Calvin Broadus has long been a cultural phenomenon beyond the Long Beach rapper we met back in ’92. Snoop Dogg is a social commentator and a hip-hop activist. He’s also the current co-star of a hilarious cooking show with Martha Stewart. But Snoop Dogg is still a lyricist, too, and still making music after 25 years.
Snoop will likely stick to his many hits when he headlines the Mount Kushmore Wellness Retreat Tour stop at the Mandalay Bay Beach Friday, but on May 19, he’ll unleash Neva Left, his 15th solo studio album. Judging from first single “Promise You This,” he’s got plenty of venom left for any haters—who could hate Snoop Dogg?—and lots of lyrical ammunition ready to fire.
“What I wanted to do was to make a record to engulf every phase of Snoop Dogg that you’ve heard over the last 25 years,” he said during a recent listening party in New York City. “From hearing me on ‘Deep Cover,’ to hearing me on The Chronic, to the reggae album to a funk album—all the different evolutions, but taking a snippet of each one and enhancing this new record with that same spirit, still keeping it new and fresh. ... I just felt like I wanted to put out some music to represent the generation of hip-hop that I come from, just to let people know that I’m still here and I still do what I do.”
Mount Kushmore Wellness Retreat Tour with Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill, Flatbush Zombies & more at Mandalay Bay Beach, April 21.