Snoop Dogg has gone diamond, joining the exclusive club three decades into his decorated career thanks to some help from pop star Katy Perry.
According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the pair’s summer anthem “California Gurls” hit 10x-platinum earlier this week (June 21) to earn the rap legend his first-ever diamond plaque.
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The pop bop arrived in May 2010 and served as the lead single for Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album. Perry explained to Rolling Stone that the track was essentially a response to JAY-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” to celebrate the West Coast.
“It’s so great that ‘Empire State of Mind’ is huge and that everybody has the New York song, but what the fuck? What about L.A.? What about California? And it’s been a minute since we’ve had a California song and especially from a girl’s perspective,” Perry said.
“California Gurls” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually reached the top spot to give Snoop his third No. 1 hit. The Candy Land-inspired music video boasts nearly 700 million views on YouTube.
Teenage Dream was a massive commercial success for Perry as the album spawned a record-tying five No. 1 hits on the Hot 100.
Snoop Dogg reflected on his wild experience working with Katy Perry featuring “dick shrines” and seeing the pop star naked during a 2022 visit to Logan Paul’s Impaulsive Podcast.
“She was like I want you on this song with me because she was tired of hearing the JAY-Z, Alicia Keys song New York, New York,” he began. “She was like I hear it everywhere we gotta make something for California. Not like hating, but we gotta represent where we from because this song is fucking amazing. This shit is amazing everybody saying New York, like we need one.
“I come in the studio and she got a muthafuckin’ dick shrine. I can’t make this shit up. A Black dick shrine when I walked in the studio. I’m like, ‘What the fuck going on?'”
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Snoop continued: “I don’t know what it was … I wasn’t trying to get her and she wasn’t trying to get at me. Just the muthafucka was there. I’m like, ‘I guess she like Black dicks in the studio — I don’t know. I put the music on and do my thing and knock it out. Love the song.
“I pull up to the video shoot, they like, ‘Katy want to holler at you she on set.’ No problem. I go on set, she butt naked laying on the clouds. ‘Hey, Snoop.’ I’m like, ‘Well, God damn. I’ve seen a dick shrine and you naked, I can’t figure this shit out. Let’s get this video over with.'”
