“This [crypto winter] weeded out all the people who weren’t supposed to be in the space and who were abusing the opportunities that were there.”
Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., is an American rapper and entertainer who first appeared on the scene in the early 1990s when he began his illustrious rap career. He has since released 19 studio albums — including Doggystyle, The Doggfather, Tha Last Meal, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, and most recently, BODR — along with a number of other media collaborations over the years. Snoop has also made appearances in several films and television shows.
He is known as a forerunner in the development of the West Coast G-funk hip hop style and was the first music artist in history to release a track as a ringtone before its release as a single in 2007. He continues his legacy as an innovator and pioneer through his prolific involvement in Web3 space.
The current state of the Web3 and music industry crossover has artists — both mainstream and upcoming — utilizing emerging technologies in their upcoming releases and content strategy. However, no artist has been as pioneering and pervasive as the mighty Snoop Doggy Dogg. Snoop has been involved in various NFT projects and investment deals since the rise to prominence of the decentralized scene. In 2022, he was often heralded as the face of Web3 and NFTs.
He started the year off with a January collaboration with Fluf World and the VR studio Beyond, which raised over $1 million in a one-day charity NFT auction for the New Zealand-based nonprofit organization Auckland City Mission. Later that month, he announced a partnership with The Sandbox metaverse to launch an NFT collection called “Snoop Avatars.”
In April, Snoop Dogg collaborated with country music icon Billy Ray Cyrus and the Avila Brothers. The musicians collectively released a hip hop/country single titled “A Hard Working Man,” which was later accompanied by a 50,000-piece NFT drop. The release served as an example of how decentralized technology has a unique ability to bridge not only communities with artists but genres within the industry. Around the same time, the rapper partnered with the Mobland metaverse platform to introduce grow-to-earn digital weed farms. Also in April, Snoop was revealed to be a major investor in the crypto payment platform MoonPay.
Over the summer, Snoop and Eminem teamed up to turn Bored Ape Yacht Club characters into the stars of a music video in which both musicians morphed into their digital Ape throughout the course of the video. The duo later performed the BAYC track at the MTV Music Video Awards. Toward the end of the year, Snoop announced his role as co-founder of the new Web3 music live streaming and NFT platform Shiller.
Year after year, Snoop Dogg proves himself to be more than an entertainment personality — he is an important innovator at the crossroads of music and Web3, and 2023 will surely be no different. Already, the rapper has started off the year avidly promoting Shiller as the platform of the future for musicians in the online music scene. At the start of January, Snoop released a new music video for “Bron & Bronny” in collaboration with the Cardano-based Clay Nation. Additionally, Snoop revealed yet another NFT partnership as an avatar with Funko.
It’s evident that Snoop’s foot is already on the gas pedal and that he will continue to be a prominent advocate to his millions of followers on the latest technology and trends within the industry. This year, he will be officially inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
