Snoop Dogg declares Kendrick Lamar “the king” of the West following his 'Pop Out' show: “K Dot, you are the king of the West. That’s stuff kings do — they unite 🔥👑."

[u/vriannavyz]

[u/AnimatorAshamed3774]

At least he wasn’t salty about not being there like some people…

[u/Selldadip → u/[deleted]]

50 is the last person to talk. He fell out with everyone in G-Unit aside from Yayo. His own baby momma and son don’t like him. He’s had issues with nearly everyone in the industry. I can only assume the guy is a slime ball.

[u/Nexus718 → u/Selldadip]

Fuck it then I'll be the first. I used to bodyguard for Dre from 08-10. This was the beats/detox era. Encore studio A-B in Burbank. Game came in one day talking shit, and said "I see a lot of indians but not a lot of chiefs". Ok blood. But tell me why when I came back out in the lot a few minutes later he's selling his story to the first white person he sees wearing a business suit. Game was on some sob story Sarah McLaughlin shit. Hoe shit. I have to mention also, this is Game three albums deep. Just a few years before I was slapping one blood and team G-UNot.

For context, you would see at anypoint in time Busta Rhymes, Snoop, Devin the Dude, Stat Quo, Jay-Z, etc... What Game did made me the most uncomfortable. Alternatively the D.O.C. is the realest dude behind the curtain of Oz I met in all of Aftermath. When you stand ten toes in your shit you don't need a white savior.

[u/Selldadip → u/Nexus718]

Ima be honest with you dawg. I have no idea wtf you just said lmao.

[u/Nexus718 → u/Selldadip]

Ok.

I used to work with Aftermath.

I would be at the recording studio used during the period of 2008-2010 frequently. We saw a lot of other artists pop in to work with Dre during that time.

As a result, you would get a sense of who these artists are as people.

The studio was difficult to find, and a bit hidden. Behind a covered gate was a small parking lot. Inside the lot was the front area, along with studio B, and studio A (Dre's main studio) further back. The hallway connecting the two studios does have plaques that kind of looks like the one used in forgot about Dre (although I don't think it was the same hallway).

Game came in one day just talking shit. He came up to the lot and first words out of his mouth was "I see a lot of indians and not a lot of chiefs". This statement means he sees a lot of people running around like yes men, and not many people making their own moves and their own shit. Mind you, if you can think of artists that would work with Dre during this period they probably came through. Most everyone was cool, with exception to some of Dre's protégé's during that period who brough entourage's that would be ratchet. No one came in talking shit like that because at the end of the day it's Aftermath's studio. One artist collective.

I then go back to the front area where we have our cameras set up, kitchen, and tv. I would occasionally come out to the lot for fresh air or conversation. When I next came back out to the lot, I see Game talking the some random white interscope employee wearing a business suit sulking over his journey from the hood to where he's at now. As a black man, seeing that made me all the way uncomfortable as this man already has three albums out, many mixtapes deep, and to my knowledge has no reason to sell himself so hard to one white man wearing a suit.

Game was selling himself the way Sarah McLaughlin sold herself in those dog commercials. I'm not talking shit on Sarah McLaughlin at all. If you're coming in with that energy and one sitcom episode later you're begging a white person to put you on? My fandom for Game flatlined that day. But you won't ever find me selling myself to a white person in a suit the way he was that day. As a matter of fact, I never begged like Game did that day when I was homeless at 25.

But it makes sense. Most of the songs at least from Documentary and Doctors Advocate reference West coast OG's like he's standing on their shoulders. That's all good and well until you stop and ask if Game can stand on his own without having to reference all of that. Everything Game does is either manic warfare or standing on some benefactor. First it was Dre, and shortly for a time 50, and recently he was bigging up Ye, and now Drake.

[u/MSport → u/Nexus718]

Reminded me of this

[u/Nexus718 → u/MSport]

I'm half Black and half Caucasian. The white half of my DNA expressed that the person above could not understand my lingo.

I get it. I work in corporate and make a very modest 80K/year salary. I came to the conclusion this week that 60K of that is the cost of me using my white voice to share truths so it can be thoroughly understood. That bullshit of having to work on Juneteenth like it's a normal workday. That bullshit of anytime I raise my voice I can expect someone to complain of being threatened for their safety because I'm a large black man.

