The only artist bigger than Snoop Dogg, according to Snoop Dogg
Success hit hard and fast for Snoop Dogg in the early 1990s.
Following on from his prominent contributions to Dr Dre’s The Chronic, his own debut album, Doggystyle, went straight to number one upon release in ’93 and sold hundreds of thousands of copies during its first week. He has barely dropped out of the limelight in the three decades since.
Snoop’s public image has evolved over the years, to the extent that, today, it is sometimes easy to forget that his primary thing is being a rapper. Football club owner, wine-maker, weed connoisseur — that barely scratches the surface of his many ventures.
But the basis of his success is his unique talent as a rapper and performer. At his peak, his skill was unparalleled and few could better him. In fact, as the man himself saw it, there was only one star bigger than him during his heyday.
During an interview with The Guardian in 1994, during a period when he was arguably the most exciting rapper around, Snoop took stock of his own success and compared himself to the Black stars that had come before him. As he saw it, he was now in the same company as genuine icons.
“That shit is kinda crazy,” he remarked of his rise. “Cuz at school I always used to listen to Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, whatever. Now I look at it like: he’s the biggest — he’s bigger than me — but ain’t nobody else bigger than me but Michael Jackson.”
It may seem arrogant to place oneself in the same bracket as these Black artists, but, in Snoop’s case, it was probably fair enough. He really was a sensation during the ’90s, and his staying power has only been confirmed since then. For good or for ill, Snoop has undeniably left his mark on popular culture.
Speaking at this point during the mid-’90s, Snoop expressed a concern about the place of Black people within American culture. More than a decade before Barack Obama would become president, he noted that the white establishment felt threatened by these successful Black stars and that, therefore, they targeted them to try and keep them down.
“When we get too powerful,” Snoop insisted, “they gotta pump our brakes, cuz there’s never been a Black president. And that’s what the whole world’s fearing right now. And the thing is, as big as this rap shit is, who knows: maybe I could run for president one day.” In light of all that’s happened since then, the proposition of a President Snoop doesn’t seem quite so absurd anymore.