BY JACOB "34" KOERTGE • JULY 15 2019

After more than 25 years in the game, Long Beach, California MC/producer/DJ Snoop Dogg is gearing up to release his 17th studio album, I Wanna Thank Me, later this year. A few weeks ago, Snoop released the single and a video to the title track of the album. In the video, Snoop is captured giving an acceptance speech last year while receiving his place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His memorable “I Wanna Thank Me” speech is then followed by nostalgic clips of Snoop’s Hip-Hop history and bars congratulating the Dogg himself on a heralded career. Now, Snoop sits down with “Guess Who’s Back” collaborator KXNG Crooked and his Crook’s Corner series to discuss and digest Tha Doggfather’s upcoming album.

To open the interview (1:30), Snoop discusses the now viral “I Wanna Thank Me” speech, and how it inspired him to integrate the concept with his forthcoming project. Snoop divulges to Crooked, “What’s wrong with patting yourself on the back every once in a while? Especially when you do what you do. Especially when you the bread winner, you the provider for the whole family. You gotta get up and go get it. That’s where I’m at with it, career wise. I gotta say something…You gotta use your moments to say something on your platform, especially when you got so many people listening and watching. You know what I’m saying?”

After listening to more snippets from the project, Snoop unveils a track he recorded that pays homage to his former boss, Death Row Records co-founder/former CEO, Suge Knight. Snoop provides insight into the track and his history with Suge (3:00), “You can see it right? You can see all the good times we had instead of the bad times. Don’t want to showcase that. Showcase the great times and the greatness of this. He’s the reason the music industry is like it is, on the positive side, like ni**as being CEOs and having their own sh*t, and being able to do your thing. Wasn’t nobody able to do that [before Suge Knight],” Snoop asserts. “He showed ni**as a different mentality that you can be the owner, you can be the boss. So you gotta highlight that, or they’ll never highlight it. They’ll take credit for that too. ‘Cause it’s real love.”

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