Doggystyle

Snoop Dogg Couldn’t Let 4/20 Pass Without Dropping A Celebratory ‘Doggystyle’ Vinyl Box Set

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Snoop Dogg October 2022
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Love isn’t a potent enough word to describe Snoop Dogg’s relationship with cannabis. The iconic West Coast rapper serenaded Tom Brady with a Christmas carol while lighting a blunt. During the same appearance on the Let’s Go! podcast, Snoop relayed the “most stoned” he’s ever been was with Willie Nelson in Amsterdam on 4/20.

You didn’t think Snoop would let this year’s 4/20 roll by without commemorating it somehow, did you?

Alongside Gamma, the Death Row Records owner re-released his debut Doggystyle album as a limited-edition vinyl box set:

“Happy 4/20 — the most important holiday of the year for us stoners — we have a special announcement, and a rare gift for you,” reads the caption to Gamma and Snoop’s joint Instagram post. “To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the legendary Doggystyle album, we’re dropping a box set of only (!!) 420 copies of very limited edition, numbered vinyl on 4/20 at midnight.”

It continues, “It features never-seen-before artwork for every song on the album by the original illustrator Joe Cool, white smoke 180 gram vinyl, and limited edition Death Row rolling papers for you to roll up while listening to one of the most important hip-hop albums of all time.”

The post was later updated to boast, “SOLD OUT IN 30 SECONDS.” The official product listing on Gamma’s website confirms it is indeed sold out, but Doggystyle: The 4/20 Vinyl Box Set was on sale for $104.99, and those lucky enough to land one can expect it to ship by June 20.

Doggystyle was released in November 1993. Snoop Dogg shared with Stephen A. Smith on the September 30, 2022 episode of the K(no)w Mercy podcast how he planned to commemorate the album’s precise anniversary.

“Me and Dr. Dre been working on an album for the past two months, and it’ll be done in November,” he told Smith. “And it’s produced by Dr. Dre. It’s our 30th anniversary to Doggystyle. And the name of the album is Missionary.”

For now, enjoy Snoop’s 4/20 Instagram posts below.

Death Row Records’ Catalog Will Finally Return To Music Streaming Platforms Tonight

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After being removed from all digital streaming platforms last year, Death Row Records has announced that its legendary collection of hip-hop albums will once again be available for streaming tonight (March 9). The news arrives via an announcement on the label’s social media handles.

Among the classic Death Row albums are Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, the latter of which recently made a reappearance on DSPs. Much of the earlier Death Row projects were removed from streaming last year, following Snoop Dogg’s acquisition of the label.

Last year, in an interview on the Drink Champs podcast, Snoop revealed that he removed the masters after entertainment distributor eOne allegedly tried to pull him into a shady deal.

“They had the label, and for a year and a half two years I was trying to get my masters. All I wanted was Doggystyle. I was originally trying to say, ‘eOne, how can we work a deal where I can get my masters?’ Then Hasbro bought eOne so I was dealing with Hasbro and eOne. I was talking to eOne they were giving me the runaround so I said ‘Why don’t you let me come work for y’all so I can get my masters? I can blow your sh*t up make it go you can give me the Death Row Catalogue and let me get my masters’.”

The Death Row line-up will arrive to streaming platforms at 9 p.m. PST

Snoop Dogg Now Owns Death Row’s Music Catalog — With Some Exceptions

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Earlier this month, it was reported that Snoop Dogg had acquired Death Row Records’ brand, but was still hammering out negotiations for the accompanying catalog. Today, Billboard reports that he’s officially completed those negotiations and now owns the masters for both of his albums under the label, Doggystyle and The Doggfather, as well as those for his 213 associates Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, along with Lady of Rage and the compilations and soundtracks Death Row released throughout the ’90s. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

However, that impressive collection of music does not include a few of the most well-known Death Row releases. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic is set to be returned to Snoop’s longtime collaborator sometime next year (August at the latest), while Tupac Shakur’s seminal classic All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (as Makavelli) have already reverted to Amaru Entertainment and the Tupac estate.

Snoop might not miss those exceptions much in the long run, as Billboard notes both of his albums are Death Row’s best sellers. Meanwhile, his newly released BODR (Bacc On Death Row) — his first release for the album in 25 years — is already generating revenue to the tune of 10,000 units, while Doggystyle alone was worth 169,000 units just in 2021. Billboard puts the total revenue for the catalog at around $6 million last year. Combined with the branding — which handles merch and licensing of the Death Row logo — Snoop’s adding about $50 million of value to his name. Billboard notes, however, that Snoop may not have paid that much to MNRK, which previously held the rights to Death Row, due to it no longer having an interest in the brand and having a tendency to return rights to artists, as it did with Dre and Pac.

Snoop says he wants to turn Death Row into an “NFT label,” which holds interesting prospects for the future, while his former protege Bow Wow revealed plans to release his own final album under the imprint earlier today.