One of the more lighthearted moments to have come from the recent circus that is US politics and the three presidential debates, has been the hilarious meme comparing Senator Hillary Clinton’s outfits to some iconic looks from Death Row Records.
If you haven’t seen it, enjoy:
https://twitter.com/double_cupp_me/status/789088080426831872
On her 69th birthday, Clinton interestingly chose to stop by The Breakfast Club radio show for an in-depth interview with Charlemagne Tha God During the extensive chat, they discussed everything from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, to the support of Jay-Z and more. Even Stevie Wonder stopped by to sing her Happy Birthday, which was a pretty special surprise.
Charlamagne and co made sure to mention many of Obama’s close ties with the hip-hop community, including his recent boogie to Drake’s Hotline Bling. Jay-Z has also been announced to perform at a Clinton campaign concert in Ohio on November 4, following on from former President Bill Clinton’s appearance at Hov’s Made in America concert.
One of the funniest moments during the interview came when Clinton addressed the meme, which Charlamagne shared with her, showing her dressed in similar outfits to Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Suge Knight. Clinton laughed as Charlamagne asked if she was a fan of Death Row Records. She responded, “I think Death Row, and a lot of other fashion sources have influenced my look, don’t you?”
It’s interesting to see the presidential candidate engaging with the hip-hop media like this, perhaps in response to the close relationship that Obama has held with many notable members of the community, from inviting Frank Ocean Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rpper and others to the White House, to sharing playlists of his favourite tunes.
Watch below – the meme mention comes in right after the 18 minute mark.
https://youtu.be/jH6IwKXJqmM
Image: Twitter
Snoop Dogg has been honoured for his longstanding, influential contributions to hip-hop, by being presented with an I Am Hip Hop accolade, during the BET Hip-Hop Awards.
Snoop “paved a way into many hearts,” said Kendrick Lamar, who surprised guests by presenting the award to the west coast rap legend at the Cobb Energy Performing Centre in Atlanta. “He mastered the game through tests and challenges that earned him the respect of a college professor,” he said, “Except his game came from the streets.” Crediting him as a major influence for his career, he went on, “He put [me] on game, so I would avoid the same pitfalls. … Snoop Dogg was the god, and continues to be so.”
In his acceptance speech, Snoop spoke about how he felt “misunderstood” when he first started out, encouraging young upcomers to push boundaries and be original. “To all the young rappers in the game, a lot of people don’t understand you,” he began. “Y’all are misunderstood. I was misunderstood at the beginning. So you got to keep pushing, be original and diverse. Hip-hop was created many years ago and it’s taken people so many places. You have to be who you are.”
The rapper has been a prolific, thoroughly unique hip-hop trailblazer for the whole of his career, which began by collaborating with Dr Dre, then in N.W.A, before his 1993 debut album Doggystyle immediately cemented him as an incredibly important name in gangsta rap.
BET Hip Hop Awards went to Kendrick Lamar (Lyricist of the Year), DJ Khaled (Hustler of the Year), Fat Joe & Remy Ma (Track of the Year for All The Way Up) and Chance the Rapper (Best New Hip-Hop Artist) among others.
Read more: Flashback Friday: Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle
Image: Rich Fury/AP
With the bite and grit of a woman scorned, Lady Gaga’s comeback single was released last week to much fanfare – mostly because Kevin Parker and Mark Ronson co-wrote and produced it. Though the song itself has received mixed feedback from critics and fans alike (a lot of people seem to be overlooking the fact that it is Gaga’s song and will be on her upcoming fifth album when they screech “less Gaga! More Kevin!” but I digress), it’s a clever career move for all involved. The Tame Impala mastermind recently told Triple J about his thought process when the offer first came up: “It was amazing, really really good. One of those life/career-defining times. It started out sort of like a career move. Like, ‘I’ll get in on that.’ But it quickly became something so personal and so meaningful for everyone involved. I’m just happy it’s all out in the open now. Now I can not tell secrets anymore.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB94lvJbETE
And he isn’t the only one. A pop collaboration of such a magnitude can breathe new life into a career, boost a newer artist into the spotlight, bring two (or more!) distinctive voices together, help one make the transition from boy/girl band into solo super stardom. Or, it can fail miserably and fizzle out. Here, we take a look ten other life/career defining (for better or for worse) pop collaborations of recent memory – from Gaga to Gwen, there have been a few.
Bang Bang – Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDdjwpPM3Y
A Lady Marmalade for the 2010s, Bang Bang had it all. The seasoned, jazzy vocals of Jessie J’s are bolstered by those of the current princess of pop, Ariana Grande. However perhaps the most important element of all, and something that could be considered a genre all it’s own, the track features what is known as Nicki’s Verse. Once again, Minaj steals the show, to the tune of a wildly energetic rhythm and immediately infectious earworm riff.
