West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg, has announced that the catalog of Death Row Records, which he acquired last year will be returning to streaming services. The move will bring some of the most iconic and influential hip-hop albums of the 1990s and early 2000s back to digital platforms, where they can be enjoyed by a new generation of music fans and content creators.
The exciting development for TikTok users, gives the platform exclusive rights to the Death Row Records catalog for the first week after its return to streaming services. This means that users of the popular short-form video app will be the first to be able to create content using some of the label’s most famous tracks, such as Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” and Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle”.
The move is a significant moment for both Snoop Dogg and the hip-hop community as a whole. Death Row Records played a pivotal role in the development of Snoop’s career and West Coast hip-hop sound. The label which came under Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records helped to launch the careers of some of the genre’s most important artists.
The return of the label’s catalog to streaming services will allow new fans to discover and appreciate the groundbreaking music that came out of the label in its heyday, while TikTok’s exclusive first-week rights will undoubtedly create new cultural moments and viral trends centered around some of the most beloved tracks in hip-hop history.
Last year Snoop’s groundbreaking hip hop collab “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre hit number 1 on the digital sales chart for the first time. The track sold 20 thousand units in the week following their February 13 Super Bowl Half Time Performance.
“The Next Episode” was released long before the digital era of music on June 26, 2000. The song peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 11 on the R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.
The rapper joined Def Jam Recordings as executive creative and strategic consultant, “a new role that will allow him to strategically work across the label’s executive team and artist roster,” according to the announcement.
His immediate focus was said to be on A&R and creative development, reporting to Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Lucian Grainge and Def Jam interim Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Harleston.
His qualification for the job is unquestionable having seen and heard different sides of the music and music industry for over 30 years. However, in his own words he has benefited from the inspiration of reggae music.
In speaking to Rolling Stone Music Now podcast he said of the name ‘Snoop Lion’,
“I don’t think I ever left that, I think inside of me it was never outside..its in me Snoop Lion is here for life, thats the peace, the love the tranquility I gained from becoming Snoop Lion and walking through that experience, I take that with me wherever i go”
On whether he still considers himself a Rastafarian he said,
“You know what i feel like i am the guy that is identifiable with anybody and everybody, and I think I represent love, I think Rastafarians represent love as well so i am definitely in the vein of, if not I am.”
With his close proximity to the knowledge of the Rastafarian faith which is closely linked to Reggae and dancehall music, Snoop in his capacity as A&R made no mention yet of coming to find some great reggae artist to add to Def Jam’s roster.
He dropped a compilation album “The Algorithm” last year and announced via Joe Rogan podcast that he signed rapper “Benny The Butcher.“
