Few hip-hop acts have been as tight and integral to each other's success as Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Both personally and professionally, the West Coast legends have been closely associated since they began to dominate the rap landscape in the late '80s. In December, they'll release a new (and highly anticipated) collaborative LP, Missionary.
The duo have spent plenty of time reflecting on the history of their relationship. While promoting their Gin & Juice cocktail line back in July, Snoop reflected on how Dre has impacted his career following a fortuitous introduction from Snoop’s friend Warren G. "Dr. Dre has always been like a big brother to me," Snoop said. "But he taught me professionalism as far as how to separate from the hood and how to get on a business venture and look forward and not really pay attention to what’s behind you."
It’s this advice that has propelled them from burgeoning artists, to dominant rap stars, to two of our most celebrated celebrities. There’s a reason why they were pegged to help launch the arrival of the Olympics to Los Angeles in 2028. Snoop and Dre have transcended their careers as artists and have become cultural icons. With Missionary set to be released on Dec. 13, here’s a look at the history of the friendship and professional relationship between Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre.
1991: Snoop Dogg got his start the way so many hip-hop stars did before the internet became the main mode of music discovery: on a tape. Snoop was featured on a cassette that somehow made its way into the hands of Dr. Dre, who was at the time presiding over a record label called Future Shock. The label came to be after Dre parted from his deal with Ruthless Records, and established Future Shock with Suge Knight, D.O.C., and Dick Griffey. Eventually, the label would be renamed Death Row Records.
At the same time, Snoop, alongside his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead, plus neighborhood pal Warren G, formed a group called 213 — named for the area code in their hometown of Long beach. A freestyle from Snoop as a part of 213 made its way onto a tape, and his bars over En Vogue’s "Hold On" impressed Dre. The 20-year-old Snoop was invited to audition for Future Shock by Dre, who was just 26 at the time.
1992: The audition was clearly a success, as Dre recruited Snoop Doggy Dogg to begin working with him almost immediately. First, they teamed up for Dre’s first-ever single, the theme song for the 1992 film Deep Cover. The track was a fruitful experiment for the duo, which led to Dre inviting Snoop to collaborate with him on the solo album he was working on, set to be titled The Chronic.
The album, which marked Dre’s first since departing N.W.A. and would go on to become one of the most influential albums in the history of West Coast rap, also served as a nationwide introduction to Snoop Dogg, who appears throughout the project. It would set the stage for Snoop’s emergence as one of rap’s most promising young stars, a status he fulfilled with his own solo debut a year later, Doggystyle.
1995: Snoop and Dre continued to dominate the West Coast rap landscape, alongside other icons like Tupac. The rivalry between the West and East Coast, led by the Notorious B.I.G., spilled over into the public eye during the 1995 Source Awards. Held on Aug. 3, 1995 in New York City, Biggie was the event’s big winner, taking home four awards. But Dre also played a role in the evening’s drama.
Dre earned the honor for Producer Of The Year, winning the award over fellow beatmakers DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, and Pete Rock — all of whom were deeply associated with the New York rap scene. When Dre was announced the winner, he and Snoop hit the stage, showered with a chorus of boos. Snoop earned his badge as Dre’s right hand man that night, getting after the crowd for their lack of appreciation.
"The East Coast ain’t got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?" he asked. "The East Coast ain’t got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and Death Row? Y’all don’t love us?" The boos, of course, only grew louder. Dre followed up, proclaiming that he (and, by extension, the West Coast) was making music for "everybody to enjoy."
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1999: As the year 2000 approached, Dre and Snoop’s professional relationship began to drift apart, through no fault of their own. Dre’s relationship with Death Row partner Suge Knight had grown beyond repair, so the producer departed the label and began to set up his Aftermath imprint. Snoop, still with Death Row, released 1996’s The Doggfather without any production from Dre.
Though Snoop joined Master P’s No Limit Records in 1998, his LP from that year, Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told, didn’t feature any songs with Dr. Dre. However, his 1999 album, No Limit Top Dogg, featured three tracks with his frequent collaborator, all of which saw the duo revisiting the g-funk style they pioneered in the early '90s.
That same year, Dr. Dre would release his second masterpiece, 1999, which featured Snoop and Dre reuniting once again. The D-O-Double-G was featured on "Still D.R.E.," which was written by Jay-Z and Scott Storch, plus "The Next Episode" and "F— You" with Devin the Dude.
2006: Snoop and Dre’s next big collaboration arrived in 2006 on Snoop’s Doggystyle/Geffen Records release, The Blue Carpet Treatment. The album, which was both a commercial and critical success, featured three beats from Dre, including the production for "Imagine," the blockbuster track that also features a vocal appearance from the producer, in addition to vocals from the legendary D’Angelo.
2010: Dr. Dre had long been rumored to be in the lab cooking up his third full-length LP, Detox, but actual music from that project hadn’t arrived by 2010 after, reportedly, nine years of production. It was supposed to be a third record in a trilogy, following albums from his two proteges, completing a run alongside 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct and Eminem's Relapse.
Despite the lack of news on the Detox front, Dre did once again reunite with his longtime collaborator, recruiting Snoop and Akon for "Kush," which featured the three artists singing and rapping over a beat from DJ Khalil. Though the song, alongside his other track from 2010, "I Need a Doctor," were rumored to be part of a new project, that new release never materialized.