Lady Marmalade – Lil’ Kim, Christina Aguilera, Mya & Pink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puKhmJEIw3I
You can’t mention Bang Bang without Lady Marmalade, the last great multi-female pop-rap collab. Originally released in 1974, it was always intended to be performed by a vocal ensemble. However, upon featuring on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, it this version will forever endure as The One when it comes to pop collabs. Having sat at no. 1 for five weeks after its release, you would have thought it was written with no one other than Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and Lil’ Kim in mind.
The Boy is Mine – Brandy & Monica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va1Y6uAgNJY
So iconic was this Brandy and Monica collaboration that it’s recently been given the sample treatment along with Destiny’s Child. Nothing beats the original though: two fierce as fuck women in what at first seems to be a girl-hating anthem but turns out to be an exposé of a good for nothing, two timing cheater. Honestly, with the way their voices work together on The Boy Is Mine, it’s a wonder Monica and Brandy didn’t release an entire album together, Then again, too much of a good thing may have meant have taken away some of the shine.
Telephone – Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U
Kevin Parker isn’t the only major artist who saw an opportunity in collaborating with Lady Gaga. This 2010 hookup resulted in one of the biggest, most important pop collaborations of both artist’s careers. Originally written by Gaga for one Britney Spears, the song was released as part of Gaga’s Grammy nominated album The Fame Monster the year before Bey dropped 4. It pushed Beyoncé into a new light, everything from her double time verse to the masterpiece of a music video were highly calculated moves that helped her build upon the Sasha Fierce attitude while bringing together two pop powerhouses who might have otherwise seemed to be on opposing sides of the genre.
My Boo – Usher & Alicia Keys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPgf2meEX1w
Originally left off the final track listing to the record, My Boo was leaked online along with three other previously unreleased tracks from Usher’s 2004 the album before being added to the expanded version of Confessions. Having previously collaborated with Alicia Keys on If I Ain’t Got You, producer Jermaine Dupri wanted to tap further into the musical relationship between two of the biggest names in r&b and pop at the time and to say it worked out well would be an understatement. It went on to be the fourth single from the album and was the highest debut of them all, coming in at number twenty nine upon its release.
Where Are Ü Now – Justin Bieber, Shrillex & Diplo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nntGTK2Fhb0
Justin Bieber, Pop’s comeback kid of 2015 knows a thing or two about collaborations. He’s worked with Queen Nicki and his 2015 album featured Big Sean, Halsey and Travi$ Scott to name but a few. Commercially however, one of the biggest standout pop collabs of the past year came from his partnering with Shrillex and Diplo for the second single from the duo’s debut album. The song blew up airwaves (including a brief moment where Justin Bieber was actually aired on triple J) before it went on to be included on Bieber’s Purpose. Officially marking his return, Where Are U Now almost singlehandedly reintroduced the world to the slick, new, adult Biebs that went on to cultivate an entire new generation of fans.
California Gurls – Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4
Snoop has had his fair share of collabs – we could have made a list with his alone. However, of recent memory, his appearing on Katy Perry‘s California Gurls sticks out as one of the most wtf collaborations conjured up by executives somewhere no doubt. Still, something about it worked because it earned Perry her second US no. 1 hit and Snoop his third as it went on to reach the top spot in ten other countries and received a Grammy nod.
Suit & Tie – Justin Timberlake & Jay Z
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY
Marking the end of his musical hiatus, Suit & Tie was the first single off Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience – a critically acclaimed commercial juggernaut of an album that sparked a near two-year tour. The Jay Z-featuring Suit & Tie surpassed Timberlake’s own record for the most sales in its first week, with the slightly out of time beat and hazed-out drawl of a song sticking around as the hit of what seemed to be the entire year.
Dilemma – Nelly & Kelly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WYHDfJDPDc
Off Nelly’s album 2001 Nellyville and the lead single from Kelly Rowland’s debut solo album, Simply Deep, released later the same year, this track won the duo a Grammy award. While Rowland’s career hasn’t reached the heights of her fellow child of destiny, Beyoncé, this was the track that showed her to be much more than essentially a featured backup singer for Bey’s. While Beyoncé has her plethora of collaborations and Michelle sings the Lord’s praise in her new career as a gospel singer, neither can stake claim on Dilemma, practically the most enduring collaboration track of the early 2000s with a (now meme-worthy) video to go along with it. I.C.O.N.I.C.
