What do we know about Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s announced new album ‘Missionary’?
Thirty years after the duo released Doggystyle, two of the biggest names in hip-hop are working on a new abum that could be finished this year.
In 1993 Snoop Dogg released his debut studio album, Doggystyle, and launched his career as one of the most iconic figures in the history of hip-hop. The young rapper, at this stage going by the moniker Snoop Doggy Dogg, had appeared on Dr. Dre’s solo album The Chronic the year before.
As we approach the 30-year anniversary of Doggystyle, rumours had surfaced suggesting that the duo may be working together on a new album.
While appearing on Stephen A. Smith’s Know Mercy podcast, Snoop confirmed that he and Dre had begun work on a full-length album this summer.
“You’re the first one to hear this: Me and Dr. Dre have been working on an album for the past two months, and it’ll be done in November,” he told Smith (34:50). “And it’s produced by Dr. Dre. It’s our 30th anniversary to Doggystyle. And the name of the album is Missionary.”
In recent months Snoop had been dropping hints about a possible collaborative project, telling ET Online: “We’re cooking up a little something.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it too much, but we’re back together again. It’s been 30 years since we worked on a record, and we’re doing something, we’re working on something.”
What to expect from the new Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre album
Back in August pictures began circulating online, showing Snoop and Dre back in the studio, alongside some other familiar faces. They were seen with Saweetie, Erick Sermon of EPMD, and Dre’s long-time collaborator Eminem.
The duo reunited earlier this year for the Super Bowl halftime show, in a performance that also featured Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. Given that Eminem appears to be involved in the upcoming project, could some of those other names feature on the new album too?
It seems likely that the pair will look to build on the history of label Death Row Records, on which they both released their debut albums. Snoop recently became the owner of the record label and he said recently that the process of purchasing the label made him think about his own musical legacy.
“I was looking to get my masters back from Doggystyle — that was what I was searching for. And during the process, they were — the people that had it — were charging more for the masters than for Death Row. So I had to ask myself, ‘Do I want the masters now, or do I want to go back and get that legacy?’”
The 50-year-old ended up buying all of his own masters and the publishing rights for the records. He may choose to include some elements of the label’s back catalogue as samples in the upcoming Missionary album.