There are few rappers to have come into the game with an established universe and aesthetic like Snoop Doggy Dogg. From the braids, Western-themed aliases, and likeness to canines and Charles Schulz characters, it became clear that everyone associated with The Dogg had to be as cohesively eclectic as he was. All of this lyrical dexterity came to life on Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle, while the universe he created was perfectly illustrated on the cover.
During an appearance on Carmelo Anthony's What’s In Your Glass, Snoop explained how he's turning one of music's most iconic album covers into its own brand. Snoop started by telling 'Melo how the cover came together. As exhibited by acts like Daz and Nate Dogg, Snoop likes to keep the money in the family, moving him to tap his cousin, Darryl "Joe Cool" Daniel (whose moniker derives from the real Snoopy's alter-ego) to draw the cover. This allowed Snoop to leverage his position in the album when the time was right.
"My cousin Joe Cool was fresh out the penitentiary when he drew that album cover," Snoop said at the interview's 29-minute mark. "Years later I cut a deal with my cousin to buy the rights to my album cover. So, I own the album cover but I don't own the album. So, I can sell anything that has to do with the album cover, but when it's time to do anything regarding Doggystyle they have to holler at me because I own the cover."
Now that he owns the album cover, Snoop is jumping into the merch game by turning the image into clothing items. This merchandise will be sold exclusively at Snoop's new storefront, Snoopy's. This store will be located across from the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Along with talking about Snoop's business ventures, 'Melo and Snoop touched on the friendship they shared with the late Kobe Bryant. This drifted into a conversation about the 2008 Redeem Team. Anthony explained to Snoop that he and the other young members of the team felt an obligation to take the pressure off Kobe.
"We tried to tell him that he's not in LA. We got his back. We wanted him to just relax, take the gloves off, be cool go with the flow, you ain't got to do too much," Anthony said before comparing the Redeem Team to the Dream Team.
"That team in '08 was very similar to the Dream Team in '92," Melo continued. "I think we would've got the Dream Team. ... That was the motivation for us. ... Mentally we had to lock-in. [Kobe] was the OG on the team and we had to have his back. ... That will be one of the most iconic groups to ever grace the sport of basketball. Ever."
Watch Snoop's full conversation with Carmelo Anthony above.
