June 12, 2025 • 30 mins
If there’s one thing you learn about hit songs while doing this podcast it’s to ‘never underestimate the power of a good hook - at any cost’
From songs in our archive like LEN’s Steal My Sunshine, to Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend, and even songs we’ve covered this season like Backstreet Boys’ I want it That Way or Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit; It’s proven time and time again that intelligible lyrics are quite simply not one of the key components of a good pop song - as long as some combination of words sound good on a beat - who cares what they are!?
Reminder - Howie D LITERALLY told our host Ruby Carr to her face that Backstreet Boys purposely kept lyrics in I Want It That Way that didn’t make any sense. Why? For the vibes, duh.
And it’s certainly not just lucidity of thought that can be sacrificed at the altar of catchy hooks and anthemic refrains - and warning - I’m about to sound like a total grandma right now - But Have You Heard Some of Those Lyrics?
Yes, I know I’m not really telling you anything you don’t already know, but it’s actually kind of perversely funny to think about so much of the subject matter across all genres of music that we will happily sing or hum along and vibe to, thanks to the power of the killer hook.
One such example is of course the topic of today’s episode - Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s 2004 Hit ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ - A Number 1 hit on the hot 100 pop songs for three of its outstanding 30 weeks - with lyrical content so questionable - it has not one but TWO radio edits - a normal one which cuts out swears - and an Extra Clean version for everything else… but we’ll get into that. This is the story of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's Drop it Like It's Hot!
Written by Clayton Taylor for iHeartRadio Canada
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It only took one word to make us instantly turn
the volume up.
I'm Ruby Carr and this is the story of Snoop
Dogg and Pharrell's Drop It Like It's hot. You know
the songs just making people feel something. It's been a
pleasure to work on this song with her, but do
you know the history to struggle making any kind of record?
I don't always have the direction or concept. This is Encore,
(00:24):
an in-depth look at the stories behind the music. Here's
Iart Radio's Ruby Carr.
If there's one thing you learn about hit songs while
listening to this podcast, it's to never underestimate the power
of a good hook at any cost. From songs in
our archive like Len's Steal My Sunshine to Avril Lavig's Girlfriend,
(00:45):
and even songs we've covered this season like Backstreet Boys,
I Want It That Way, or Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit.
It's proven time and time again that in
Intelligible lyrics are quite simply not one of the key
components of a good pop song, as long as some
combination of words sound good on a beat, who cares
what they are? Remember, Howie D literally told me to
(01:08):
my face that they purposely kept lyrics in I Want
It That Way, that didn't make any sense. Why? Because
of the vibes. They were that good.
And it's certainly not just lucidity of thought that can
be sacrificed at the altar of catchy hooks and anthemic refrains,
and warning, I'm about to sound like a total grandma
right now, but have you heard some of those lyrics?
(01:31):
Yes, I know. I'm not telling you anything you don't
already know, but it's actually kind of perversely funny to
think about so much of the subject matter across all
genres of music that we will happily sing or hum
along to and vibe to thanks to the power of
the killer hook. One such example is, of course, the
topic of today's episode, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's 20.
(01:52):
Hi, Drop It Like It's hot, a number one hit
on the Hot 100 pop songs for 3 of its
outstanding 30 weeks, with lyrical content so interesting, it has
not one but 2 radio edits, a normal one, which
cuts out the swears, and an extra clean version for
everything else. But we'll get into that later.
(02:14):
After breaking out in the early to mid 1990s during
the emergence of the West Coast gangster rap scene alongside
such hip hop icons like NWA and Tupac, Snoop Dogg
or Snoop Doggie Dog, as he was originally known, made
waves with his 1993 debut album Doggy Style on Death
Row Records, the home at the time of Tupac, Dr. Dre,
(02:36):
and other notable rap names. Snoop would be credited with
being hugely influential in bringing the sounds of G.
the mainstream with his two top 10 hits, Who Am I,
What's My Name, and Gin and Juice. G Funk, short
for Gangster Funk, brought a groovier funk inspired production style
to the gangster rap stylings of early 90s hip hop,
(02:58):
and Snoop was at the forefront of the movement with
his softer spoken drawl and layers of crawling and vibrating
synthesizers and soulful bass licks. Gangster rap, as you may
well be aware, was and technically still continues to
Incredibly controversial thanks to its often violent and sexist too
misogynistic lyrical content. We don't need to get into the
(03:21):
entire debate around it on this episode, as it really
is one of music's classic controversies surrounding artistic freedom, freedom
of expression, interpretation of lyrics, and overall media literacy. But
when Snoop Dogg did his first ever interview with Rap
City creator Michelle Geister, he insisted his music was for everyone.
(03:43):
It's just like that. I mean, I make my music
for everybody.
Yeah. Now, um, Doggy style, when I, uh, received it,
the record company called me up and go, you know,
it's a party record. And I listened to it and
I went, yeah, this is a party record. Exactly. You
could just put it on at a party and let
it ride from beginning to the end, and everybody will
enjoy it. So that's what our mission was when we
(04:03):
set out to do it was to make music and
make people happy, not to make people want to go
commit crime, but to make people, you know, party and
be in a different atmosphere. That's why I don't understand
why they label this.
Rap that we do is violent when it makes people happy,
it makes people wanna party, makes people wanna go out
and meet people, you know what I'm saying? That's the
kind of rap I put down.
Um, I think maybe some of the people who don't
(04:26):
understand rap, you know, that you've got to know the
codes to understand what's being said, and people just see
the icons, the imagery that stands out, and what they see,
for one thing is guns, so that to them they
associate with violence. But even if we, if even if
we don't mention those guns or put those guns on videos,
people are still going to die.
(04:48):
Of violent crimes with or without rap, so they can't
fault me or fault no other rap artists for the
crimes that takes place because we just telling you what's
going on uncut. Still considered gangster rap due to his
alleged affiliation and constant references to the rolling twenties Crips
of Long Beach, California, Snoop was actually on trial at
(05:10):
the time of that interview and during the release of.
Style and was charged with first degree murder for the
shooting of Philip Walder Maram, a member of a rival gang.
With all eyes on Snoop, the high profile nature of
the case is thought to have actually helped sales of
Doggy style, but the lyrics of the album track that
glorified and aligned himself with gang violence, Murder was the case,
(05:33):
did make things difficult for Snoop in his not guilty plea.
Represented by defense.
Attorney Johnnie Cochran, famous for representing OJ Simpson, Snoop and
his defense claimed that his bodyguard was the shooter and
acted in self-defense. Snoop was actually acquitted in 1996 with
the case being sealed for good just last year. So
(05:54):
here's TMZ with the details of what sealing the case
actually means. What
Speaker 2 (05:59):
we've seen Snoop become, there are probably a lot of
people walking around today who don't even know.
