Fortnite brought Snoop Dogg back in the most suspicious of ways

The Fortnite Omniverse boasts the presence of a multitude of characters from different spheres of media and popular culture. Their idiosyncracies are often immortalized in the form of emotes and other cosmetic items. Interestingly, some of these items become rare over time and are not available to buy for long stretches of time.

In an unexpected occurrence, Epic Games recently released one of their rarest emotes in the Item Shop but pulled it down soon after.

The Tidy emote returned to Fortnite after 1400+ days, quite possibly as a tribute to Snoop Dogg. Fans went into a frenzy, only to realize that it was gone from the shop within a few hours.

For those unversed, the Tidy emote emulates Snoop Dogg's iconic steps from the hit 2004 song Drop it Like it's Hot. It was initially released in 2018 and has been eluding players ever since. Given its rarity and its origin in the early days of the game, the Tidy emote has become a coveted OG cosmetic item.

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Fortnite teases players with rare Snoop Dogg emote

On December 6, 2022, the Fortnite Item Shop re-introduced the "Vaulted a Year or More" section and included the in-demand Tidy emote under it. Launched in Chapter 1 Season 3, the super-rare emote returned to the game after 1455 days. Newer players who did not get the chance to secure it back then were excited about the development.

However, the item was quickly retracted, leaving the Fortnite community confused. Many speculated that the developers had re-released the emote by mistake. Amid countless theories, most players seemed to agree that Epic Games had attempted to pay a suspicious tribute to Snoop Dogg.

Since the emote had been pooled together with hippie cosmetic outfits, the community immediately established a link between that particular iteration of the "Vaulted a Year or More" section and Snoop Dogg's image as a hipster in popular culture.

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Snoop Dogg is dropping a new collaborative album

One major reason why the Snoop Dogg theory was well-received in the community is that the artist, as part of hip-hop collective Mount Westmore, is set to drop a new album called Snoop Cube 40 $hort on December 9, 2022.

Although it may seem far-fetched, one cannot discount the possibility that the Tidy emote was re released to commemorate the launch. Snoop Dogg, after all, was one of the first characters to lend their iconic step to an in-game emote.

Majority of players maintained that the action had been a mistake on the part of the developers and hence it was rectified so soon. However, given the rarity of the emote, it is plausible that it may have been put up like a flash sale.

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What's next for Fortnite emotes?

One thing is for sure - the Tidy emote stirred up the community and showed the developers that players still want to get their hands on coveted "rare" cosmetics.

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1 has started on a good note. Players believe that the latest chapter slightly resembles the first chapter of the game, and the developers seem to be on the same page. Epic recently released the Rambunctious emote in the Item Shop, which indicates that super-rare cosmetic items may be available for purchase more frequently now.