Snoop & Slick Rick Join Forces On An Anthem About Self-Pride & Upliftment
Since the very beginning of his career, Snoop Dogg has cited Slick Rick as a top influence. On Snoop’s hallmark debut album, the smooth-talking Long Beach, California MC covered one of MC Ricky D’s best-known verses in the form of “Lodi Dodi.” Crossing coasts, bridging generations, meshing styles, and putting their respective colognes on the track, these two artists have collaborated a few times over the years. However, from Snoop’s recent LP, I Wanna Thank Me, they unite to make their loudest statement yet, courtesy of “So Misinformed.”
DJ Battlecat, who produces the song, harnesses the power of the infectious chorus from the Bob Marley & The Wailers’ anthem, “Get Up Stand Up,” as the driving force behind the Reggae-tinged beat. A burst of electric guitar adds a little extra to the proceedings, as does The Ruler’s hook, delivered with that instantly distinguishable flow. “No apology / Equality / Youth is future,” demands the legendary MC who penned “Hey Young World” more than 30 years ago. He calls for good mental health, morality, and principles.
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Like the song itself, the video is brimming with uplifting sentiments, the Dah Dah-directed video is very poignant. The visual begins with children walking through a museum, taking in photographs of slavery, lynchings, and internment camps. The archives show how this country has treated Black, Brown, and indigenous people. The kids’ eyes take in the imagery with pain and wonder. At the same time, archival television footage shows a woman speaking about misinformed school lesson-plans textbooks that fail to teach history and accomplishments accurately. The woman asserts, “The Holocaust was the greatest atrocity on film; [the atrocity committed on Black people] was not filmed.” The video also ends on an emotional note, with a clip from the powerful speech made by nine-year-old, Zianna Oliphant, in Charlotte back in 2016.
Snoop’s verse calls for Black unity. He praises Black Excellence, applauds the diversity on Capitol Hill, and says that he is glad statues of oppressive figures are coming down. Throughout the visual, footage illustrates the MC’s points. Snoop calmly speaks to that conscience in verse. “The foundation was laid / Y’all nation was made / Off our ancestors’ back, back, back in the day / Four hundred years ago, y’all made us slaves / And you can hear it in the spirit comin’ deep from the graves.” During a creative season in which Snoop Dogg makes his personal journey public, he continues to inject politics and social awareness in his raps. The MC influenced by KRS-One and Ice-T is as political in his upper forties as he has ever been.
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Battlecat, the Los Angeles, California veteran producer, notably worked closely with Dana Dane on 1995’s Rollin’ Wit Dana Dane. Rick and Dana share Kangol Crew roots.