Last month, Snoop Dogg acquired legendary hip-hop label Death Row Records from the Blackstone-controlled MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music). Now, the rapper is teasing an NFT release of Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But a G Thang,” as Billboard points out. Snoop recently sat down with Ice Cube for a YouTube Live chat hosted by Gala Music, where he hinted at the release. “Death Row Records is the first major label to be an NFT label,” Snoop says around the 4:47 mark. At the end of the interview he adds: “I just might sell ‘Nuthin’ But a G Thang’ next month.” Watch the full conversation here.
“Nuthin’ But a G Thang,” which famously features Snoop Dogg, first appeared on Dr. Dre’s 1992 solo debut The Chronic. Billboard confirmed that all forthcoming Death Row releases will be NFTs, and that “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” will lead the rollout.
Gala Music, a branch of Gala Games, is a decentralized web3 platform that teams with artists to create unique NFT content. Elsewhere in the YouTube Live discussion, Snoop confirmed that Gala Music will be the “exclusive place that Death Row lives in the Metaverse.” He added: “What we plan on doing is giving people access to buying and trading some of these classic songs, classic records that were the foundation of Death Row.”
Death Row was launched in the early 1990s by co-founders Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, Dick Griffey, and the D.O.C. The label released Snoop’s 1993 debut album Doggystyle, and went on to issue countless albums by rap icons like 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, and others.
When Snoop Dogg left Death Row in 1998, he explained, “There’s nothing over there. Suge Knight is in jail, the president; Dr. Dre left and Tupac is dead. It’s telling me that I’m either going to be dead or in jail or I’m going to be nothing.” A feud with Suge Knight ensued, but he publicly squashed the beef at a 2005 event. He reflected on their reconciliation in the 2019 song “Let Bygones Be Bygones.”