Let Me Blow Ya Mind/and Rich Girl – Gwen Stefani & Eve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt88GMJmVk0
During her early-mid-2000s peak, Eve was nothing short of a collab-extraordinaire. But if there was one partnership that proved to be a cut above the rest, it was when she hopped on a track with No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani. Off Eve’s sophomore album, Let Me Blow Ya Mind gave us the first insight into what was truly a match made in pop heaven (or maybe it was hell, because that video was badass AF for the time, even if you did wonder what happened to Gwen’s car once Dre broke the duo out of jail). They followed it up three years later on Stefani’s debut solo album, the Dr Dre produced track Rich Girl. While it was fun and easy enough to go along with, the song (a last minute addition to Stefani’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby) didn’t come anywhere near reaching the bar set with let Me Blow Ya mind.
Image: Consequence of Sound
Like many of us, it seems VH1 can’t get enough of Snoop Dogg‘s antics. VH1 has announced that Snoop Dogg will be starring in a new TV show with none other than Martha Stewart. The show is supposedly to be called Martha & Snoop’s Dinner Party, and will continue the chemistry from Snoop’s legendary guest appearance on Martha Stewart Living back in 2008.
“My homegirl, Martha and I have a special bond that goes back. We’re gonna be cooking, drinking and having a good time with our exclusive friends,” Snoop said. “Can’t wait for you to see how we roll together!”
The show “will redesign the traditional food competition shows in a new, different and very funny way.” Martha commented. “At our dinner party, we will exemplify America’s fascination with food, entertaining and celebrity.”
Prepare for the new show by revisiting the classic 2008 episode, during which Snoop added his very own Landy Cognac to their mashed potatoes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ocre0kXgvg
“I can’t wait to get snoop in the kitchen,” Martha said on a promo for the show. “Our new show is rizzle, dizzle for shizzle.”
Snoop and Martha have done more than just cook together in the past. Last year they sat next to each other at the hilarious Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber, and appeared together on ABC’s $100,000 Pyramid game show earlier this year.
Image: Twitter
It’s hard to know where to start beginning to explain the impact that Snoop Dogg‘s 1993 record Doggystyle has had on my life. There had been a few other songs in the then-newly exploding genre of hip-hop that had caught my attention in my late primary school years, most memorably, Sir Mix-a-lot‘s Baby Got Back and Kriss Kross’ Jump Jump, but it was Doggystyle that really cemented my love for the genre and culture that would include my career path in photography.
I remember my younger brother handing me a tape that one of his friends had given him. At the time we’d call it a mixtape (yes, it was an actual cassette tape), just a collection of random recorded songs in no particular order – a little different to what we consider a mixtape to be today! His friend had very simply selected a few songs he liked and put them on this tape for my brother; this is often how we shared music among ourselves in the early 90s. The hard thing about this style of discovering music, is you often had no idea who the artist was. I specifically remember hearing Regulators on one of these tapes and thinking Nate Dogg was Snoop Dogg because I had misheard, and just heard “Dogg”, only to embarrassingly figure it out a few months later.
Its amazing how these tapes became the soundtrack to our lives. I can vividly remember where I was while I was listening to this tape in particular. I remember our dad driving us around on errands, and as soon as he hopped out of the car, we would quickly slot the tape in and listen to as much as we could until he came back, when we’d pop it back out. We knew he wouldn’t let us listen to this music, considering the deeply offensive content and swearing. I guess that was part of the appeal, we kind of knew we weren’t really meant to be listening to it as 12 and 14 year olds, but it made it that much more exciting.
I have made a career out of taking photos of rappers, which means that people often me why I like hip-hop so much, especially as such an outspoken feminist. The lyrical content of an album like Doggystyle is obviously disturbingly misogynistic, and as a 37-year-old I can clearly see how problematic that is. As a young teenager, I just found it amusing. Explaining what I like about these songs is sometimes difficult to put into words, but when I hear these songs I feel like they’re in my blood. There is something unexplainable; if you get it, you just get it, with every inch of your soul.
One really notable part of the album were the skits that laced the songs together, almost as legendary as the songs themselves. We used to recite them to each other – my husband and I still do to this day. “Time to get busy in this motherfucker / Like we always do about this,” has so many every day applications, for example. “We can get down to some gangster shit,” “Your bitch chose me,” “That’s what’s up” and “For those that don’t like it, each a dick” are just some of the hilarious lines that have naturally become part of an everyday rapport.
This was also my introduction to “G-Funk” or Ghetto Funk, which I learned much much later in life was a modern day adaptation of the ’70s funk like George Clinton / Parliament-Funkadelic. What Dr Dre introduced us to on The Chronic, and continued on this album, became the sound of the West Coast that I fell in love with. All of the albums that resonated with me the most, from artists like Dre, Ice Cube, 2pac, Warren G and obviously Snoop Dogg all had this very distinguishable sound. It’s a reason I didn’t get into East Coast rap until much later in my life; it took me a long time to appreciate the difference.
