Snoop Dogg in Country Music: a bad experiment

Oh my… I have seen everything now. Snoop Dogg has made a country music song, and a video to go with it.

Now as your shock subsides I will present the video to you



This video was dedicated to Johnny Cash. Somehow I don’t think he would be pleased with the song itself. Perhaps the idea would have made him smile though.

I have no problem with an artist crossing over to a different genre. Many of the greatest have done it and quite well. Ray Charles is perhaps one of the best known for his ability to convey emotion while introducing a new style of music to his listeners. Johnny Cash notably did so with his powerful rendition of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails.

But Snoop Dogg?

Well in listening to the song I can say there are several positives. Sadly there are several negatives that are what has made Snoop Dogg popular.

The music is fine if not a bit simplistic. It’s catchy in an older style of country music flavor (which is more my favored style). The vocals include a large helping of Willie Nelson, thankfully crowding out the fact that Snoop Dogg cannot sing. But the combination mostly works throughout most of the song. And that’s all the positives I found.

Now if you actually listen to the song, it’s not really country music to me. It’s basically a drug dealer talking about pimping his girl to get high. I’m not overly-familiar with country music today, but I’m not familiar with any entertainer that promotes such a thought in their music. It is what I would expect from Snoop Dogg though, and I don’t think it’s what Johnny Cash would have like.

Cash told stories of life, and mistaken choices that often involved abuses of alcohol and/or drugs. He was anti-drugs, and his music tried to uplift the spirit. I’m not saying he was the most cheerful of entertainers, but he was meaningful. Snoop’s My Medicine is not.

Looking at the visual presentation, perhaps the worst aspect is watching Snoop Dogg try to hold a guitar. He looks lost. He makes it quite apparent that he has virtually no musical ability, unless playing Guitar Hero counts. Slightly less unappealing is his country-esque clothing. The cowboy hat is ok, but some of the outfits just don’t work. He looks as silly as the song deserves to be considered.

My ultimate problem is the wording. Snoop Dogg seems to be trying to bring country music to the same guttural level that rap music has fallen to. His reference to his girlfriend being less important than the money for his drugs disturbs me. It’s not presented as a person with a serious problem, but as a fact of life that is enjoyed. I have a problem with that.

This is a fluff song. There is nothing to it, besides the hope of the promoters and music company executives of gaining higher sales for their respective artists and music genres. I don’t think Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash or country music are in any form of desperation for listeners. Thus this was an experiment.

On levels this experiment works, on many others it fails. Hopefully there will be others that can pick up this idea and make it really work. Blending country music and rap makes sense. Both depict stories of life and lessons learned. Both are grounded in life today. But gangsta rap is an exaggerated aberration of the reality that exists, and country music has no equivalent. If it never gains such an extreme I think it will be the better for it.

Otherwise the CMT Music Awards can expect to be giving out awards to entertainers starring in videos of women in Daisy Dukes - that the women of Hazzard wouldn’t go outdoors in – riding a horse while villainous black hats shoot down lawmen while singing/rapping the glory of selling drugs.

Think it can’t happen? Let this video catch on and music execs will do to country music what happened to all other forms of rap except gangsta rap.

But what do you think of the video?