Credit: Alamy

Snoop Dogg is a legendary artist who is known not only as a musician but also as an entrepreneur. Since falling back from his role as an emcee, the Long Beach legend has embraced his entrepreneurial side and is now the owner of the iconic label Death Row Records he was once signed to.

However, despite Death Row Records’ legendary status, Snoop believes that one label sits above the rest in hip-hop and always will—Def Jam. Although Def Jam is now a huge corporation with several imprints and artists from a range of genres, many know it as the record label that skyrocketed hip-hop.

Snoop Dogg recognises this. Even before he took on his role as Def Jam’s Executive Creative and Strategic Consultant, he understood the power of the label and how it inspired change in hip-hop regarding the potential heights independent record labels could reach.

In fact, Snoop once unveiled that he sees it as of the utmost importance to preserve the Def Jam Franchise due to its contribution to hip-hop culture and, while making an analogy, drew a comparison to the NBA. During an interview, the Doggystyle creator explained, “Take the NBA. The NBA is a great organisation, but the Lakers as a franchise, when they’re not doing good, the world ain’t right. That’s how I look at Def Jam – as the flagship. You got the Lakers and the Celtics in basketball, they got the most championships. They basically dictated what basketball was supposed to be about and what it’s still about!”

The ‘Gin And Juice’ rhymer then spoke about the first three black-run independent hip-hop labels and explained how they set a precedent for all those that followed, stating, “In hip-hop, you got Def Jam Records, and you got Death Row and Bad Boy. There’s the Roc-A-Fellas and all that come after, but those the original three.”

Snoop then spoke the indisputable truth, asserting that without the first three labels, rappers and hip-hop artists may never have tried to handle the corporate side of the music business.

Reaffirming his stance, Snoop continued, “[They were] the epitome of street n-ggas becoming corporate. So you want to protect the legacy of those three, because they inspired all this independent shit that’s happening now. If you don’t have Def Jam, Death Row and Bad Boy, you don’t have none of these independent labels that’s blowing the fuck up, being in control, having their shit.”

Naming all of the record labels that sprung up after the first three and succeded, the West Coast hero added, “That’s from Master P’s No Limit to Cash Money to Quality Control. And you got to give respect to Uncle Luke and to J Prince. You got to give respect to people like that who forged their own lanes. They stood on respect. And that’s just the passion we got for hip-hop. Def Jam means that much!”

Def Jam means so much to Snoop as he saw the label in its prime during the 1980s. Speaking about how it was established earlier than Death Row, Snoop exclaimed, “Def Jam meant the most to me when it started. Not in the ’90s, but in the ’80s! That aura, that essence. They had five groups: EPMD, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, and…Beastie Boys! That was the starting five. You cannot fuck with that!”

Def Jam was indeed a pioneering label. Still, some purist hip-hop heads may quibble with Snoop’s analysis that it was the first black-owned independent label as Sugar Hill Records was founded in 1979. However, it only lasted seven years before it became defunct, unlike Def Jam, which still exists as a behemoth today.