This chapter of Snoop's life. But back in '93, he
was arrested and he was actually charged with murder. The
verdict came down in '96 and he was found not
guilty and he was found not guilty, but he took
steps this year. We just found out, broke the story
today on Teams of hip hop. He took steps earlier
(06:19):
this year to seal that case, and we think we
know why he did it now, but the judge did
sign off and
Sealed the case and by the way, that means essentially
that if you wanted to look for it, you would
never find it, that it's basically hidden away and it's done.
(06:40):
This is done from time to time, you know, in
court just out of fairness and judges have that discretion
after
Speaker 1 (06:46):
his acquittal and the high profile murders of label mate
Tupac Shakur in 1996 and New York's notorious BI.
In '97, Snoop would realize the danger in being involved
in the gangster rap scene and begin making moves professionally.
He would leave Death Row Records for Master P's No
Limit Records and officially re-christen himself Snoop Dogg. He'd tell
(07:09):
much as Master T. You won't hear us over here
at no limit doing nothing like that. We're too concerned
we're trying to make real records and make records and
make people want to dance and feel it.
And you know, reminiscing and want to, you know, do
something right what they said with all that while still
releasing music at a prolific rate at the end of
the 90s, Snoop Dogg transitioned himself to a sort of
(07:29):
featured artist extraordinaire in the early 2000s, first reuniting with
NWA's mastermind, Dr. Dre on his classic album 2001, which
was actually released at the end of 1999.
Dre had produced a countless amount of Snoop Dogg songs
over the years, and they'd hooked up previously on Dre's
(07:49):
debut single, the controversial Deep Cover and his album, The
Chronic single, Nothing but a G Tang to major acclaim.
Snoops featured on 4 songs on the album, hit singles,
Still Dre and the next episode and um 2 others.
Also in the 2000s, Snoop would further soften his gangster
image by collabing with way more pop focused artists including
(08:14):
Mariah Carey and a collaboration with at the time barely
13-year-old Lil Bow Wowow on the 2000 track Bow Wow,
That's My Name, and a 12-year-old Ruby Carr was going
crazy for that one.
As writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine would write, after the popularity
of gangster rap waned in the late 90s, Snoop Dogg
(08:34):
proved himself to be a masterful chameleon, riding his pot
loving image in various directions that helped buoy his career
through the 2000s. I don't need to tell you that
allusions to smoking weed and gangster rap have gone hand
in hand since, well, as far back as I can remember.
Dre's debut album was called The Chronic after all, and
(08:55):
the aforementioned 2001 album was infamous for its sometimes censored
pot leaf on its front cover, but not since Willie
Nelson had an artist branded themselves so strongly as the
stoner musical savant. It's weird too. While some artists were
villainized for their drug and alcohol use, Snoop found himself
celebrated for it, and that's not judgment, by the way,
(09:17):
I'm just stating that fact. It truly seemed as if
More Snoop Dogg leaned into his lovable stoner persona, the
more mainstream and visible he became. It was like, oh,
there's Snoop smoking his weed again. What will he do next,
that lovable guy? So much has Snoop Dogg become synonymous
with weed, it became national news when he announced he
(09:38):
was giving up the smoke in 2023, which of course
just turned out to be a marketing stunt for a
brand deal with a fireless smoke pit. Well played, Mr. Dog,
well played.
By 2002, it felt more than natural that a pop-leaning
Snoop Dogg's next move would be to hook up with producer, songwriter,
musical genius Pharrell Williams for the very first time. Now,
(10:02):
of course, much like Snoop himself in 2025, Pharrell is
a much beloved living legend of the game, but it's
crazy to note that even some 23 plus years ago,
Pharrell and his
Toon's cohort Chad Hugo were already responsible for so many
certified bangers across all facets of pop music. We're going
(10:23):
to have to do an insane like Pharrell Neptune's megaode
in the future, but just to refresh your memory, by
the time Snoop met Pharrell in 2002, Williams and or
Hugo had already blessed us with.
Britney Spears, Boys and I'm a Slave for you. Fire, Fire,
(10:43):
Justin Timberlake's Like I Love You, as well as NSYNC's
final hit Girlfriend, and Nelly's hot in here, just to
name a few. So it's kind of surprising that Snoop
Dogg and Pharrell's first collab from the Judge to the
Palace from his 2002 Capitol Records album, paid the costs
to be a Boss, kind of fell flat.
(11:04):
Here's Pharrell and Snoop talking about the track with Scott
Venner for Othertone at ComplexCon in 2016. And
I'll never forget I thought from the church to the
palace was going to be the hardest record out, and
it was for us like the video, the video was sick, yeah.
But that wasn't the record that did it. Sure, it's
(11:26):
got all the signature bouncing Neptune synths and laid back
Snoop Dogg Flo, but it is surprisingly hopeless and dare
I say kind of boring. It wouldn't really matter though
because Neptun's would produce and release a second Pharrell and
Snoop Collab from De Boss. That would be a banger.
2003's Ode to Love, Beautiful.
(11:48):
Beautiful. A song that I could imagine was 100% originally
presented to Justin Timberlake to crew over. Could you hear that?
It sounds exactly like Justified Ea JT in melody and production,
but it's Snoop's Playboy meets lover boy flow that truly
pushes that song into pop smash territory.
(12:09):
Snoop kind of charmingly snarls through his most toned down
rhymes to date, only 2 references to weed and 2
passing references to Crip's affiliations, while Pharrell repeats the impossibly
high falsetto, but insanely catchy, beautiful. I just want you
to know, see, it's too high for me. It's too high,
but it's so good.
(12:29):
Snoop continues to show off his softer side before the
song kind of fades out into a wholesome hand clapping
refrain of, say, I just want you to know that
you are really special. It's so good. The collaboration also
featuring Charlie Wilson will go to number 6 on the
Billboard Hot 100, Snoop's highest pop charting release as a
(12:50):
main artist since Gin and Juice in the early 90s,
and suddenly the rebirth of Snoop Dogg was in full swing.
Beautiful would go on to win Pharrell the Producer of
the Year non-classical Award at the 2004 Grammys, while the
song would go on to be nominated for Best Rap
Song and Best rap slash sung collaboration at the same
(13:11):
year ceremony.
It would come up short in both categories, losing to
Kanye West for Jesus Walks in the rap category and
lose to an encore OG episode subject. Beyonce and Jay-Z
is crazy in love for the rap slash song award,
but I mean, hey, if you're gonna lose, it might
as well be to Beyonce.
(13:31):
With all the praise and chart success beautiful bestowed upon them,
it's no surprise that Snoop and Pharrell would choose to
strengthen the nature of their relationship. Snoop would leave Capitol
and sign for Pharrell's Star Trek Records in a collaboration
deal with his own Doggy Style Records and major label
Geffen Records. Released on November 16, 2004, R&G, Rhythm and
(13:56):
Gangsta would be Snoop Dogg's 7th solo album with plenty
of hip hop, pop and soul features across the record.
