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Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre were guests on The Stephen A. Smith Show on October 18, 2024, where they candidly spoke on the present state of the rap and hip-hop industry and revealed details about their upcoming project together.
Snoop Dogg, currently a coach on The Voice season 26, commented on the quality of music today, noting that there were several beat makers in rap rather than the conventional producers.
He spoke of the music industry as a whole:
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“I think the fundamentals was taken out of it. Now it’s just a phone that makes you an artist. Something stupid gets you five minutes of fame, and you take that and make a record and you got a two-and-a-half-minute song saying the same thing somebody else just said and now you are considered hot.”
The Drop It Like It’s Hot hitmaker added:
"It used to be about creativity and understanding the musicianship, harmony, melodies, and that don’t even matter anymore.”
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre are collaborating on their first album since 1993’s Doggystyle
On The Stephen Smith Show, when asked for a piece of advice for an aspiring artist, Snoop Dogg emphasized originality and staying true to oneself, saying:
"Be original. Right now there’s so much copycatting, mimicking, sounding alike, and imitation. Find your production, your sound — find your ear for who you are and be original even if it ain’t hitting. Stay you.”
Dr. Dre, who has a storied history with Snoop, also spoke on the importance of artists finding their sound with a particular producer while expressing that he didn’t care for songs or albums with several producers contributing to the overall project:
"Find your collaborator. I don’t like the fact there’s nine different producers on one album. I like the idea of one producer on one album,”
Dre added:
“The continuity is everything for me. I don’t know [when that started], but I don’t like it. 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.”
The 59-year-old Compton native also replied to Snoop Dogg's comment about a lack of creativity in the industry by expressing his hope for a shift in the caliber of musicians:
"There’s somebody in somebody’s garage that’s gonna be the next Snoop or Dre or the next Prince or the next Michael Jackson that’s coming up with something that’s change the game."
When asked about their upcoming joint album, Missionary, Dre responded that he was proud of their project and stated that Snoop asked him to take the “driver's seat” in the production process.
He also added that the production process was filled with laughs and fun times. The hip-hop legend also estimated the timespan for the album's creation to be five to six months as he and Snoop Dogg worked when they had the time.
Snoop Dogg described the upcoming project as “elevation” and a perfection of their craft.
Missionary is set to be released in November 2024 by Death Row Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records as a collaborative project between Snoop and Dr. Dre.
The album also reportedly features legendary musician Sting among the roster of artists.