One things I always loved about Doggystyle, is that first rapper you hear is a woman. Lady of Rage makes such an immediate impression on first track G-Funk (intro), which I always felt was such a bold move by Snoop. This was his debut album, and he chose the first voice you hear to be Rage. Huge. The pulsating bass line is infectious, it immediately gets your head bopping along, all the while introducing that young teenager to the concept of Doggystyle, “We do it from the back, how else can you get to booty”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulw6tL7I6QE
Another really distinct memory of this album for me is wanting to learn the words to Who Am I (What’s my name?) We had started to see the video clip on Rage, and I desperately wanted to be able to rap along to it word for word, so I did what you would do back in those days. Play a part of the song, pause the tape, write down the words. Rewind, Listen again. Over and over until you wrote down all the lyrics to the song. Years later you would realise you sometimes got some of the lyrics wrong, or there was that part you could never quite figure out.
Lodi Dodi was always a favourite of mine on this album. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned about the original Slick Rick song, even though he did mention, “I gotta to say what up to Slick Rick” on the track – it’s the kind of thing a 14-year-old wouldn’t always take in. His bouncy rapping style, right on the beat, has always been my favourite, and is a lot of why why I also love West Coast rap so much. Easy listening, right in the pocket.
My all time favourite song is Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None), which also might be the most misogynistic song of all time. Still, it’s amazing – if I don’t think about what the lyrics are actually saying. I’ve been known to get up at hip-hop karaoke or stand on tables at parties and rap this song, Nate Dogg’s beautiful voice at the start, crooning about how he’s never met a girl that he loved in the whole world, and Kurupt’s line “If Kurupt gave a fuck about a bitch, I’d always be broke.” If someone put out a song like this these days it absolutely wouldn’t fly with me, but let me bask in my hypocritical glory, because this song is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nmXrCJIsAo
Also disturbing, when you listen as an adult, are the themes of Murder was the Case and Serial Killer which includes selling your soul to the devil, killing people with shivs in prison, choosing one of six million ways to die and the reality of gang banging in the hood. Interestingly enough, as a teenager I was so interested in the ‘gang’ way of life, as it was so far removed from my totally privileged, safe, country girl upbringing. I have no idea where this interest came from, but I would pore over gang-related movies and books to learn more about this lifestyle that almost seemed like a fantasy.
I read recently that Snoop Dogg has never listened to this album from start to finish. He’s obviously heard all of the songs, but not in the order of the album. How incredible is that? I think part of the beauty of this album is how the songs flow into each other, the skits blend into the next song so effortlessly. Regardless, I want to thank Snoop (and Dr Dre) for this incredible album, that has shaped my whole life and passion for hip-hop. It’s the single most influential album that I still can listen to today, without ever getting sick of it. Actually, I’m going to listen to it right now.
Snoop Dogg and The Game have held a forum in Los Angeles between notorious street gangs the Bloods and the Crips, calling for a peace treaty.
The move comes after the two hip-hop legends launched operation H.U.N.T (Hate Us Not Today) and held a peaceful rally to the Los Angeles Police Department, which saw the two call for gang leaders to meet with themselves and Nation Of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan to discuss the state of the streets.
On Saturday, H.U.N.T put out another call through The Game’s Instagram, calling all local hood gang members to congregate at the South Los Angeles community centre for a meeting to discuss relations within the black community.
“On behalf of myself, @SnoopDogg and the honorable @louisfarrakhan I want to extend the invitation to all CRIPS, BLOODS, ESE’s & all other gang members, major figures & GANG LEADERS from every hood in our city as well as the surrounding cities to our meeting,” stated the caption.
“The sad truth is, to get our own lives to matter to anyone else….we have to show that our lives matter to us!”
The forum, which was held on Sunday, reportedly had a turnout so large that a screen had to be set up just to accommodate the sheer overflow of people, with The Game noting that “It’s beautiful out here today and together we are gonna make waves in the direction of saving this city….from the reoccurring plague of death here and worldwide.”
The forum concluded with the signing of a cease-fire between the two gangs, with the conditions of the document stating that those accountable to it would not “abuse children”, “use the B word to describe any black sister” or “raise my hand with a knife or gun to beat, cut or shoot” for any reason except in the name of “self-defense.”
Operation H.U.N.T has aimed to help solve internal problems within the Afro-American community in the wake of the recent killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, in addition to the Dallas police massacre.
With both Snoop Dogg and The Game having past ties to the Crips and the Bloods respectively, the combination of their efforts towards making real and positive change is exactly the kind of leadership so desperately needed in America in these turbulent times.
Image: xclusivezone