It included the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Little John,
and even Bootsy Collins and the Bee Gees. While the
Neptunes wouldn't physically produce every single track on the album,
Pharrell and Chad Hugo would serve as executive producers of sorts,
(14:19):
as well as directly have a hand.
In no less than 5 of the album's 20 tracks.
One of those tracks was, of course, lead single, Drop
It Like It's Hot, released at the end of September 2004.
An absolutely undeniable minimalist banger, the Neptune's produced beat is
actually just tongue clicks, a drum machine, occasional keyboard riffs,
(14:43):
and spray cans. The story of
How the track came together is part environment inspired creative genius,
part healthy competition, and partly just straight up fear. As
Snoop would tell Amazon for their Words plus music series,
to him, Pharrell was like a mad scientist coming up
with borderline indiscernible vocal melodies and beats that he could
(15:06):
turn into magic. We had the record plant, he in
the back.
With the keyboards, it's just him and the engineer, and
he ain't even got the beat all the way made.
He's just like.
Mm mm mm mm mm mm. It's that part and
he like I with this. I'm like, what you say?
(15:27):
He like, That's how this need to get out. He
don't say words. He just. So it's my job to
make that shit make sense to put words to this.
Uh. So I'm hearing it. Cool. So he got a verse.
(15:50):
While Snoop remembers it glowingly, Pharrell, on the other hand,
was probably just playing it cool because he remembered the
experience as one that was a little bit more nerve-wracking
than the always laid back Snoop did. Here they are
joking around about the experience on Snoop's YouTube channel for
his DoubG News Network in 2014. You know what I'm saying?
(16:12):
I know why that came out. You were in the room, man.
You was there. Yeah, it was like 40 crips in there.
Dark blued out like and and I've never seen, and
these guys are just standing around waiting on a record. Yeah,
and meanwhile, I mean, you feel like you're playing a
video game Jay Z. Get dog one, man, listen.
(16:36):
You pulled that out your head. As Snoop and the
Neptunes worked the song out, it was Chad Hugo's idea
to throw the crashing keyboards and heavy percussion into the
track in between verses, while the contact high induced visions
of gang members tagging rival gangs turf with spray paint
gave Williams the idea for the whisper-like spraying sounds.
(16:59):
Y'all motherfuckers had some shit, man. Thank you, man. Y'all
shit was cutting edge. It was that you know what?
Chad's a genius and I.
You know, he's the ultimate partner and my mother right there, Chad,
what did it do? You put that piece on that
drop it like a side. We thought it was done
so you put that.
I rent.
(17:22):
When you put that mother that was like the candle
on the cake. We was like, god damn.
We was ahead of the game, hey, yeah, but I, I, I,
I was, I was reading the room. I was in
there with all that crip. I'm just, hey, that's what
it was that and a hell of a lot of contact.
Yeah, it was I got I I made the beat.
(17:42):
I started putting like spray cans on them. You did. You,
you did that's what you did. You was like put
that on there too. Put that on there. So effect
where somebody spray painting some gang shit on the wall.
I'm like this is really into this shit right here.
With the beat nearing completion and the hook.
Transforming from mumbles to earworms, Pharrell and Snoop began thinking
(18:04):
of verses to turn Drop it like it's hot into
the hit we know today. Another tall task that got
their competitive juices flowing. Here they are again at Otherone
at ComplexCon. But, but Dropping like it's hot was so
dope cause see,
You had the first verse, right, and your verse was hard.
You were bodyguard hard, right? And I thought for sure
(18:26):
you're gonna kick me off. No, no, no, no, but this,
this is the crazy part that they may not know.
As Snoop would recall to Words plus music, he was
actually so impressed with Pharrell's swagged out verse, he certainly
wasn't gonna kick Williams off the song like Pharrell himself feared.
If anything, he wanted Pharrell's verse to go first.
I'm like, *** that's pimping. You got to say that.
(18:50):
I know this is my song, but that shit home.
You're going first. Cool. He dropped his shit. So now
I'm like, OK, now this took the bar all of this.
I cannot let Pharrell out wrap me on my mothering song. Boom. Yes,
things would get a bit sticky as the lines would
get a little bit blurred between Pharrell and Snoop, the
equal status co-artists versus Pharrell, the producer and Snoop the.
(19:15):
rapper because when Snoop Dogg entered the booth full of
piss and vinegar and probably cannabis, ready to out-rhyme his
fashionable friend, Pharrell listened back to Snoop Dogg's verse and
in a room full of 40 alleged Crips had to
tell him he just wasn't feeling it and thought the
DOGG could do much better. Here's Snoop and Pee with
(19:37):
Scott Venner again in 2016. But this, this is the
crazy part that they may not know, so I do.
My verse, oh.
And you don't like it. You're like, no, you could
come harder than that. So then I had to re-whip
it and do it again. And then when I re-whipped it,
I did that one and I did that one and
(19:57):
it was magic and it was the fact that you
even told me like no, you can.
And my verse is harder than yours in so many words,
that's what you're saying, not in no certain terms, that's
what you were saying. You was like, You know my
verse is like harder than yours, so you know, I'm like, OK,
that's what I like to be pushed like that. Like
I Snoop would remain faithful to that sentiment to the
(20:18):
Guardian in 2015 too, telling the outlet, when I work
with Pharrell, he allows me to be me, but also
gives me great direction on
Which is the best me. He loves to critique me
and he loves to take criticism, he says. It makes
it challenging in the studio and I like to be challenged.
I don't like everybody to agree with everything that I'm doing.
So now the song is done, right? You've got a beat,
(20:40):
you've got the hook, you've got the verses, honed to perfection.
Time to pop some champagne and light up a weight. Nope,
Pharrell wants to show the track to Dr. Dre.
Yes, for reasons I don't fully understand because I'm, you know,
not a multi-platinum recording artist. I know, shocking. Pharrell was
so proud of the work he did with Snoop Dogg
(21:00):
that night, he immediately wanted to show it off and
get critiques from Snoop's friend and constant collaborator, Dr. Dre
and Mr. 1000 Miles himself, Jimmy Iovine. So, if you
have an opportunity to make a record.
That can compete with anything that Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Dre did. What are you gonna do? Hey, Dre, Jimmy,
(21:21):
come out of the studio. I got something I need
y'all to hear this for real. So while I'm in
the studio, they tell me, Dre and Jimmy on their way.
I'm like, huh? So now my heart beating fast cause
I'm
Like I'm nervous as a like a little kid cause
Dre don't like nothing. This don't like nothing. I'm like
scared like that he gonna come and say you don't
like it. So I'm like they on their way like, yeah,
they be in about 15 minutes. I'm like, cool. All right,
(21:43):
I'm gonna go in the back room and roll up.
I jumped in my car and left.
I boned out and left, so Dre and Jimmy in
the studio and Pharrell played for him. Now, Pharrell calling me.
