Just over 30 years have passed since Snoop Dogg – then known by his full name, Snoop Doggy Dogg – first appeared on a record: a Dr Dre cut called Deep Cover. Written to soundtrack a movie, the song was judged too hot to be included in the final track listing for Dre’s now classic album, The Chronic, because of its premise – killing an undercover police officer.
Tonight, wearing an eye-catching, bandana-patterned jumpsuit with Death Row Records printed on it, Snoop Dogg laconically drawls his debut verses about “doing a 187 on a cop”, vestiges of his original menace still present, despite a profound evolution. At 51, Snoop remains physically unchanged – apart from his hair, and his need for occasional sit-downs behind the DJ’s riser. If anything survives of his 2013 conversion to Rastafarianism, it’s the dreadlocks that fall luxuriantly down his back in a ponytail.
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