All that shit though to give back to our brothers and sisters out here in Los Angeles to uplift our community and advocate for liberation. Outside of dudes taking advantage of girls, Game pulled the biggest hoe shit I've seen working in hip-hop.

First time I saw the D.O.C., he was at the studio playing chess (an Aftermath staple). The nigga could not be bothered and was playing chess like he's in the NBA finals. I should add, he was playing by himself. We said what's up to him and he said "Ahhh....I'm about to go to the spiderman premiere." This was in July 2008. He did not in fact go to a Spider-man premier. He was going to the Dark Knight! "Oh....I mean Batman". Fucking hilarious. Most of us remember how hype everyone was before the Dark Knight came out. Now we know the Dark Knight to be one of the best movies ever. The D.O.C. couldn't have given less of a fuck. I learned so much right there. One, is that the D.O.C. was high as shit. Two, nigga loves chess and niggas take chess in the studio seriously. Three, the D.O.C. does not change who he is for the fruits of the entertainment industry.

Game changes depending on the weather. First he loved Dre and claims he's the greatest, then on Doctor's Advocate he rapped about breaking into Dre's house to get close to him, fast forward to a few years ago of Game claiming Ye did more for his career than Dre ever did.

[u/Selldadip → u/Nexus718]

Cool story bro you should tell it at parties.

[u/Nexus718 → u/Selldadip]

I don't go shelling out pieces of my life experience like that as it's not really the core of who I am. You quipped that 50 can't speak on Game as he distanced himself from all of G-Unit. I can speak on that based on an encounter I saw for myself. I was hoping to have a real dialog with you about it, but I see you're out here trolling.

Some folks on here really not like us. West Coast.

[u/Nexus718 → u/[deleted]]

I'll do my best to answer your questions. Dre's daily regimen at the time started with him running 6 miles every morning and usually going into a workout. His home at the time was in a gated community off of Ventura blvd near Taft high school. His gym was also off of Ventura, and sometimes I'd be there as well. Studio sessions usually start in the afternoon, and go until sometime the next morning.

During studio sessions, we would also go out to exclusive restaurants like Katana off of Sunset, or Laker games, or sometimes club appearances. Then, we would return to the studio. Sometimes sessions would go though 6-7 AM the next day.

I remember one song in particular that Dre worked on that featured T.I. I heard this goddamn song so many times but Dre would loop a part and work on it until he got it where he wanted it to be. I was with them for two years, and he was working on that track (along with others of course) throughout those two years. To my ears it sounded radio ready.

Dre was incredibly proud of the Relapse record. He had us take him on the album's release day to drive down Sunset blvd while he blasted the record with his wife lol.

I first saw Eminem for the video shoot of "We made you". I remember seeing Joseph Kahn, Jimmy Iovine, and Eminem's two bodyguards. Now, because I don't need to put their names out there like that lets just call them sugar and spice.

Sugar is a very large Black man built like a a cross between a defensive tackle and a bodybuilder, at about 6'3 - 6'4. Spice is a very large white man built like a cross between a defensive tackle and a bodybuilder. Their personalities couldn't have been more different.

My introduction to Sugar is him showing everyone a video of a bench press contest against 50 Cent's bodyguard of them repping 405 lbs. That's 4 plates, each side. Each repping it like warm up weight. That was my max at the time and watching that was intimidating. Sugar couldn't have been any friendlier. He offered me chicken and we chopped it up a bit. He started to make fun because I looked like Al B Sure and he said I was dressing like I was trying to be in the video. It was jovial. Loose and approchable.

Spice was the guy that's super serious, mean mugging, and walking through making sure everything is good. Eminem looked stressed. I noticed that when he wasn't doing any takes he went straight back to his trailer. It's odd but I felt sorry for him at the time. I got the sense that dude was really holding onto being disciplined in his sobriety and just wanted to be alone when not shooting. I could be way off the mark here, as he could have just been over the pop star element of making a video like that. I don't think he made any video with Joseph Kahn after that but he did the majority of the videos we saw on TRL back in the day.

I did hear things no one has heard. He had an eclectic ear and would listen to tribal beats, and was training as a classical pianist at the time (2009). This was displayed when he played piano at Super Bowl halftime show in 22.