And I don't wanna answer the phone. I'm like, so
I answered the phone. It ain't for real, it's Dr. Dre.
(22:06):
And they said, this shit right here.
And I was like
Oh my God.
Oh, and by the way, it's my first number one single. Honestly,
Snoop Dogg has never seemed more relatable to me in
my entire life. He literally said, Oh cool, you're gonna
show off this new unreleased song to two of the
(22:28):
most powerful men in music, including one of the dudes
who helped put me on the map at the very
beginning of my career.
Yeah, that's too awkward. I'm out of here. So by now,
Snoop Ferrell, Chad, Doctor Dre and Jimmy Iovine were well
aware of the power of the soon to be minimalist
club banger that is Drop It Like It's hot, like
(22:48):
Snoop would tell Hannahsu for much soon after the song's release.
It's a, it's a magical moment when you have a
hit record, it's like magic is.
You feel that everybody in the room feel it when it's,
when it's played, it, it makes people smile, dance. It's
just something about it. It's like your favorite record, you
know what I'm saying, whatever it is, when you hear it,
you just close your eyes and you just same with
(23:09):
us in the studio when we make it, when we
feel it, we fall in love with our records first
before you get a chance to love them, we have
to really love them because these babies, these records are
like our babies, they're like our kids, you know what
I'm saying? It's like we put them together, we made them.
And we want to make sure that they sound completely
right before you get a chance to hear them, so
it's a privileged thing. Everyone involved knew it was a
(23:30):
sure thing, and how could it not be? It's just
so fun to sing. Drop it like it's hot, Drop
it like it's hot. Well, I'll give you one potential reason. Lyrically,
let me tell you, it's something else.
As Rap Reviews.com would note, the stripped down sound of
the Neptunes produced Drop It Like It's Hot has produced
one of Snoop's biggest hits to date. Ironically, it may
(23:53):
be in some ways more gangster-ish than his deep cover
debut in some aspects, but he's so chill about his delivery,
it doesn't sound the least bit menacing.
Go ahead and look up the lyrics to Deep Cover
if you want, but spoiler alert, the title track to
the 1992 Jeff Goldblum film of the same name that
was Snoop's official mainstream debut, deals heavily in the themes
(24:16):
of gun violence, gang activity, and murder. So how in
the world is this cute little spray can bop that
everyone and their literal grandmother were singing along to in 2005,
more gangster?
Well, as we noted earlier, Snoop had mostly toned down
his lyrical content throughout most of, if not all, his
(24:36):
radio friendly days. Um, sure, there were a few little
references to the color blue or the specific way a
bandana would be placed on a body, and of course, um,
I'm not the one to mess with implications, but like
it's innuendo, and remember this was cute Uncle Snoop, smoking
a joint.
Vibing, right? Wrong. Maybe it's because like Snoop mentioned, Pharrell
(24:57):
had really pushed him to go as hard as possible
in the track. Maybe it was the presence of 40
Crips in the room at the time of the song's conception,
but let me give you a safeish for work sample
of the lyrics of this eventual Billboard Hot 100 number
one pop hit. Cement shoes, now I'm on.
The move, your family's crying and now you on the news.
(25:19):
They can't find you, and now they miss you. Must
I remind you I'm only here to twist you, pistol
whip you, dip you, then flip you, then dance to
this mother effing music we grip to? Slightly menacing, and
that's not even touching on the fact that the literal
chorus implies if someone gives you attitude, you should, you know,
pop it like it's hot.
(25:39):
Is that not about balloons? It's not about popcorn. In
any case, Drop It Like It's hot, mania ran wild
in 2004, 2005. Of course, most, if not all, radio
stations and music video channels use the clean or extra
clean versions, depending on their comfort level with the gang
and gun references. So you could be forgiven if you
(26:02):
were mindlessly singing along while, you know, bringing your kids
to soccer practice. I checked, by the way, the extra
clean version has.
No less than 20 censored words in it, including 3
in the snippet of the verse I just recited to you.
So I'll let you guess which ones. Always fun to
listen to with every second word cut out, but it
didn't matter. The song would enter the Hot 100 at
(26:24):
a very respectable number 51 at the beginning of October,
and by December 11, 2004, it was the number one
song in America for three weeks, ending its run on
Christmas Day. So I guess Santa wasn't feeling it.
The song also topped the hot R&B, hip hop songs
and airplay charts, rap songs, rhythmic songs, digital songs, and
(26:47):
Hot 100 airplay charts. While the single itself weirdly only
went gold in America, it did go double platinum as
a ringtone. Remember those before we all put our phones
on silent? That's so fun. I'm pretty sure I had
that one and I also had Kelis milkshake. Should we
do a future episode on that song? I feel like
(27:07):
we should.
Anyway, back to Drop It Like It's hot. The striking
black and white video complete with Snoop doing the dance
move known as the Crip Walk at the beginning and
the end of the song plays into the spray painting
tagging sounds so synonymous with the production, and that video
currently sits at over 354 million views on YouTube.
(27:28):
Plus one from me just now. The iconic and often
memed Snoop dance in the Drop It video also recently
became a skin and emote in Fortnite, and the writers
at Encore put an explanation in here for me of
what that means, but I'll have you know I already knew.
Thank you very much. Not a regular mom, I'm a
cool mom.
At the end of the 2000s, Billboard would crown, Drop
(27:51):
it like it's hot, the number one rap song of
the decade, which is quite the achievement, as technically seven
songs had better runs on the rap songs charts that decade,
including past encore subjects.
Drake, Best I ever had, Missy Elliott's work it, and
50 Cents in the club. All in all, the song
(28:11):
remains Snoop Dogg's only number one as a main artist.
He does though have two other number ones as a
featured artist. Can you think of which ones those are?
I'm gonna give you a second to think. Can you
think of it?
Katy Perry's 2010 hit California Girls, I would have remembered
that one, but also his 2006 collab with Akon for
(28:31):
I Wanna Love You. Pharrell, on the other hand, would
actually go on to usurp Snoop's achievement with three more
number one hits, including Moneymaker with Ludacris, Blurred Lines with TI,
and Robin Thicke, and of course everyone's favorite bit of
minion's lore, 2013's Hack.
In doing research for this episode, there's a point in
(28:52):
that interview I played earlier where Michelle Geyser asks a
young doggy dog in early 1994 what he wants his
legacy to be in 10 years' time. He tells her
something that catches her and assumably the audience a little
bit off guard considering his hardened gangster image at the time.
What do you, where do you hope to be in
10 years? What do you? I want to be the eldest,
(29:14):
so why.
I don't know how you could perceive that, but the
reason why I say that is because he's been dead
about 20 years and they still won't let him they
won't let him rap because they have so much respect
for his music and that's what I want. Certainly lauding
a young Snoop Dogg as the Elvis of rap was
pretty much unthinkable in '94, but just over 10 years
(29:36):
from that interview, we were.
