Big Fish Theory emcee Vince Staples is a lowkey and reserved character who makes exceptional music with no shenanigans or online feuds. The lyricist has a cult fan base and is as independent as an artist can be.
That said, the ‘Norf Norf’ is one of the sole representatives of Long Beach in contemporary hip-hop and during a recent appearance on Podcast P, the West Coast musician explained how Snoop Dogg was a massive source of inspiration for him growing up.
The city just outside Los Angeles is most known for producing the iconic G-funk collective 213, comprised of Warren G, Nate Dogg, and Snoop Dogg, all of whom became legends, respectively and, speaking to the podcast’s host, Paul George, Staples opened up about Tha Doggfather’s influence on him.
Addressing his admiration for Snoop Dogg, Staples stated, “I think the best thing about Snoop is that he never felt out of reach. He[‘s] never being weird, bro. There’s no other way to put it; he’s just not weird.”
Unveiling that in Long Beach, you could see the Death Row stars on any given day and feel comfortable, Staples continued, “Being a kid, I don’t think I even like realized how big — all him, Warren G — I didn’t realize how big all of them were ’cause you would just see them on a random day amongst their people. As far as I know, especially with us as children, it was always a positive interaction. You learned a lot from that, especially coming from street life.”
In 2016, during an appearance on the ESPN show Highly Questionable, Staples spoke about the Long Beach gang culture that both he and Snoop know well, explaining, “That kind of directed our path along with other things. Just getting into the gang stuff, the trouble stuff, all the things that kids fall victim to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He concluded, “Gang life is something that’s just a part of our community, where we come from. If you think about history of Black people and Hispanic people in Los Angeles County or Southern California in general, that’s one of the only things we have culturally and spews from things that had a positive message.”
You can hear Vince Staples speaking about Snoop Dogg in the video below.