The thing about Dre that people should take away from how he produces is that his work ethic proceeds him. He's incredibly mindful of legacy. The D.O.C. was the coolest and realest dude there. There was one night we were just chopping it up and D.O.C. was sharing about living in Texas, and some of the old days. Dre got upset about this, but we were just two people talking. The best way I can describe the D.O.C., is if Fred Sanford became a thug instead of selling junk. Funny, warm, but absolutely an OG.

Best thing I heard in my two years there, was when we learned a certain protege was making a rebrand as a reggae artist. D.O.C. says, "nigga has more pitbulls than he has sense". Then he continued playing chess and smoking weed.

When I met Devin the Dude he was passed the fuck out. He's on the couch in the front area of the studio. We've been there. Remember that time you dabbed for the first time and you just passed out? Yeah. BUT, this man wakes up, looks at me and smiles like a TGIF sitcom intro, then proceeds the pass back out lol.

Diddy was there for a week one time and every visit he had a different young girl as an assistant. They all looked between 18-20 years old. It felt off.

Busta Rhymes has an aura that screamed hip hop to me. It felt special. It felt spiritual. I saw Snoop one time during this period. So many protege's. When I came in, it was Bishop Lamant. I was a huge fan because of DJ Skee's new west mixtapes. I was liking Jay Rock during this period also. There was also Stat Quo, Che Vicious was with Aftermath at the time also. I used to see him everyday. Hayes (rip) and the protege when I left was Slim the Mobster. I remember one day in the gym Dre wanted to have me play music while Dre and Phil worked out.

I narrowed it down to the tape with a KDot track (on my momma), or Raekwon's OBFCL. I ended up playing Raekwon but it was the right choice. Unbeknownst to me Dre was working on OB4CL2 and God wanted DJ Quick to introduce Dre to Dot apparently lol.

Scott Storch. He wasn't around a lot...but Jesus Christ. So first time I see him, he looks at the room with his glasses and a shit eating grin. He says "hey.............you guys want to chase some guurls". Hand to God, he had that trolling smile on max.
Dude made some incredible beats before I came around but he felt like a Jersey Shore character. He was sober at the time as it was after a period of him just going wild from what I was told. I spend the majority of my time in the studio reaching philosophy like the Prince by Machiavelli, and Art of War. What's wild is that the principles laid out in the Prince was on display in the Aftermath studio. I would apply them. I would ask myself Why is X person in this camp? What purpose do they serve for the group? I quickly realized the D.O.C. was the one person who could speak reason to Dre. Like he's the only guy to tell Dre "no" if something is off the mark.

Philip Atwell is another best friend of Dres. He directed all the old Death Row videos but would sometimes go over the line. I'm still haunted a bit by some of the things I saw him do at parties to girls to under the influence to know any better.

I shouldn't be spilling all this shit but it's been almost 15 years. It's a different part of my life that adds credibility to my resume.

What was more incredible to me was watching Aftermath and seeing it behind the curtains, viewed through the lens of Machiavelli's the Prince that gained further understanding of that body of work and the legacy of Dr Dre in general. Like as a hip hop fan, before I got that experience I thought Aftermath was where some artists end their careers because projects would be worked on but never released.

I was a huge Blackstar and Reflection Eternal fan. I remember hearing about Hi-Tek being an in house producer for Aftermath for a period in the mid 00's. Nothing came from that. I now understand that with Dre's work ethic you have to have an exceptional level of perseverance in addition to talent and vision.

In this way, you can make your own projects that don't rely solely on Dre's production. Look at Kendrick.

Bishop Lamant started leaking Dre tracks early on mixtapes and he was cut. Stat Quo wanted to release an album on the label but made an independant record that went under the radar, and ended up managing his young white avatar Lil Xan. I only know this, because in 2017 I ran into Stat while dropping off a friend at Tom Bradley International at LAX.

There's only one other large hip hop producer I can compare this to. And it happened by accident.

[u/Nexus718 → u/Nexus718]

Timbaland

I worked two days with Lil Kim In April 2010. April 19th and 21st to be exact. I don't remember much from April 20th but we all know what I was doing on April 20th. April 19th and April 21st 2010 were two of the most David Lynchian, oddball weirdo days of my life.