Definitely still celebrating him with his first number one hit,
and now just over 20 years on, I checked the numbers,
he does have more monthly listeners than the King, so
maybe he wasn't all that far off. He ain't nothing
but a hound dog after all. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
(29:56):
I'm Ruby Carr. Thank you so much for listening.
to Encore and the story of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's
Drop It Like It's Hot. I'll have to do a
different podcast all about his friendship with Martha Stewart. I
feel like that needs its own episode. New episodes of
Encore every Thursday, and you can always leave us a
review and let us know what songs you'd like to
hear next. Encore is an iHeart Radio Canada podcast. Download
(30:20):
the free iHeart Radio app and subscribe. Thank you. Thank
you so much for coming.
It only took one word to make us instantly turn
the volume up.
I'm Ruby Carr and this is the story of Snoop
Dogg and Pharrell's Drop It Like It's hot. You know
the songs just making people feel something. It's been a
pleasure to work on this song with her, but do
you know the history to struggle making any kind of record?
I don't always have the direction or concept. This is Encore,
(00:24):
an in-depth look at the stories behind the music. Here's
Iart Radio's Ruby Carr.
If there's one thing you learn about hit songs while
listening to this podcast, it's to never underestimate the power
of a good hook at any cost. From songs in
our archive like Len's Steal My Sunshine to Avril Lavig's Girlfriend,
(00:45):
and even songs we've covered this season like Backstreet Boys,
I Want It That Way, or Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit.
It's proven time and time again that in
Intelligible lyrics are quite simply not one of the key
components of a good pop song, as long as some
combination of words sound good on a beat, who cares
what they are? Remember, Howie D literally told me to
(01:08):
my face that they purposely kept lyrics in I Want
It That Way, that didn't make any sense. Why? Because
of the vibes. They were that good.
And it's certainly not just lucidity of thought that can
be sacrificed at the altar of catchy hooks and anthemic refrains,
and warning, I'm about to sound like a total grandma
right now, but have you heard some of those lyrics?
(01:31):
Yes, I know. I'm not telling you anything you don't
already know, but it's actually kind of perversely funny to
think about so much of the subject matter across all
genres of music that we will happily sing or hum
along to and vibe to thanks to the power of
the killer hook. One such example is, of course, the
topic of today's episode, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's 20.
(01:52):
Hi, Drop It Like It's hot, a number one hit
on the Hot 100 pop songs for 3 of its
outstanding 30 weeks, with lyrical content so interesting, it has
not one but 2 radio edits, a normal one, which
cuts out the swears, and an extra clean version for
everything else. But we'll get into that later.
(02:14):
After breaking out in the early to mid 1990s during
the emergence of the West Coast gangster rap scene alongside
such hip hop icons like NWA and Tupac, Snoop Dogg
or Snoop Doggie Dog, as he was originally known, made
waves with his 1993 debut album Doggy Style on Death
Row Records, the home at the time of Tupac, Dr. Dre,
(02:36):
and other notable rap names. Snoop would be credited with
being hugely influential in bringing the sounds of G.
the mainstream with his two top 10 hits, Who Am I,
What's My Name, and Gin and Juice. G Funk, short
for Gangster Funk, brought a groovier funk inspired production style
to the gangster rap stylings of early 90s hip hop,
(02:58):
and Snoop was at the forefront of the movement with
his softer spoken drawl and layers of crawling and vibrating
synthesizers and soulful bass licks. Gangster rap, as you may
well be aware, was and technically still continues to
Incredibly controversial thanks to its often violent and sexist too
misogynistic lyrical content. We don't need to get into the
(03:21):
entire debate around it on this episode, as it really
is one of music's classic controversies surrounding artistic freedom, freedom
of expression, interpretation of lyrics, and overall media literacy. But
when Snoop Dogg did his first ever interview with Rap
City creator Michelle Geister, he insisted his music was for everyone.
(03:43):
It's just like that. I mean, I make my music
for everybody.
Yeah. Now, um, Doggy style, when I, uh, received it,
the record company called me up and go, you know,
it's a party record. And I listened to it and
I went, yeah, this is a party record. Exactly. You
could just put it on at a party and let
it ride from beginning to the end, and everybody will
enjoy it. So that's what our mission was when we
(04:03):
set out to do it was to make music and
make people happy, not to make people want to go
commit crime, but to make people, you know, party and
be in a different atmosphere. That's why I don't understand
why they label this.
Rap that we do is violent when it makes people happy,
it makes people wanna party, makes people wanna go out
and meet people, you know what I'm saying? That's the
kind of rap I put down.
Um, I think maybe some of the people who don't
(04:26):
understand rap, you know, that you've got to know the
codes to understand what's being said, and people just see
the icons, the imagery that stands out, and what they see,
for one thing is guns, so that to them they
associate with violence. But even if we, if even if
we don't mention those guns or put those guns on videos,
people are still going to die.
(04:48):
Of violent crimes with or without rap, so they can't
fault me or fault no other rap artists for the
crimes that takes place because we just telling you what's
going on uncut. Still considered gangster rap due to his
alleged affiliation and constant references to the rolling twenties Crips
of Long Beach, California, Snoop was actually on trial at
(05:10):
the time of that interview and during the release of.
Style and was charged with first degree murder for the
shooting of Philip Walder Maram, a member of a rival gang.
With all eyes on Snoop, the high profile nature of
the case is thought to have actually helped sales of
Doggy style, but the lyrics of the album track that
glorified and aligned himself with gang violence, Murder was the case,
(05:33):
did make things difficult for Snoop in his not guilty plea.
Represented by defense.
Attorney Johnnie Cochran, famous for representing OJ Simpson, Snoop and
his defense claimed that his bodyguard was the shooter and
acted in self-defense. Snoop was actually acquitted in 1996 with
the case being sealed for good just last year. So
(05:54):
here's TMZ with the details of what sealing the case
actually means. What
Speaker 2 (05:59):
we've seen Snoop become, there are probably a lot of
people walking around today who don't even know.
This chapter of Snoop's life. But back in '93, he
was arrested and he was actually charged with murder. The
verdict came down in '96 and he was found not
guilty and he was found not guilty, but he took
steps this year. We just found out, broke the story
today on Teams of hip hop. He took steps earlier
(06:19):
this year to seal that case, and we think we
know why he did it now, but the judge did
sign off and
Sealed the case and by the way, that means essentially
that if you wanted to look for it, you would
never find it, that it's basically hidden away and it's done.
(06:40):
This is done from time to time, you know, in
court just out of fairness and judges have that discretion
after
Speaker 1 (06:46):
his acquittal and the high profile murders of label mate
Tupac Shakur in 1996 and New York's notorious BI.
In '97, Snoop would realize the danger in being involved
in the gangster rap scene and begin making moves professionally.
