Snoop Dogg Gives Good Game (Tips)

For most people, Labor Day weekend meant family barbecues to mark the end of the summer season. For 32 teams of rabid gamers, it meant competing in a championship at Call of Duty XP at the Forum in Los Angeles, where the winners took home a purse worth $800,000. For Snoop Dogg, it meant performing a blistering set along with Wiz Khalifa for a massive crowd that just spent the entire weekend watching team after team battle it out for the grand prize. And for me, it meant interviewing Snoop Dogg — and praying I wouldn’t get a contact high. But first, I would have to wait for him to make his grand appearance.

“Snoop is on his way, so let me take you into the stands so you can watch the tournament,” the publicist said. I followed her down the hallway and into the main event, and was floored by what I saw when I walked in. It was like pro sports on steroids.

Just as I was starting to get into the action, I got the call: Snoop was almost in the building. I soon found myself in a dressing room labeled “Dogg Pound,” where one of Snoop’s pals, rapper and former Death Row Records VP Kurupt, was playing DJ. Using a Beats pill and his iPhone, he bounced from tune to tune. Usher. Diddy. Joe Cocker. (Yes, Joe Cocker — and he sang along too.)

An hour and a half goes by. Still no Snoop. But at least Kurupt is entertaining.

Then, another hour later, the word comes down: Snoop is here … but he wants to do the interview after his performance. Before it’s over, I’m led back downstairs to the Dogg Pound dressing room, which now smells strongly of weed, no surprise. The aroma intensifies about 20 minutes later when Snoop enters, takes a seat on the couch with a blunt in hand, and asks, “Who has a lighter?”

You expect this to happen when you interview Snoop Dogg. You also expect that he will be relatively mellow and soft spoken thanks to his love of weed. But what you don’t expect is how undeniably charming he is. From the moment he walks in the room, all eyes are on the 44-year-old rapper — and he doesn’t take it for granted. He’s gregarious, warm, and infinitely giving of his time and himself. He’s also super passionate about Call of Duty.

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“I love the game, I’ve been a fan of the game for a long time,” he tells me. “I was always a fan of it. And then I love the fact that this game brings people from all walks of life together to celebrate gaming, having fun and competing.”

But does he have issues with the level of violence in the game? He shakes his head and announces, “I f***ing love it.”

The room erupts into laughter.

“I f***ing love the violence in the game! You know, it’s crazy when I walk by my daughter’s room and I hear her playing the game, and I see how she enjoys it,” Snoop continues. “It’s a game! You know what I’m saying? It’s fun! What people gotta understand is that when we create visual pieces like this that are video games, let’s not put too much thought into what it is and what it’s not. It’s a game that you can play to let off some steam and have some fun, to be in a group with other people, and to unite around the world. There are so many groups of people who get together who never would’ve met each other if it wasn’t for this game.”

Which is something that keeps Snoop coming back for more. He admits to playing for up to seven hours at a time — “just nonstop, online, getting killed, killing, grouping up, talking s*** … you know, because that’s what it’s all about” — and he loves that it unites him and his friends, whether they’re in the same room or not. He sees it as something that unites people, not tears them apart, even if talking trash comes into play, which Snoop insists is an important part of playing the game.

“It’s the No. 1 part of a game like this — you have to have conversation, because your demonstration may not be there,” he explains. “Sometimes conversation beats demonstration. So I like a little bit of both. And I like group s***-talking. I start it, he continues, he goes, and you don’t get a word in, and we done f***ed you up and hit you upside the head, and then we done killed you. And then we’re celebrating.”

And for casual gamers looking to get in on some Call of Duty action, Snoop has a few words of wisdom.

“Listen. Don’t say much, just listen,” he advises. “You want to observe, you want to watch, you want to gauge the temperature of the people that you’re playing and see what the environment is. But more than likely they’re going to tell you straight up as soon as you get in there, what it is. Because this game is active. It’s a conversational piece as well. It’s not just like you get on the game and just play — it’s like you have to say something. It forces you to say something.”

As he talks, Snoop is encircled by a lazy ring of smoke that has drifted up from the joint in his hand, just as it did all throughout his performance earlier that afternoon, and probably does nonstop when he’s in the comfort of his own home. And even though Call of Duty is an incredibly active game, Snoop says the weed doesn’t hinder his play. In fact, he feels it helps him focus.

“My vision is blurry if I don’t smoke,” he insists. “I can’t see these motherf***ers coming from behind. You know, my night vision ain’t what it’s supposed to be unless I got my right vision.”

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And when the weed starts to fail him and he settles into game fatigue, he switches to Kool-Aid, barbecue chips, and Skittles. “That’ll get your energy back up,” he tells me.

This fall, we’ll be seeing a bit more of Snoop. Though he just released his 14th studio album this past July called Coolaid , he’s also involved with some TV projects that are starting to come to fruition. He executive produced the new MTV show Mary + Jane, a stoner sitcom about two women running a weed delivery service in L.A. Then there’s his upcoming VH1 show with Martha Stewart.

“One thing about the projects that I’m associated with, they’re like babies to me,” Snoop says. “So I’m anxious to see how the world is going to accept my baby, and see if they’re going to love her like I love her, and see if they’re going to treat her with care and appreciate it and want to see the baby grow.”

So what can viewers expect from his show with Martha? Snoop is somewhat reticent, but he does offer this: “It’ll be a dinner-party show. There’ll be a lot of good cooking, music, conversation, nice outfits … the set will be amazing. Just imagine Martha and Snoop. I mean … wow. The whole family could watch this show! It’s a family show. I believe that grandma can watch it, mama and the kids, he there, she there, everybody there.”

With that, our time is up. It may have taken nearly four hours for me to get seven minutes with Snoop, but it was worth every second. He then spread the love to everyone else in the room, posing for pictures, signing posters, and charming the hell out of everyone he interacted with.

And so I head home: a little bit wiser about the world of gaming, a little bit more adoring of the entity that is Snoop Dogg, and a little bit higher.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.