Snoop Dogg has been a star for long enough that many have a hard time remembering when he wasn’t. But in a new interview, the S-N-double-O-P has shared the story of the moment that really blew him up.
During a recent Rolling Stone cover story interview, Snoop looked back on the very first time he appeared on the magazine’s cover (for the September 30, 1993 issue — you can read the cover story here) and shared the story of what it did for his career.
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“Jimmy Iovine was getting at me and Dr. Dre about being on the cover, right?” Snoop started, referring to the Interscope Records co-founder. “So at the time, I’m a hip-hop artist, I’m a gangster with this. I’m like, “Man, fuck the Rolling Stone, n-gga, I want to be on the motherfucking Source magazine.
“And Jimmy was like, ‘No, no, you just don’t understand. It’s Rolling Stone. It’s the biggest shit ever. You guys are like Keith and Mick.’ I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is Keith and Mick, n-gga?'”
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Iovine’s comparisons to the ultimate rock stars, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, must have had the intended effect, because Snoop agreed to be on the cover. And the rapper’s initial reluctance was shown to be ill-founded.
Snoop continued: “So I end up doing this shit. The day I do it, I put my shit in some pigtails. Like, stupid gangster shit. I said, ‘Since y’all want me on the cover, I’m going to be a real n-gga on the cover.’ When that shit come out, a week later my record sold a million more fucking copies to a whole different demographic. To where I had to go and tell Jimmy Iovine, ‘I’m sorry. What other cover would you like for me to take?'”
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Snoop’s debut album, 1993’s Doggystyle, would end up selling over four million copies.
Elsewhere in the new RS story, which is a conversation between Snoop and Latto, Snoop Dogg recalled the figures who mentored him when he began his music career. He cited legendary musicians like James Brown, Ron Isley, Roger Troutman, and George Clinton as early supporters.
“And it was strange to me, because I grew up off of that music and I’m trying to be them, and then all of a sudden they know who I am,” the Doggfather revealed.
A different aspect of Snoop’s past recently made the news when it was revealed that a Death Row pendant of his was being auctioned off.
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The pendant, along with one formerly owned by 2Pac, will be up for auction through November 10 via Gotta Have Rock And Roll. They are expected to fetch anywhere between $500,000 to $1,000,000 apiece and both came from Reggie Wright Jr.’s collection, who is the former head of Death Row’s security team.
