But at this very moment, in one of the studios in the Compound, his suite of offices situated between a gas station and an airport rental-car return lot in Los Angeles, Snoop, 53, is annoyed. Repeatedly using phrases that TIME doesn’t spell out, he is excoriating a recording company that he feels is being underhand. “They’re sticking you up,” he says to an associate. “You just let me get in there, talk to them, and be like, ‘All right, hold on. This is what’s happening. [Rapping his fist on some Snoop merchandise] See that name right here? You see these kids right here? It’s a whole different genre that’s gonna spend with us. You n-ggas owe us. So reshuffle that contract, y’all pay us to be on the road, and then we’ll go out there and do it.’”
What nefarious outlaw organization has got the affable Snoop so riled up? It’s Kidz Bop, the company that rerecords pop songs into ear candy for the under 10-set. In August 2022, Snoop and his team created a series of child-friendly videos featuring animated animals who sing, dance, and chant affirmations, led by a tall friendly dog who’s voiced by Snoop. Doggyland, as it’s known, has taken off, especially the affirmations. To some parents, it might seem jarring to hear phrases like “I get better every single day” in the distinctive voice they associate with lines like “I got a pocket full of rubbers,” but the songs have millions of fans and Kidz Bop has invited Snoop, or his nom de toy Bow Wizzle, to join a tour of 65 cities it’s planning. Snoop finds this insulting, not because it’s gangsta-incompatible, but because the incentives are insufficient.