He would leave Death Row Records for Master P's No
Limit Records and officially re-christen himself Snoop Dogg. He'd tell
(07:09):
much as Master T. You won't hear us over here
at no limit doing nothing like that. We're too concerned
we're trying to make real records and make records and
make people want to dance and feel it.
And you know, reminiscing and want to, you know, do
something right what they said with all that while still
releasing music at a prolific rate at the end of
the 90s, Snoop Dogg transitioned himself to a sort of
(07:29):
featured artist extraordinaire in the early 2000s, first reuniting with
NWA's mastermind, Dr. Dre on his classic album 2001, which
was actually released at the end of 1999.
Dre had produced a countless amount of Snoop Dogg songs
over the years, and they'd hooked up previously on Dre's
(07:49):
debut single, the controversial Deep Cover and his album, The
Chronic single, Nothing but a G Tang to major acclaim.
Snoops featured on 4 songs on the album, hit singles,
Still Dre and the next episode and um 2 others.
Also in the 2000s, Snoop would further soften his gangster
image by collabing with way more pop focused artists including
(08:14):
Mariah Carey and a collaboration with at the time barely
13-year-old Lil Bow Wowow on the 2000 track Bow Wow,
That's My Name, and a 12-year-old Ruby Carr was going
crazy for that one.
As writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine would write, after the popularity
of gangster rap waned in the late 90s, Snoop Dogg
(08:34):
proved himself to be a masterful chameleon, riding his pot
loving image in various directions that helped buoy his career
through the 2000s. I don't need to tell you that
allusions to smoking weed and gangster rap have gone hand
in hand since, well, as far back as I can remember.
Dre's debut album was called The Chronic after all, and
(08:55):
the aforementioned 2001 album was infamous for its sometimes censored
pot leaf on its front cover, but not since Willie
Nelson had an artist branded themselves so strongly as the
stoner musical savant. It's weird too. While some artists were
villainized for their drug and alcohol use, Snoop found himself
celebrated for it, and that's not judgment, by the way,
(09:17):
I'm just stating that fact. It truly seemed as if
More Snoop Dogg leaned into his lovable stoner persona, the
more mainstream and visible he became. It was like, oh,
there's Snoop smoking his weed again. What will he do next,
that lovable guy? So much has Snoop Dogg become synonymous
with weed, it became national news when he announced he
(09:38):
was giving up the smoke in 2023, which of course
just turned out to be a marketing stunt for a
brand deal with a fireless smoke pit. Well played, Mr. Dog,
well played.
By 2002, it felt more than natural that a pop-leaning
Snoop Dogg's next move would be to hook up with producer, songwriter,
musical genius Pharrell Williams for the very first time. Now,
(10:02):
of course, much like Snoop himself in 2025, Pharrell is
a much beloved living legend of the game, but it's
crazy to note that even some 23 plus years ago,
Pharrell and his
Toon's cohort Chad Hugo were already responsible for so many
certified bangers across all facets of pop music. We're going
(10:23):
to have to do an insane like Pharrell Neptune's megaode
in the future, but just to refresh your memory, by
the time Snoop met Pharrell in 2002, Williams and or
Hugo had already blessed us with.
Britney Spears, Boys and I'm a Slave for you. Fire, Fire,
(10:43):
Justin Timberlake's Like I Love You, as well as NSYNC's
final hit Girlfriend, and Nelly's hot in here, just to
name a few. So it's kind of surprising that Snoop
Dogg and Pharrell's first collab from the Judge to the
Palace from his 2002 Capitol Records album, paid the costs
to be a Boss, kind of fell flat.
(11:04):
Here's Pharrell and Snoop talking about the track with Scott
Venner for Othertone at ComplexCon in 2016. And
I'll never forget I thought from the church to the
palace was going to be the hardest record out, and
it was for us like the video, the video was sick, yeah.
But that wasn't the record that did it. Sure, it's
(11:26):
got all the signature bouncing Neptune synths and laid back
Snoop Dogg Flo, but it is surprisingly hopeless and dare
I say kind of boring. It wouldn't really matter though
because Neptun's would produce and release a second Pharrell and
Snoop Collab from De Boss. That would be a banger.
2003's Ode to Love, Beautiful.
(11:48):
Beautiful. A song that I could imagine was 100% originally
presented to Justin Timberlake to crew over. Could you hear that?
It sounds exactly like Justified Ea JT in melody and production,
but it's Snoop's Playboy meets lover boy flow that truly
pushes that song into pop smash territory.
(12:09):
Snoop kind of charmingly snarls through his most toned down
rhymes to date, only 2 references to weed and 2
passing references to Crip's affiliations, while Pharrell repeats the impossibly
high falsetto, but insanely catchy, beautiful. I just want you
to know, see, it's too high for me. It's too high,
but it's so good.
(12:29):
Snoop continues to show off his softer side before the
song kind of fades out into a wholesome hand clapping
refrain of, say, I just want you to know that
you are really special. It's so good. The collaboration also
featuring Charlie Wilson will go to number 6 on the
Billboard Hot 100, Snoop's highest pop charting release as a
(12:50):
main artist since Gin and Juice in the early 90s,
and suddenly the rebirth of Snoop Dogg was in full swing.
Beautiful would go on to win Pharrell the Producer of
the Year non-classical Award at the 2004 Grammys, while the
song would go on to be nominated for Best Rap
Song and Best rap slash sung collaboration at the same
(13:11):
year ceremony.
It would come up short in both categories, losing to
Kanye West for Jesus Walks in the rap category and
lose to an encore OG episode subject. Beyonce and Jay-Z
is crazy in love for the rap slash song award,
but I mean, hey, if you're gonna lose, it might
as well be to Beyonce.
(13:31):
With all the praise and chart success beautiful bestowed upon them,
it's no surprise that Snoop and Pharrell would choose to
strengthen the nature of their relationship. Snoop would leave Capitol
and sign for Pharrell's Star Trek Records in a collaboration
deal with his own Doggy Style Records and major label
Geffen Records. Released on November 16, 2004, R&G, Rhythm and
(13:56):
Gangsta would be Snoop Dogg's 7th solo album with plenty
of hip hop, pop and soul features across the record.
It included the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Little John,
and even Bootsy Collins and the Bee Gees. While the
Neptunes wouldn't physically produce every single track on the album,
Pharrell and Chad Hugo would serve as executive producers of sorts,
(14:19):
as well as directly have a hand.
In no less than 5 of the album's 20 tracks.
One of those tracks was, of course, lead single, Drop
It Like It's Hot, released at the end of September 2004.
An absolutely undeniable minimalist banger, the Neptune's produced beat is
actually just tongue clicks, a drum machine, occasional keyboard riffs,
(14:43):
and spray cans. The story of
How the track came together is part environment inspired creative genius,
part healthy competition, and partly just straight up fear. As
Snoop would tell Amazon for their Words plus music series,
to him, Pharrell was like a mad scientist coming up
with borderline indiscernible vocal melodies and beats that he could
(15:06):
turn into magic. We had the record plant, he in
the back.
