Stay Hot Snoop Dogg: Super Bowl Halftime Show Performer Just Bought Death Row Records Back From Blackstone and Is Launching His Own Hot Dog Line "Snoop's Dogs"
Fortune - Snoop Dogg has taken over a popular record label that launched his stellar career.
The rapper-mogul acquired Death Row Records’ brand from MNRK Music Group, which is controlled by a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, the investment firm announced Wednesday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Snoop Dogg said he’s excited about acquiring the label’s brand.
“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value,” the 50-year-old Snoop Dogg said in a statement. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me.”
David Kestnbaum, a senior managing director at Blackstone, said he’s looking forward to seeing Snoop Dogg at the helm of Death Row.
“We are excited to put the Death Row Records brand back in the hands of a legend like Snoop Dogg,” Kestnbaum said. “We wish him success in the years ahead as the brand moves forward under his leadership and vision.”
“Snoop is clearly the executive to take Death Row into its next 30 years,” said Chris Taylor, president and CEO of MNRK Music Group.
This is fucking crazy.
Just the other day we were talking about how deep in the music game Blackstone was, albeit a totally different conversation.
Now come to find out they have been sitting on one of the most iconic record labels of all time, Death Row.
Founded by none other than Suge Knight. Responsible for launching the careers of some of the most recognizable rappers ever, as well as just a few of the greatest albums (period) ever - Dre’s first solo album “The Chronic”, Snoop Dogg’s debut “Doggystyle,” and Tupac Shakur's "All Eyez On Me" just to name a few.
The big question is, and one I have spent way too many hours searching for since this story broke late yesterday, but can't figure out, is if Death Row still owns the actual rights to the music in its catalog.
I know that sounds ridiculous to ask, but Blackstone went in on this deal back in April with Hasbro (yah, the toy company. Shout out Pawtucket.)
Digital Music News - Blackstone and Hasbro unveiled the all-cash deal today, via a formal release. For background, the 97-year-old toy manufacturer completed its $3.8 billion acquisition of the overarching Entertainment One (eOne) back in December of 2019.
In addition to eOne Music (which includes Dualtone Records and the legendary Death Row Records), eOne encompasses a television unit that handles international distribution for programs like The Walking Dead, as well as a Family & Brands division that owns IP such as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks.
Last month, reports suggested that the Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company was looking to cash out of eOne Music – albeit for $600 million. Nevertheless, Hasbro intends to use the $385 million tranche from the sale (which has received approval from both parties’ boards and is expected to officially close in 2021’s second or third quarter) “to accelerate deleveraging and other general corporate purposes.”
And eOne Music, for its part, “will operate as a separate business unit,” with Last Gang Entertainment founder Chris Taylor remaining on as global president as the entity looks to build “a creator-first music brand with global scale and expertise.” Addressing the sale to Blackstone, Taylor touched upon his vision for eOne Music’s role in the creative space moving forward.
That's the latest I could find.
Now if you're wondering what the fuck the toy company responsible for Mr. Potato Head wanted to do with "Hail Mary"
then I am with you.
As the finance bros all so gleefully reminded me this week, I don't know my ass from my elbow when it comes to high finance (pronounced fin-ance), and need to stay in my lane.
But I do know Blackstone gonna Blackstone, and having Hasbro in bed with them is the least surprising thing ever because their tentacles reach to the furthest ends of the earth.
But I digress…
What does this acquisition mean for Snoop Dogg?
Well for one, if Death Row does maintain music rights to its catalog, then he obviously has a goldmine of material on his hands. And not just the classics mentioned above. Rather, the vault of unreleased material that Tupac recorded upon his prison release.
There were stories that he came out of the pen with over 350 songs ready to go and went straight to the recording studio (with plenty of whores) to knock them out (the songs).
Obviously, Tupac's mother, and Knight, released a ton of posthumous material, but nowhere near the rumored 250+ still left in the vault.
As we've seen with Juice WRLD's material, even the stuff that wasn't finalized, or was just working material can be repurposed and altered nowadays to come off as flawless original material.
So this could be GREAT news.
The other play of course would be to put the band back together and re-record some of the classics, with some current stars of today thrown in.
Think "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" the 2022 remix featuring Kendrick Lamar.
Or a Death Row reunion tour.
The possibilities are endless.
On top of all of this, Snoop is performing this Sunday on the biggest stage in the world, The Super Bowl halftime show.
A big prop bet flying around involving Snoop is if he will or won't spark up on stage during the performance. It's at +190 right now.
And missed in all of this huge Snoop Dogg news of the past month is that he is launching his own line of hot dogs.
A no-brainer of all-time no-brainers.
And they're called "Snoop Doggs"
Billboard - Six years after saying he “ain’t never eating a mf* hot dog” again, Snoop Dogg is apparently planning to launch his own brand of frankfurters called “Snoop Doggs,” according to a recent legal filing at the federal trademark office.
Attorneys for the hip-hop legend – real name Calvin Broadus – applied last month at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a federal trademark registration on the term “Snoop Doggs,” saying he plans to use it to sell hot dogs and other types of sausage.
Back in 2016, Snoop made headlines with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in which he watched a step-by-step process of how hot dogs are made and tried to guess what he was watching. By the end of the segment, Snoop said: “This is a hot dog!? Oh cuz, I ain’t never eating a mf* hot dog! If that’s how they make hot dogs, I don’t want one. I’m good.”
But again, as my boy Troy Ave poetically reminded us, "its all about the mother fuckin money".
I think this is a home run. Snoop is a monster brand, everybody that's not a vegan loves a good hot dog, it's a marriage made in heaven.
Listen to me and the boys discuss this and a ton of other shit happening in music on our podcast "On The Guest List" this week
p.s. - yes that's MC Hammer in the thumbnail. People forget he signed to Death Row and tried to rebrand at the end.