Snoop Dogg Rails Against ‘Roots’: “Let’s Create Our Own Stuff Based on Today.”
Over five million viewers tuned into the new remake of the 1977 hit television miniseries Roots when it premiered on May 30th - but not rapper Snoop Dogg. He made that clear Monday in a video he posted on Instagram.
“….I can’t watch no more black movies where n****s getting dogged out,“ he says in the video. “Twelve Years A Slave, Roots, Underground - I can’t watch none of that s***. I’m sick of this s***. How they gonna put Roots on Memorial Day?”
Snoop’s problem with Roots and other recent TV series and movies that take a look back at slavery and chronicle the black experiences of the past?
“They just want to keep showing the abuse that we took hundreds and hundreds of years ago,” he says.
“When y’all gonna make a series about the success that black folks is having?” he continues. “Let’s create our own stuff based on today, how we we live and how we inspire people today. Black is what’s real. Screw that old s***….”
The new 2016 version of Roots debuted Monday night and the eight-hour miniseries will air over the course of four nights. Reviews so far have been stellar – it earned 100% on Rotten Tomatoes – and the cast includes Forrest Whittaker, Laurence Fishburne, Anika Noni Rose and rapper T.I.
Newcomer Malachi Kirby takes on the starring role of Kunta Kinte, which was originally made famous by LeVar Burton. (It’s also found a place in modern pop culture thanks to rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose 2015 single “King Kunta” references the iconic character.)
The original 1977 miniseries – based on the book by Alex Haley - was a smashing success and watched by over 130 million people. At the time, that was half the population of America.
