of it.
23:43So we always look to make New York enjoy our records.
23:47And when we cut through, it's very well appreciated on our end. So thank you.
23:51That Rob Bass and then the way he slowed it down and the way that them drums is clapping and slapping.
23:57And it just feel like a hip-hop record.
24:00And New York is really hard on hip-hop.
24:03If you do it right, they appreciate it.
24:06If you do it wrong, they talking shit about your ass for a long time.
24:10I want to do some more.
24:17Like I'm not greedy, but I just feel like, what haven't I done?
24:21What can I do that hasn't been done?
24:24Is it country? Is it jazz? Is it this? Is it that?
24:28It's like something going to hit me where it's going to be like, let me do this.
24:33Because that's how it always happens.
24:35I just did a gospel record in April, followed up with a hip-hop record in May.
24:40I don't know where I'm going.
24:41I just know if it feel good to me, it's good for me.