Snoop Dogg Working with Dr. Dre on Doggystyle Sequel Missionary
Snoop Dogg is switching positions for Missionary, the sequel to his debut album, Doggystyle. The rapper announced he has been in the studio working on the project with Dr. Dre during a recent appearance on ESPN host Stephen A. Smith’s podcast K(no)w Mercy.
Roughly halfway into the episode, Snoop spoke about his longtime friendship and working relationship with Dre before making the announcement. “I believe that our relationship became family because he’s seen my work ethic for him,” he said. “We bonded over the years, and we’ve been a part of each other’s life. You’re the first one to hear this. Me and Dr. Dre have been working on an album for the past two months.”
He continued, “It will be done in November, and it’s produced by Dr. Dre. It’s our 30th anniversary to Doggystyle. And the name of the album is Missionary.” After being asked why he chose the title, Snoop quipped, “The first album was Doggystyle.”
Missionary will be out on Death Row Records, which Snoop acquired in February. Snoop explained to Smith he was originally looking to get his masters back for Doggystyle. “During the process, they were — the people that had it — were charging more for the masters than for Death Row,” he said. “So I had to ask myself, ‘Do I want the masters now, or do I really want to go back and get that legacy?’”
Listen to the full podcast interview below. Snoop begins talking about the Doggystyle sequel around 35 minutes in.
As Complex notes, rumors of a collaborative project between Snoop and Dre started spreading earlier this year after they were spotted in the studio with artists like Eminem, Saweetie, and EPMD member Erick Sermon.
Roughly 30 years ago, Snoop helped Dre kick off his solo career with their first collaboration, “Deep Cover.” Before they got to work on Doggystyle, Snoop was heavily involved with Dre’s debut album, The Chronic.
Though Dre has a long history of being involved with projects that never see the light of day, like Kanye West’s Jesus Is King sequel and his own scrapped album Detox, Snoop being at the reins should ensure Missionary doesn’t meet the same fate. The 30th anniversary of Doggystyle is in November 2023, leaving plenty of time for the duo to get their ducks in a row for the release of Missionary.
In February, Dre recruited Snoop to perform at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show. Of course, Snoop warmed up by smoking weed just before the performance. Since then, the multi-hyphenate has separately launched an animated children’s series and a breakfast cereal, starred in Jamie Foxx’s vampire hunter movie Day Shift, and teamed up with BTS on Benny Blanco’s “Bad Decisions.”