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2012: While Snoop and Dre were well-deserved headliners for the Sunday closing slot at Coachella in 2012, they were joined by an even bigger star, resurrecting Tupac in hologram form to help them perform some classic hits. The duo debuted the innovative technological replica of Shakur, enlisting the hologram to help them perform "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" and "Gangsta Party." Elsewhere during the headline-making set, the duo were joined by Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Eminem.
2015: In 2015, Snoop and Dre reunited for Dre’s third studio album, Compton, which was released to coincide with the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton. Snoop appears on "One Shot One Kill" and "Satisfaction."
The project was noteworthy in that it also featured Dre collaborating with fellow legendary beatmaker, DJ Premier, on "Animals." Prem spoke with Pitchfork about their collaboration, having said: "I watched him work the boards old-school style. He’s got ProTools hooked up, but he’s still on the Control 24 board, turning the knobs, working each fader by hand. A lot of kids now don’t do that; everything is just a mouse and a computer screen."
2018: When Snoop Dogg earned his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it was only right that Dr. Dre was by his side to help celebrate the honor. Dre said during his induction speech: "Snoop is always there for me, ready to work, and constantly motivating and pushing me and making me believe I could do it. I mean, I could always hear his voice in my head. I cannot imagine where I’d be in my life if I had not collaborated with Snoop."
Snoop also spoke at the event, offering up a humorous ode to his own career. He said: "I want to thank me for believing in me, I want to thank me for doing all this hard work. I wanna thank me for having no days off. I wanna thank me for never quitting. I wanna thank me for always being a giver and trying to give more than I receive. I wanna thank me for trying to do more right than wrong. I wanna thank me for being me at all times, Snoop Dogg you a bad motherf—er."
2022: Fast forward to 2022, and Snoop and Dre brought the house down during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show. The duo were joined by Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, with a special guest appearance from 50 Cent. Despite all the accolades and successes of their careers, the event stood out for Snoop.
During an interview with the Associated Press before the big show, he said that the gig was a "dream come true." He added: "I’m still thinking I'm in a dream because I can't believe that they will let a real hip-hop artist grace the stage in an NFL Super Bowl. We're just going to wait for that moment and put something together that's spectacular, and do what we're known for doing and add on to the legacy."
Dre added during a different pre-Super Bowl interview: "We’re going to open more doors for hip-hop artists in the future and making sure that the NFL understands that this is what it should have been long time ago." That much has been accomplished, as Kendrick Lamar is set to perform at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show this coming February.
2023: During 2023 GRAMMY Week, Dr. Dre received the inaugural (and eponymous) Global Impact Award courtesy of the Recording Academy and its Black Music Collective. On the GRAMMY stage, Dre was presented the award following an introduction courtesy of friend and collaborator LL Cool J. During his speech, Dre said: "What I love about this award is that it uses my name to inspire the next generation of producers, artists, and entrepreneurs to reach for their greatness and demand that from everybody around you. Never compromise your vision, at all. Pursue quality over quantity, and remember that everything is important. That is one of my mottos. Everything is important."
The award was first given during the Black Music Collective’s Recording Academy Honors event that was held during GRAMMYs week, which also honored Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott, and Sylvia Rhone. During the Dre tribute,Snoop Dogg performed "Deep Cover" and "Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang" with Kurupt. Snoop also recruited Ty Dolla $ign to perform "Ain’t No Fun (if the Homies Can’t Have None)."
2024: Snoop and Dre linked up once again in 2024, announcing a number of projects and events together. The year began with Snoop repaying Dre the favor of being there for his Hollywood Walk of Fame star induction ceremony. Snoop introduced Dre, initially riffing on his own induction speech. He began: "I wanna thank me for taking the call from Warren and Dr. Dre in ’91, even though I hung up on Warren a few times ’cause I thought the n— was lying." He added: "I wanna thank me for showing up on time at the Super Bowl." Eventually, though, he paid tribute to his longtime collaborator, referring to Dre as a: "teacher, mentor, brother, guardian, protector, and most importantly, a good friend."
In February, the duo introduced their beverage, Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop, with a surprise performance at a Super Bowl afterparty in Las Vegas. Regarding the new line of spirits, Dre said: "Together, we always try to create magic, we're having fun being creative, and everything about this product is really us. There's passion behind it, and friendship and love and a culture. We're shooting to make everything we do magnificent, and fortunately, most of the time we hit the target."
Later in the year, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre helped with the 2024 Olympics closing ceremony, pre-taping a performance in Long Beach which was broadcast as part of the event. The performance was meant to kick off the countdown for the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
Up next? Snoop and Dre will continue their decades of domination with the arrival of Missionary, their first fully collaborative album. It marks Snoop’s 20th full-length effort, and Dre’s fourth LP. Artists set to be featured on the project include Tom Petty, Jelly Roll, Sting, Method Man, 50 Cent, Eminem, and others.
Speaking about the album back in January on "All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson," Snoop said he sounds like "a grown Snoop Dogg. There’s some growth to him. It’s the way he selects his bars, it’s the way he uses his voice. [Dr. Dre] uses me like a f—ing robot and I love it because I love to be produced. I love to be challenged."