Is Snoop Dogg a sell-out?

I feel like I'm the last person to realize and admit this, but I really think Snoop Dogg has sold out. He has recently signed on to do a few movies, to be the lead in a prime-time sitcom and is booking way too many shows. He is the spokesman for countless products that everyone knows he doesn't care about.  This is a hard thing for me to swallow. I'm a huge fan of 90's rap and hip-hop, and it really makes me sad to see that Snoop Dogg is taking every offer that comes his way to stay afloat.

I think I first realized this when I saw that Snoop Dogg was doing this whole collaboration thing with Wiz Khalifa. From what I've seen of it, there's a song and a movie that they did together called High School. First, this struck me as kind of strange considering the only thing the two have in common is their very, very public usage of marijuana. With this aside, these are two very different artists that are from separate generations. I'm not saying that it's wrong to mix things up a bit, but I felt like it might have been over the line. To test out my instinct, I decided to give the product a listen. The song, "Young, Wild, and Free" is actually pretty underwhelming, but I understand why Snoop did it.

Maybe he's having some kind of life problems? I know he's got a wife and a couple kids—and that's coupled with the fact that he's overbooking/overworking himself, so he's definitely staying busy. What I fail to remember sometimes, too, is that he is 40 years old. Snoop Dogg could very well be going through a midlife crisis, clutching onto younger artists and signing onto acting gigs.

Does this always have to happen to legends? I feel like everyone sells out eventually. While selling out might be good for the artist financially, it really takes a stab at the fans. How would you feel if that all of a sudden, everyone loved your favorite band? It takes all of the fun out of having your own personality and interests. That's how I feel about Snoop Dogg.

To me, Snoop Dogg consists of me driving around South Bend at night and listening to Dr. Dre and Snoop collabs. He consists of what everyone used to love about listening to him. He's a pop culture icon already without all of the extra crap. Sigh. He's let me down.

You know, Kanye never really fails me.