With the keyboards, it's just him and the engineer, and
he ain't even got the beat all the way made.
He's just like.
Mm mm mm mm mm mm. It's that part and
he like I with this. I'm like, what you say?
(15:27):
He like, That's how this need to get out. He
don't say words. He just. So it's my job to
make that shit make sense to put words to this.
Uh. So I'm hearing it. Cool. So he got a verse.
(15:50):
While Snoop remembers it glowingly, Pharrell, on the other hand,
was probably just playing it cool because he remembered the
experience as one that was a little bit more nerve-wracking
than the always laid back Snoop did. Here they are
joking around about the experience on Snoop's YouTube channel for
his DoubG News Network in 2014. You know what I'm saying?
(16:12):
I know why that came out. You were in the room, man.
You was there. Yeah, it was like 40 crips in there.
Dark blued out like and and I've never seen, and
these guys are just standing around waiting on a record. Yeah,
and meanwhile, I mean, you feel like you're playing a
video game Jay Z. Get dog one, man, listen.
(16:36):
You pulled that out your head. As Snoop and the
Neptunes worked the song out, it was Chad Hugo's idea
to throw the crashing keyboards and heavy percussion into the
track in between verses, while the contact high induced visions
of gang members tagging rival gangs turf with spray paint
gave Williams the idea for the whisper-like spraying sounds.
(16:59):
Y'all motherfuckers had some shit, man. Thank you, man. Y'all
shit was cutting edge. It was that you know what?
Chad's a genius and I.
You know, he's the ultimate partner and my mother right there, Chad,
what did it do? You put that piece on that
drop it like a side. We thought it was done
so you put that.
I rent.
(17:22):
When you put that mother that was like the candle
on the cake. We was like, god damn.
We was ahead of the game, hey, yeah, but I, I, I,
I was, I was reading the room. I was in
there with all that crip. I'm just, hey, that's what
it was that and a hell of a lot of contact.
Yeah, it was I got I I made the beat.
(17:42):
I started putting like spray cans on them. You did. You,
you did that's what you did. You was like put
that on there too. Put that on there. So effect
where somebody spray painting some gang shit on the wall.
I'm like this is really into this shit right here.
With the beat nearing completion and the hook.
Transforming from mumbles to earworms, Pharrell and Snoop began thinking
(18:04):
of verses to turn Drop it like it's hot into
the hit we know today. Another tall task that got
their competitive juices flowing. Here they are again at Otherone
at ComplexCon. But, but Dropping like it's hot was so
dope cause see,
You had the first verse, right, and your verse was hard.
You were bodyguard hard, right? And I thought for sure
(18:26):
you're gonna kick me off. No, no, no, no, but this,
this is the crazy part that they may not know.
As Snoop would recall to Words plus music, he was
actually so impressed with Pharrell's swagged out verse, he certainly
wasn't gonna kick Williams off the song like Pharrell himself feared.
If anything, he wanted Pharrell's verse to go first.
I'm like, *** that's pimping. You got to say that.
(18:50):
I know this is my song, but that shit home.
You're going first. Cool. He dropped his shit. So now
I'm like, OK, now this took the bar all of this.
I cannot let Pharrell out wrap me on my mothering song. Boom. Yes,
things would get a bit sticky as the lines would
get a little bit blurred between Pharrell and Snoop, the
equal status co-artists versus Pharrell, the producer and Snoop the.
(19:15):
rapper because when Snoop Dogg entered the booth full of
piss and vinegar and probably cannabis, ready to out-rhyme his
fashionable friend, Pharrell listened back to Snoop Dogg's verse and
in a room full of 40 alleged Crips had to
tell him he just wasn't feeling it and thought the
DOGG could do much better. Here's Snoop and Pee with
(19:37):
Scott Venner again in 2016. But this, this is the
crazy part that they may not know, so I do.
My verse, oh.
And you don't like it. You're like, no, you could
come harder than that. So then I had to re-whip
it and do it again. And then when I re-whipped it,
I did that one and I did that one and
(19:57):
it was magic and it was the fact that you
even told me like no, you can.
And my verse is harder than yours in so many words,
that's what you're saying, not in no certain terms, that's
what you were saying. You was like, You know my
verse is like harder than yours, so you know, I'm like, OK,
that's what I like to be pushed like that. Like
I Snoop would remain faithful to that sentiment to the
(20:18):
Guardian in 2015 too, telling the outlet, when I work
with Pharrell, he allows me to be me, but also
gives me great direction on
Which is the best me. He loves to critique me
and he loves to take criticism, he says. It makes
it challenging in the studio and I like to be challenged.
I don't like everybody to agree with everything that I'm doing.
So now the song is done, right? You've got a beat,
(20:40):
you've got the hook, you've got the verses, honed to perfection.
Time to pop some champagne and light up a weight. Nope,
Pharrell wants to show the track to Dr. Dre.
Yes, for reasons I don't fully understand because I'm, you know,
not a multi-platinum recording artist. I know, shocking. Pharrell was
so proud of the work he did with Snoop Dogg
(21:00):
that night, he immediately wanted to show it off and
get critiques from Snoop's friend and constant collaborator, Dr. Dre
and Mr. 1000 Miles himself, Jimmy Iovine. So, if you
have an opportunity to make a record.
That can compete with anything that Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Dre did. What are you gonna do? Hey, Dre, Jimmy,
(21:21):
come out of the studio. I got something I need
y'all to hear this for real. So while I'm in
the studio, they tell me, Dre and Jimmy on their way.
I'm like, huh? So now my heart beating fast cause
I'm
Like I'm nervous as a like a little kid cause
Dre don't like nothing. This don't like nothing. I'm like
scared like that he gonna come and say you don't
like it. So I'm like they on their way like, yeah,
they be in about 15 minutes. I'm like, cool. All right,
(21:43):
I'm gonna go in the back room and roll up.
I jumped in my car and left.
I boned out and left, so Dre and Jimmy in
the studio and Pharrell played for him. Now, Pharrell calling me.
And I don't wanna answer the phone. I'm like, so
I answered the phone. It ain't for real, it's Dr. Dre.
(22:06):
And they said, this shit right here.
And I was like
Oh my God.
Oh, and by the way, it's my first number one single. Honestly,
Snoop Dogg has never seemed more relatable to me in
my entire life. He literally said, Oh cool, you're gonna
show off this new unreleased song to two of the
(22:28):
most powerful men in music, including one of the dudes
who helped put me on the map at the very
beginning of my career.
Yeah, that's too awkward. I'm out of here. So by now,
Snoop Ferrell, Chad, Doctor Dre and Jimmy Iovine were well
aware of the power of the soon to be minimalist
club banger that is Drop It Like It's hot, like
(22:48):
Snoop would tell Hannahsu for much soon after the song's release.
