When Snoop Dogg delivers his highly anticipated new album Missionary, he’ll be reminding fans of what the rap game has been missing: originality. The project is a full-circle moment as it also signifies his musical reunion with Dr. Dre, who produced his 1993 debut Doggystyle.
The West Coast icons have both drummed up excitement for the new music, even praising it as some of the best work they have ever done throughout their decades-long careers. With 42 Grammy nominations and more than 60 Billboard Hot 100 songs between them, Snoop and Dre know a thing or two about making an impact and having longevity in the industry.
When the artists joined Stephen A. Smith for an episode of the sports personality’s eponymous YouTube series, they did not hold back on dropping gems for up-and-coming artists as well as constructive criticism for Hip Hop at large. The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper first advised the next wave of potential stars to “be original, ‘cause right now it’s so much copycat, mimicking, sounding alike, imitation. Be original. Find your voice, find your production sound, find your ear for who you are, and be original, even if it ain’t hittin’, stay you.”
Dre, who is known for having a tight circle of peers, quipped that it’s time for artists to hone in on their partnerships with other creatives. “Find your collaborator. I don’t like the fact that there’s like nine different producers on one album. I like the idea of one producer on one album. The continuity is everything,” he said.
The Chronic emcee took things a step further when he added that, “If you’re a producer, you should be able to produce the entire album. That’s what I thought it was supposed to be. That’s what I was doing at the beginning.”
Snoop, however, noted that a lot has changed, like technology, since the revered producer stamped his imprint on music. “It’s a lot of beat makers… That’s what the difference between yo era and this era is,” offers up the multi-talented artist. “There aren’t too many producers as much as there are beatmakers. It’s so easy to make beats. They giving you all these computer packets that has the drum loop... y’all had to make the loop.”
Outside of Dre, the Long Beach native has found huge success with the likes of Daz Dillinger, DJ Pooh and The Neptunes, to name a few. But in the end, the advice from Dre that reigns supreme is: “Finding the right person to collaborate with... finding that person that is likeminded.”
Get into the full interview below.