Snoop Dogg’s Instagram page is filled with its fair share of jokes, memes and hilarious commentary from the West Coast legend, but he also quickly learned how to turn his millions of followers into dollar signs.
The Death Row icon joined The 85 South Comedy Show, where he reflected on his early adoption of Instagram and how he didn’t believe in the social media platform until he learned his influence helped the company’s valuation skyrocket.
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“I’m like, ;This shit goofy, cuz. I could just post anything,'” he recalled. “Then I said, ‘Oh, wait a minute. I could post some shit I’m selling or some shit I want you to show up to or some shit I’m promoting or a positive message.’ Then I started thinking like a businessman.”
He added: “Then the n-ggas from Instagram do a interview and say, ‘Hey man, our company was regular until one celebrity got behind it and then we became a $100 [billion] company, and that celebrity was Snoop Dogg.'”
Snoop went on to implore his fellow influencers and celebrities to negotiate a “piece of the pie” for themselves when striking deals with brands, rather than accepting free products or a flat fee.
“I didn’t have the game to get a piece of the pie,” he said. “Now we know better. You know better, you do better. So moving forward, to the brothers and sisters out there watching, when you’re valuable, know your value.
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“Ask for equity, ask for a piece of the pie. Don’t just take that lil’ snapback that they want to throw you up front; you want a piece of the pie to make sure that you’re getting a piece of it after it continues to grow. If you grow a brand, you should be a part of the brand.”
Snoop Dogg, who currently boasts 78.6 million Instagram followers, previously claimed to be the first major celebrity to embrace the photo and video sharing platform.
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“I’m the first celebrity on Instagram and they brag about that shit,” he proclaimed on Drink Champs earlier this year. “They do symposiums where they have their conversations about how the company became a billion dollar company.
“The CEO would have a little headpiece on; ‘You know, when we first started Instagram, our company was a small company and then there’s this one celebrity that, you know, got on our page and started blowing it up. And then we became a $100 billion company. You know who that celebrity is? It’s Snoop Dogg.’”
The Doggfather has never been one to become stagnant and is always looking to evolve with the industry and grow his brand in ways many wouldn’t even consider. Even after 30 years of success in various fields, the 51-year-old is still hungry for more wins to this day.
“I hate losing. I love to win and I’m a sore loser. If I ain’t winning, I’m losing. There ain’t no in-between. So if working, if I’m hopping and bopping, I’m with it,” Snoop said on the TFM podcast earlier this month. “It’s beautiful sometimes to sit back and be in the studio working on a song, then a commercial come on, and I’m on the commercial. And then walk out the hallway and then hear me on the radio.”
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He continued: “That’s work. It don’t make me want to say, ‘Let’s go on vacation. I’m doing well.’ It makes me want to say, ‘I need more. I’m hungry. I want more.’”
