Credit: NRK P3

When Snoop Dogg speaks about hip-hop, you listen. In 2015, he complained about modern rappers, and his words highlight a critical contrast between the golden age and the current era.

According to Snoop, the contrast between his generation is the lack of individuality. When he made his name, not only did everyone have their own unique style on the microphone, but they also forged a colourful character that the audience could invest in that separates them from their counterparts.

Now, ‘The Doggfather’ looks at the contemporary field and think they all sound the same. While he digs what they are releasing, the lack of personality is a source of dismay for the legendary rapper. “I don’t know who is who when they’re doing that rap style, and I love them all,” he explained to Pigeons & Planes. “Future, Migos, Drake, I love all of them. They’re my n****s, but I don’t know who is who when the record is over.”

Elaborating on the differences between the two era’s, Snoop added, “When I came out as a rapper, everyone had their own style. If you sounded like someone else, that word was called ‘biting’ – ‘You biting my style, you biting my shit.’ If you paying tribute, like I did with ‘La Di Da Di’ to Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, I paid n****s who I grew up loving.”

He continued, “I said ‘I’m gonna redo your song, get you paid all over again, let everybody know it’s your shit, and put a twist on it for the new kids who don’t even know it exists.’ That’s a different way of showing love, as opposed to everyone rapping the same style.”

Admittedly, Snoop makes a valid point about the contrast between rappers perhaps not being as pronounced as they once were in the ’90s, and their personalities have become more homogenised.

However, not to the extent that you can’t tell the difference between them as individuality is still ripe in many. Undoubtedly, when Snoop was on the rise, some people criticised rappers for all sounding the same, and now he’s fallen into that same cliched trap.