Drop it Like It’s Hot Potato: Snoop Dogg Launches Kids’ YouTube Channel, Doggyland
Let's face it. Kids love Snoop Dogg. Perhaps they shouldn't, considering he hotboxed his way through the '90's and was
Ivy Griffith
Let's face it. Kids love Snoop Dogg. Perhaps they shouldn't, considering he hotboxed his way through the '90's and was into some less-than-above-board stuff.
But we just can't shake our love for the guy either. And now, in his bizarre quest to fill out a bucket list we'd love to keep a peek at, Snoop can now check, "YouTube influencer for kids" off. Here are the deets on Doggyland – and yep, we recognize the name, too.
Doggyland for Kids? That Makes Us Uncomfortable. But We’ll Get Over It
Let's get it out of the way first. The YouTube channel is called "Doggyland – Kids Songs & Nursery Rhymes" and yes, if it sounds familiar that's because it is.
Doggyland is also the name of a track off Snoop's 1996 album, "Tha Doggfather," and the lyrics include, "Doggyland is the town where it's goin' dizzown (it's goin' down)
Everything is free and ain't no HIV (word?)
And n—-s don't kill one another (oh really, why is that?)
Because a brother is a brother
And what about the mothers?
They queens (queens), righteous
Man (man), Heaven must be like this
Green for aroma like the grass in the summertime
Ain't no penitentiaries, no, ain't nobody doin' time
And oh yeah, I'm the big okayer (uh-huh)."
First things first though, Doggyland is really a positive song. It's about a better future in a place with more love and less suffering. All good, all on track for a kid's channel.
Snoop has a laundry list of criminal charges which include first degree murder, drug possession, and belonging to a violent gang. So it's jarring, to say the least.
But we've got to be honest – we love Snoop, and we love the channel. Someone's past doesn't define or limit them as Snoop is clearly showing, and the YouTube channel has quickly become a force for good with themes that include diversity, inclusion, and positivity.
A Stroll Through Doggyland
Presenting 2 u my new kids show @doggyland_kids
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) August 23, 2022
Where they can sing, dance n learn.
Out now on Youtube & YouTube Kids! #DoggylandKids pic.twitter.com/uLVAvrfLaP
Snoop took to social media to share the launch of the channel, writing, "Presenting 2 u my new kids show @doggyland_kids Where they can sing, dance n learn. Out now on Youtube & YouTube Kids!"
Billboard reports Snoop's video description of the show; "'Doggyland’ to me would be an animated cartoon series designed for kids,' the 50-year-old says in the preview video to the children’s series. 'I say preschoolers, toddlers … and eventually kids of all ages because it’s so influential, it’s so educational and it’s so fundamentally smart the way we put it together with song, dance and education.'
Welcome to Doggyland the home of modern, hip hop inspired takes on kids songs and nursery rhymes presented by Snoop Dogg! This show features a colorful cast of dogs who educate and entertain children through the power of singing, dancing and rapping! The cast is composed of Bow Wizzle (played by Snoop Dogg) and the puppies Wags, Yap Yap, Barks-A-Locks and Chow Wow!
He continued, 'You can just be you and be accepted in ‘Doggyland,’ and what’s what these characters represent — diversity, so kids can learn to love each other from the beginning, because hate is what’s taught. Love is what’s in their heart.'”
It's the sweetest and most hopeful thing to come out of 2022 so far, and it is proof that Snoop is quickly becoming the renaissance man – capable of excelling in every medium he attempts.
Snoop and Eminem to Enter the Metaverse
If you thought launching his own YouTube channel would keep Snoop too busy to do anything else, you'd be wrong. He's been busy.
Snoop alongside rapper and pal Eminem will be entering the Metaverse – to take the stage at the VMAs.
AV Club writes, "Their scheduled performance is rather historic, if you count VMAs milestones as such. The song marks their first collaboration in 20 years (besides the buzzy Super Bowl Halftime Show), and it’ll be both artists’ first time on the VMAs stage in over a decade. (Snoop last performed at the VMAs in 2005 with Diddy during a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G.) Eminem also happens to be the second-most nominated artist in VMAs history behind Madonna.
Here’s the twist–the performance is 'inspired by the world of the Otherside metaverse,' according to a press release. MTV is really pushing this metaverse thing; the VMAs will also have its own metaverse experience on Roblox, where users can vote for the metaverse category and play VMA-related games, per The Wall Street Journal."
MTV has partnered with Yuga Labs to bring the performance to life. The same Yuga Labs behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, indeed.
It's another signal that the Metaverse and our universe are quickly becoming one, even though most people don't see it coming.
But we're glad Snoop found time for Doggyland in the midst of his busy schedule, because it's exactly the redemption, hope and story of inclusion that 2022 needed.
To check out Doggyland, visit the YouTube channel.