Exclusive Interview with Snoop Dogg
Game Informer: You were featured pretty prominently in True Crime: Streets of LA. How was that experience and did it motivate you to seek out more video game work?
Snoop Dogg: I've done a bunch of video game stuff before True Crime, like the soundtrack to NBA LIVE 2003 with EA and other music and VO stuff. For lot of the film and videogame stuff I do, the work comes to me. A lot of the companies want to be in the Snoop Dog business. There's a lot of stories I have to tell, and my fans have always requested to see me in videogames. Now I'm doing my own game,Fear and Respect.
GI: How long have you been playing games? What are some of your favorites? What game are you best at?
Snoop: I've been playing games since the first Atari system came out. Me and the homies have really been into competing in tournaments and stuff like NCAA Football, Madden, and FIFA.
GI: Do you think it's funny that lots of big companies are starting to want to get involved with hip-hop? Because when you first started I don't imagine that lots of these companies would have wanted to be associated with what they perceived as "gangsta" rap?
Snoop: Not at all. Why not? Hip hop sells millions of records. It's the top format of music selling today. Hip Hop and Hip Hop culture dominate society right now. It's already translated into movies like Boyz in the Hood, Menace To Society, and Eminem in 8 mile. Video games were the next natural step.
GI: Why do you think that situation has changed so much?
Snoop: People know that doing business with Snoop Dogg is exactly that. It's business.
GI: Talk a little bit about your character. What is his story, and what happens to him during the course of the game?
Snoop: The character's name is Goldie. John has a film background and created the appropriate outline and the necessary elements to an incredible story and I brought the details from a street level. I brought details on the right character that needed to be in the game, because it's about Los Angeles and the 'hood, and basically coming up in the hood and looking out for the young homies that are coming up and trying to keep them out of trouble and balancing the right way to survive in the 'hood with the two most important elements, Fear and Respect. You can either succeed by fear or you can utilize fear and instilling that in everyone or by gaining respect. The game is going to be about how you determine to utilize your strengths and weaknesses. Do you survive by fear or respect?
GI: Was this process a lot different from your work on True Crime? How heavily are you involved with Fear and Respect?
Snoop: It's much different. In True Crime they just took my likeness. With F&R it's my baby with John Singleton. I treat F&R just like I would treat an album, top to bottom. Just like I would executive produce an album I'm putting that same sort of focus and touch on F&R. As far as making sure my character looks right, making sure that the storyline is realistic, making sure that there are most realistic characters around me to make sure that anyone who played this game feels like they are really trying to survive in the 'hood. Ya know? Even the way that I can shoot my gun in the game, going into the details of the way I hold it and the motion capture so that my movements and the movements of everyone in the 'hood. We use real gang bangers, we use real projects like Knickerson Gardens as the models for the digital art that we utilize in the game.
GI: How has it been working with John Singleton? Have you worked with him in the past?
Snoop: John Singleton is a cinematic genius. We did work together on Baby Boy which is probably one of his best films and one of my most recognizable roles. We always said that we were going to do more and more stuff together and as technology and the videogame industry boomed that's where met up again and joined creative forces.
GI: How does his script and concepts for the game compare to his film work? Do you think that this game can have the same impact as a movie can?
Snoop: Yes! From the beginning our discussions to how we've seen it come to life in the game - John has paid attention to the details just as a director would have for any one of his films. If you know John you know how tight his camera angles are, and how much he pays attention to shots. I think you'll get that real cinematic experience with F&R the same way you would with one of his movies. John knows how to tell stories about the 'hood in a way that no one else has been able to be successful with. I feel that anyone who plays this game is going to feel like they are participating in a movie.
GI: You've become very well known as an actor, how is working on a project like this different from working on a film?
Snoop: The process is much quicker. In a film you have to take multiple takes to make sure you get each shot right and that everyone's position is shot right, because each frame is critical to make sure the shot is perfect. In the game it's more about capturing my emotion, my style, ya know the whole Snoop Dogg feel.
GI: How many hours of dialogue have you recorded for the project?
Snoop: We haven't recorded VO yet.
GI: Are you recording any original tracks for the soundtrack? Have you recruited any other well-known rappers or producers for the soundtrack?
Snoop: I'm definitely going to create some exclusive tracks for the game.
GI: Did you give the team any input as far as the gameplay or suggesting scenarios for the game?
Snoop: Oh hell yeah! I wanted the game to be as real as possible based on my experiences in Long Beach. Everything from how the characters talk to each other, how they the embrace each other to how they fight each other. It's all very real.
GI: One thing that many people have criticized the video game industry for is that African Americans are underrepresented as game characters? Do you think this is true, and how can Fear and Respect help change that?
Snoop: So true. That's why we are doing this game.
GI: Are you worried that your character might be seen as furthering stereotypes of African Americans engaging in criminal behavior?
Snoop: No, because it's all real. It's not just about the violence. There's an underlying story here - that's why it's important for me to have John involved so it wasn't just another Doom or Halo where you go around shooting people. There's a whole script here that John wrote with me that will draw you into the game and have more human elements that make a game more dramatic.
Game never gonna come out. if it do its DOA