The Eye Of The Lion

15 January 2014 | 5:00 am | Dan Condon

"My music will always reflect where I’m at and how I’m feeling."

Snoop Dogg is a colossal figure in 21st century pop culture, just about everyone knows who he is and has an opinion on his former gangster, now far more peaceful persona. From his brilliant 1993 debut LP Doggystyle through to last year's reggae album (released under the name Snoop Lion) Reincarnated – not to mention film and TV appearances and plenty of trouble with the law, including a murder charge for which he was acquitted – Snoop has done a lot of shit.

Sadly, Snoop wouldn't speak to us on the phone and strict instructions were given to ensure he wasn't asked about certain topics in an email interview: no talk of guns, visa issues, past alleged crimes and, shockingly, smoking weed – perhaps the most identifiable trait of Snoop's public persona. He even dodged a harmless question about Rastafarian culture, which Snoop has professed to make a large part of his life following his reinvention as Snoop Lion and the documentary Reincarnated last year. His answers were succinct, to say the least.

“I love Australia, it's always a live-arse show,” he says when asked to relay his favourite memories of our country. “I can't wait to come back.”

Snoop Dogg still absolutely destroys on stage, however, with recent visits seeing questionable material thrown out the window in preference of classics from his back catalogue to prove he's OG. “I always love getting on stage and reaching my fans,” he remarks.

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With 11 studio records and appearances on almost 130 singles, it's obvious Snoop loves to work. But writing this much among a schedule that includes performing, acting, scores of promotional appearances, presenting an online TV show (GGN Double G News Network) as well as fatherhood, running his own youth football league and, let's be honest, smoking a whole tonne of weed, you wonder when Snoop Dogg finds the time to write?“It depends on what I'm doing and where my head is at that day. I write when I'm inspired, but I'm inspired a lot.”

With a classic like Doggystyle and hits like the brilliant 2004 Neptunes-produced single Drop It Like It's Hot, Snoop has cemented a place in the musical consciousness of generations. But he doesn't play favourites and claims middling records like Doggumentary and Malice n Wonderland mean just as much to him. “No, I don't have a favourite, I love all my records,” he says. “I love 7 Days Of Funk I'll tell you that much.”

While many would say that his best work is behind him, Snoop Dogg is always very much looking to the future. His latest project is the aforementioned 7 Days Of Funk, which sees him teamed up with hip producer Dam-Funk to make a mini-album packed with early '90s aping tracks that brought Snoop closer to his roots than ever before.

But while he's chased an old-school sound, he's not looking back. He is only doing it for the benefit of listeners in the modern day.

“We're pushing boundaries into the future now,” he says. “7 Days Of Funk has roots in the old school for sure but we want to push the fun forwards.”

The similarities between 7 Days Of Funk and the George Clinton-led Parliament and Funkadelic groups of the 1960s and '70s are enormous, though it's no surprise Snoop wants to pay tribute. “P-Funk's music has been around me since I was little,” he says. “We grew up to it.”

He's had the chance to work with P-Funk alumni such as Clinton himself and Bootsy Collins – who Snoop based his latest persona, Snoopzilla, upon – unsurprising given the vast number of collaborations he has either instigated or agreed to be a part of. Snoop's recent chart successes have mostly come thanks to these, which are for the most part others' work; for example, Young, Wild and Free with Bruno Mars and Wiz Khalifa, Sweat with David Guetta and California Gurls with Katy Perry. 

The list of artists he was worked with over the years is incredibly diverse, and Snoop says it's just going to keep on changing as time goes on. “Oh I'll keep going and going,” he says. “My music will always reflect where I'm at and how I'm feeling.”

Snoop says that even after all these years, he enjoys being a performer more than ever. “Absolutely, I love performing,” he enthuses, before saying he does not plan to ever quit the rap game. “Never,” he concludes.