Hip-hop has always been innately political, and that has never been more evident than now as Death Row legends Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg postpone their joint performance to show solidarity with the ongoing WGA strikes. The West Coast icons had an upcoming Hollywood Bowl, which will now take place in October.
The Writers Guild Of America (WGA) is currently on strike concerning pay, and both artists have shown their support for the union by delaying their shows. The live performances that were scheduled to take place on June 27th and 28th will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Snoop’s Dre-produced 1993 debut album, Doggystyle.
Ticket holders have been assured that their tickets will be valid in October. The bold decision was announced by Snoop Dogg (real name Calvin Broadus) on social media. Taking to Instagram, the artist posted a video stating he and Dre are committed to supporting “the ongoing WGA strike and the DGA [Directors Guild of America] and SAG-AFTRA [Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists] negotiations.”
The lyricist continued announcing, “We stand in solidarity with the unions and are hopeful that the AMPTP [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers] will negotiate fair deals as soon as possible, and everybody can get back to work.” The latest performance is not the first time Broadus has shown his support for the unions.
During a panel discussion last month at the Milken Conference, the entrepreneur, rapper and Death Row owner drew parallels between Hollywood writers seeking fair wages and musicians seeking better royalties and posited a question to the audience, asking, “Somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars. That’s the main gripe with a lot of us artists is that we do major numbers … but it don’t add up to the money. Like, where the fuck is the money?”
The upcoming October shows will be the first Dre and Snoop solo performances since their 2012 appearance at Coachella. The two also performed at the Super Bowl in February of last year alongside Mary J Blige and Eminem.
Late last year, it was announced that Snoop and Dre were back and working on a new album with the working title Missionary. Although the upcoming performance is in commemoration of Doggystyle, the dynamic duo will undoubtedly perform some classics from The Chronic and Dre’s 2001.