Snoop On New Variety Show: "Ain't No Party Like a Snoop Dogg Party"

Snoop Dogg surprised the music industry when he ditched his Interscope Records contract to team up with MTV for his new album, his own Rock Band 2 expansion pack, and his own variety show titled Dogg After Dark. The show kicked off last Tuesday, February 17th, as guests like Pharrell, Katt Williams, Paris Hilton and many more cozied up to Doggfather for the premiere episode. The rapper recently e-mailed Rock Daily with some Doggy wisdom on his upcoming guests, his comedic inspirations, his favorite rappers and who his dream guests would be.

Reasons to just chill, 'til the next episode: The February 24th After Dark features Johnny Knoxville, Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson and Ciara, plus a musical performance by Bobby Valentino (check out a clip, above). After that, Snoop hopes to somehow fit an entire football team on his couch. "My dream guest, bein a die hard [Pittsburgh] Steeler fan, would be to host tha whole team and have a party at Dogg After Dark for tha Super Bowl Champs," Snoop tells Rock Daily, "I was fortunate enough to be invited to their Super Bowl party in Tampa and I wanna exchange the favor with havin them to a Dogg After Dark party. Ain't no party like a Snoop Dogg Party, cuz a Snoop Dogg party don't stop, ya dig?!?"

The rapper is no stranger to comedy, racking up roles in Hollywood films like Starsky & Hutch and The Wash and his previous late-night MTV comedy show DoggyFizzle Televizzle. But it's the shows of his roots that inspired him to launch his own variety show. "I like comedians like Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx — anything that had them on had me watchin'," says Snoop. "Variety shows then compared to variety shows now were just a lot better, but I'm tryin' to make sure Dogg After Dark changes that."

As far as the current rap landscape, Snoop has a positive outlook. "Hip Hop isn't having a weak moment, it's just artists aren't as creative as they once were and people are trying to figure out where do we go from here? It's not weak," says Snoop, whose tenth album, Malice In Wonderland is due later this year. "It's in transition and only going to lead to a bigger and better opening. My favorite rappers out now are Tha Hustle Boyz, Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, anyone makin' hits. Some of this shit on tha radio jus' needs to go away. Ya feel me?"

Related Stories:

• Snoop Dogg Partners With MTV for Talk Show, New Album, "Rock Band"
• Cover Story: America's Most Lovable Pimp
• Album Review: Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin'

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter