After Snoop Dogg announced he’d acquired the Death Row Records brand in February, the terms of the deal were still up in the air.
via: Complex
Weeks after he was announced as the label’s new owner, the legendary West Coast rapper sat down with Tidal’s Elliott Wilson to discuss the acquisition and his overall vision for the imprint.
“I’m looking at Death Row just depreciating. I’m watching how I’m putting Def Jam back in the light; they’re hot again,” said Snoop, who was named Def Jam’s executive creative consultant in 2021. “People talking about them, and artists signing. I’m like, shit — imagine what I could do with Death Row? … 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,” Snoop said. “I’m able to move it around and do what I need to do with it.”
Under the deal, Snoop has secured control over the Death Row brand, which includes everything from logos to merch to its extensive recording catalog; however, there were a number of albums that weren’t initially a part of the deal: Dr. Dre’s 1992 debut The Chronic, as well as 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.
During his conversation with Wilson, confirmed he has since secured Dre’s project and was confident he will work out a deal with Pac’s estate.
“As far as 2Pac’s masters, 2Pac’s masters came back to him last year,” he explained. “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.”
Snoop said he was interested in sharing updated versions of the Death Row catalog, potentially infusing existing records with unexpected sounds.
“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,” he said. “Those genres have been working to become great for years, and now they finally reached that high point […] So to be able to take Death Row music into those types of collaborations, it’s interesting. I may explore that. It’s doing what needs to be done with the catalog, because these songs are symbolic in a lot of people’s lives and upbringings.”
As for new Death Row talent, Snoop said he wasn’t looking for artists who needed to be developed, but rather solid artists who were “already locked and loaded,” and didn’t have any beefs.
“And what I don’t want is issues. I don’t want no rappers or no people that got issues, beefs, problems, misunderstandings,” he said. “I don’t want that. I want people that make music. Any of that street shit — you’ve got ties to neighborhoods that don’t like this neighborhood, you can’t get along and you can’t go here, you can’t … all of them can’ts can’t be with me. You’ve got to be able to do everything I do. I can go to any neighborhood. I can go to any city. Anywhere I want to go I can go and don’t have to worry about somebody feeling like I’m disrespecting them, or they’ve got to get me because my gang or my set disrespected their set or my homies disrespected their homies. This is a business.”
Snoop also confirmed that he is still under contract with Def Jam and will continue to serve as its consultant for another year. He claimed that during the early stages of his Def Jam partnership, he helped the label ink a deal with Benny the Butcher. He said he met the Griselda rapper during a recording sessions with DJ Whoo Kid, and immediately pressed him about a potential Def Jam deal.
“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?’” Snoop recalled. “[…] 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,” he continued. “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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Snoop discussed his 2022 Super Bowl halftime show performance with Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. He was specifically asked about a photo Angie Martinez posted on Instagram, which showed him after the gig hanging out with Jay-Z. Snoop said Hov, who produces the halftime show under his Roc Nation banner, was one of the first people to stop by his dressing room following the gig.
“So then he came down, and soon as he came in he hugged me. We hug each other tight. It was as if we won a championship,” he said. “Like, you know when you’re genuinely happy for each other? People don’t understand, me and him are the ones. He’s the one on the East. I’m the one from the West. We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other. It is what it is, so it’s like for him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘Fuck that. They perform or I quit,’ that was the most gangster shit out of everything.”
You can read Snoop’s full interview at Tidal’s website.
