Snoop Dogg picks his three favourite funk records of all time
Snoop Dogg is one of the most exciting West Coast artists of all time. Since his emergence in 1992, he has been the torchbearer of California alongside Dr. Dre. However, prior to his interest in hip-hop, Snoop Dogg had a broad range of tastes.
Rising to prominence alongside Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre on Death Row Records, the rapper is loved for his unique tone, funky West Coast style, and laidback delivery that leaves his listeners feeling relaxed. Known as music’s marijuana maestro, Snoop is definitely one of the greats, but he was influenced by many who came before him.
In a 2013 interview with BBC Radio 1’s DJ Benji B, Snoop once sat down to discuss some of his favourite funk records and explained how they inspired him growing up in Long Beach. He also gave examples of how they have influenced his music.
When asked to pick three of the most essential tracks in his life, Snoop Dogg began by stating, “[The] First record I would choose as a record to get high to is Rick James’ ‘Bustin Out.'”
Rick James is well-known for his song ‘Give It to Me Baby’, as well as his regularly interpolated hit ‘Super Freak’ which, last year, was covered by Nicki Minaj for her song ‘Super freaky Girl.’
Opening up about his favourite 1979 Rick James track, Snoop elaborated, “I was a little kid when that record came out that record there! Just the vocals, the arrangement, the bass, the drums and what he was talking about. Rick James, he just had heart saying, “We ‘Bustin Out!'”
The Long Beach emcee then selected a second track, which he suggested to listeners. Admitting he listens to this one regularly to uplift himself, Snoop stated, “My second record definitely would be The Clark Sisters’ ‘You Bought The Sunshine’. That’s a beautiful record right there. It’s a gospel record, but I just like it because it’s so funky.”
He then drew comparisons to a Stevie Wonder song, adding, “It sounds like the Stevie Wonder song a little bit with the bassline ‘Can I Get A Witness’. That record right there that’s just a great feel-good record. It’s gospel, it’s funk, and it’s just a good record to listen to because it’s got the right spirit on it.”
It’s unsurprising that Snoop Dogg loves gospel music because, as a youngster, he played the piano and sang in the choir at his local church, the Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church.
Snoop added, “It takes me back to being a kid, going to church, doing the right things and following the word of God. It’s good to always flashback and have that spirit in yourself because it’s better to do more right than wrong.”
However, the last funk record Snoop Dogg named was arguably the most influential. Finally revealing it, the Long Beach lyricist named Bootise Collins’ Hollywood Squares’. Explaining how the song helped him, Snoop continued, “[Bootise Collins] spawned me into creating Snoopzilla Snoopy Collins.
He concluded, “[Bootise] just gave me a lot of my personality as far as being free, and that song right there helped me to be free, and whenever I hear that song, I feel like I’m in Hollywood, rolling down Sunset Boulevard in a Cadillac with my hair blowing in the wind.”
You can watch the interview in the video below.