Known as one of the most curious music personalities of modern music, the cultural pertinence of Snoop Dogg has changed substantially since his time collaborating with Death Row Records and Dr. Dre in the 1990s. Though he still creates music, it is his movie cameos and bizarre appearances in boxing matches, such as when he commentated Jake Paul vs Ben Askren, that arguably gets more media coverage.
An impressive commercial personality, Snoop Dogg has built a marketable persona that profits from several areas of entertainment, releasing his eighteenth studio album From tha Streets 2 tha Suites in April 2021 amidst multiple other business ventures. More recently, the American rapper performed at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show alongside such stars as Dr Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, in what many described as one of the greatest halftime shows of all time.
Releasing his 19th studio album, BODR, and acquiring Death Row Records around the same time as the Super Bowl performance, there’s no doubt that Snoop Dogg is a savvy businessman despite his seemingly self-mocking persona.
As well as his success in the world of music, the rapper has also found fame on the silver screen, featuring in The Beach Bum by Harmony Korine in 2019, Dolemite Is My Name with Eddie Murphy, and even the animated MGM Addams Family movies with the likes of Oscar Isaac, Bill Hader, Nick Kroll, Chloë Grace Moretz and Charlize Theron.
With movies being a major part of Snoop Dogg’s life, the rapper gained greater fame for his roles in such ‘90s movies as Half Baked, Caught Up, Ride and I Got the Hook Up as he moved into greater mainstream success at the turn of the new century.
Speaking about some of his all-time favourite films in an interview at SXSW, the rapper makes note of such Blaxploitation picks like Willie Dynamite, The Education of Sonny Carson and Super Fly before going on to speak about “my favourite movie of all time,” The Mack.
“This is the movie that made me who I am today, I would be nothing without this movie right here,” the rapper explains, pointing to the DVD of the 1973 film directed by Michael Campus, starring Max Julien, Carol Speed and Richard Pryor.
The influences of The Mack can visibly be seen in Snoop Dogg’s rise to popularity too, with the large fur coats of the film’s lead character being adopted by the rapper in his ‘90s persona, donning similar large jackets and tall hats.
Take a look at the interview between Snoop Dogg and SXSW, below, where he discusses his favourite films in a decked-out Airbnb pod at the festival.