It's a, it's a magical moment when you have a
hit record, it's like magic is.
You feel that everybody in the room feel it when it's,
when it's played, it, it makes people smile, dance. It's
just something about it. It's like your favorite record, you
know what I'm saying, whatever it is, when you hear it,
you just close your eyes and you just same with
(23:09):
us in the studio when we make it, when we
feel it, we fall in love with our records first
before you get a chance to love them, we have
to really love them because these babies, these records are
like our babies, they're like our kids, you know what
I'm saying? It's like we put them together, we made them.
And we want to make sure that they sound completely
right before you get a chance to hear them, so
it's a privileged thing. Everyone involved knew it was a
(23:30):
sure thing, and how could it not be? It's just
so fun to sing. Drop it like it's hot, Drop
it like it's hot. Well, I'll give you one potential reason. Lyrically,
let me tell you, it's something else.
As Rap Reviews.com would note, the stripped down sound of
the Neptunes produced Drop It Like It's Hot has produced
one of Snoop's biggest hits to date. Ironically, it may
(23:53):
be in some ways more gangster-ish than his deep cover
debut in some aspects, but he's so chill about his delivery,
it doesn't sound the least bit menacing.
Go ahead and look up the lyrics to Deep Cover
if you want, but spoiler alert, the title track to
the 1992 Jeff Goldblum film of the same name that
was Snoop's official mainstream debut, deals heavily in the themes
(24:16):
of gun violence, gang activity, and murder. So how in
the world is this cute little spray can bop that
everyone and their literal grandmother were singing along to in 2005,
more gangster?
Well, as we noted earlier, Snoop had mostly toned down
his lyrical content throughout most of, if not all, his
(24:36):
radio friendly days. Um, sure, there were a few little
references to the color blue or the specific way a
bandana would be placed on a body, and of course, um,
I'm not the one to mess with implications, but like
it's innuendo, and remember this was cute Uncle Snoop, smoking
a joint.
Vibing, right? Wrong. Maybe it's because like Snoop mentioned, Pharrell
(24:57):
had really pushed him to go as hard as possible
in the track. Maybe it was the presence of 40
Crips in the room at the time of the song's conception,
but let me give you a safeish for work sample
of the lyrics of this eventual Billboard Hot 100 number
one pop hit. Cement shoes, now I'm on.
The move, your family's crying and now you on the news.
(25:19):
They can't find you, and now they miss you. Must
I remind you I'm only here to twist you, pistol
whip you, dip you, then flip you, then dance to
this mother effing music we grip to? Slightly menacing, and
that's not even touching on the fact that the literal
chorus implies if someone gives you attitude, you should, you know,
pop it like it's hot.
(25:39):
Is that not about balloons? It's not about popcorn. In
any case, Drop It Like It's hot, mania ran wild
in 2004, 2005. Of course, most, if not all, radio
stations and music video channels use the clean or extra
clean versions, depending on their comfort level with the gang
and gun references. So you could be forgiven if you
(26:02):
were mindlessly singing along while, you know, bringing your kids
to soccer practice. I checked, by the way, the extra
clean version has.
No less than 20 censored words in it, including 3
in the snippet of the verse I just recited to you.
So I'll let you guess which ones. Always fun to
listen to with every second word cut out, but it
didn't matter. The song would enter the Hot 100 at
(26:24):
a very respectable number 51 at the beginning of October,
and by December 11, 2004, it was the number one
song in America for three weeks, ending its run on
Christmas Day. So I guess Santa wasn't feeling it.
The song also topped the hot R&B, hip hop songs
and airplay charts, rap songs, rhythmic songs, digital songs, and
(26:47):
Hot 100 airplay charts. While the single itself weirdly only
went gold in America, it did go double platinum as
a ringtone. Remember those before we all put our phones
on silent? That's so fun. I'm pretty sure I had
that one and I also had Kelis milkshake. Should we
do a future episode on that song? I feel like
(27:07):
we should.
Anyway, back to Drop It Like It's hot. The striking
black and white video complete with Snoop doing the dance
move known as the Crip Walk at the beginning and
the end of the song plays into the spray painting
tagging sounds so synonymous with the production, and that video
currently sits at over 354 million views on YouTube.
(27:28):
Plus one from me just now. The iconic and often
memed Snoop dance in the Drop It video also recently
became a skin and emote in Fortnite, and the writers
at Encore put an explanation in here for me of
what that means, but I'll have you know I already knew.
Thank you very much. Not a regular mom, I'm a
cool mom.
At the end of the 2000s, Billboard would crown, Drop
(27:51):
it like it's hot, the number one rap song of
the decade, which is quite the achievement, as technically seven
songs had better runs on the rap songs charts that decade,
including past encore subjects.
Drake, Best I ever had, Missy Elliott's work it, and
50 Cents in the club. All in all, the song
(28:11):
remains Snoop Dogg's only number one as a main artist.
He does though have two other number ones as a
featured artist. Can you think of which ones those are?
I'm gonna give you a second to think. Can you
think of it?
Katy Perry's 2010 hit California Girls, I would have remembered
that one, but also his 2006 collab with Akon for
(28:31):
I Wanna Love You. Pharrell, on the other hand, would
actually go on to usurp Snoop's achievement with three more
number one hits, including Moneymaker with Ludacris, Blurred Lines with TI,
and Robin Thicke, and of course everyone's favorite bit of
minion's lore, 2013's Hack.
In doing research for this episode, there's a point in
(28:52):
that interview I played earlier where Michelle Geyser asks a
young doggy dog in early 1994 what he wants his
legacy to be in 10 years' time. He tells her
something that catches her and assumably the audience a little
bit off guard considering his hardened gangster image at the time.
What do you, where do you hope to be in
10 years? What do you? I want to be the eldest,
(29:14):
so why.
I don't know how you could perceive that, but the
reason why I say that is because he's been dead
about 20 years and they still won't let him they
won't let him rap because they have so much respect
for his music and that's what I want. Certainly lauding
a young Snoop Dogg as the Elvis of rap was
pretty much unthinkable in '94, but just over 10 years
(29:36):
from that interview, we were.
Definitely still celebrating him with his first number one hit,
and now just over 20 years on, I checked the numbers,
he does have more monthly listeners than the King, so
maybe he wasn't all that far off. He ain't nothing
but a hound dog after all. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
(29:56):
I'm Ruby Carr. Thank you so much for listening.
to Encore and the story of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's
Drop It Like It's Hot. I'll have to do a
different podcast all about his friendship with Martha Stewart. I
feel like that needs its own episode. New episodes of
Encore every Thursday, and you can always leave us a
review and let us know what songs you'd like to
hear next. Encore is an iHeart Radio Canada podcast. Download
(30:20):
the free iHeart Radio app and subscribe. Thank you. Thank
you so much for coming.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.