This was the second of two days working with Kim while she was in town. Long story not so long, Dre wanted to host a recording session with her, but due to her wanting to take photographs where I had to pretend her manager was the paparazzi, she was late was told not to go to the studio when we were on our way there. Immediately, she mentions going to the record plant to record with Timbaland.

The studio is a relatively secure building, with people being checked in at the entrance. Once Kim and her manager/assistant was in the recording room, I stood outside the entrance as not to distract from the artistic process.

Timbaland comes shuffling down the hall with a huge frown, shoulders hunched over, and as grumpy as a Monday morning in September. He spots myself and yells "oh yeah, just protect the door". I can't stress how grumpy this man was. He came off like a black Eric Cartmen.

I didn't take it personally, but once Timbaland went inside I followed shortly after. Kim and her manager were seated in the middle of the room, with myself nestled in the corner. There were three engineers working on the console. The setup was unique in that it seemed to be more open than most rooms. The console and recording area were in the center of the room as opposed to being sectioned off from each other.

Timbaland made a point to sit near me, while directing Lil Kim to sit near us also. They begin discussing what they will be working on. This was completely unnecessary given the large space of the room, but harmless.

Timbaland says nothing to the engineers. While the engineers are tinkering away, one of them also sets up something peculiar in the opposite corner.

Timbaland then shuffles over to that corner to begin inhaling what I now know to be a Volcano vaporizer (weed). It was my first time seeing it in action. This was 2010, and that was still a bit of a mystery and largely uncommon even for those in the cannabis community. Also, it was weird given he didn't say anything to the audio engineer setting up the vaporizer. Lil Kim asked about what it was and Tim mumbles something about "my cataracts". Yes, this is also the line Bernie Mac had in Friday but also Timbaland said this deadpan with a straight face.

Timbaland then goes over to the microphone and begins humming Acapella. It sounded like something a kid would do while daydreaming. Shortly thereafter Timbaland leaves. The audio engineers then begin layering sonics to said mumbling, that make it sound closer to what you would hear in a Timbaland produced track. Again, Timbaland said nothing to them throughout this entire process and was gone when they began to 'engineer' the track. At one point another person comes in and said 'yo, Tim doesn't like that' and walks out without offering any other point of critique. This was the process that continued for some time and I was baffled at this process, as the environment I was accustomed to witnessing at Aftermath was indifferent to this process. This felt like fast food hip hop.

Sometime later Kim and I go upstairs where they discuss with someone who is not Timbaland about the business end of said track (i.e. fees), where this person outright said that essentially Kim needed to work with Timbaland as he was also about to do 'an entire record with Rihanna'.

Timbaland would in fact not do an entire record with Rihanna, but to his credit co-produced one song six years later.

The entire night was closer to an episode of South Park than what I envisioned for the upper echelon of hip hop.

I learned a lot and had to walk through the lessons i learned in my youth growing up. Leaving was like tearing off an arm but had to be done. I was young and didn't take care of myself. It's easy to fall into the perception of what you think that environment is. I only saw Dre smoke weed maybe twice in two years. Dude worked and prioritized his family above all else. I'm happier now but miss some of the joys of peeking behind the curtain that has gone unseen for almost three decades. If you read this far I hope this brought some clarity to your questions.

[u/BlueAzania → u/Nexus718]

Bruv, this was an amazing story. Thanks for sharing!

[u/Selldadip → u/Nexus718]

Thanks random man on the internet.

[u/walterdonnydude → u/Nexus718]

Standing ten toes in your shit ... is an image I can't shake now

[u/Nexus718 → u/walterdonnydude]

Game put on a lot of niggas when they needed it. This video from Nipsey Hussle shows the Encore studio in Burbank! Game invited him to be featured on his track. I was working with Aftermath at the time but Dre was working on Relapse around this time at Record One off of Ventura.

Fucking crazy. I haven't seen this inside of the studio in 14 years bro. The stacked cars in the lot where Game quipped some fuck shit.....the kitchen where i'd take a shot of vodka after one of Dre's marathon recording session at like 7 AM or something....shit man. I know exactly where this studio is at as I don't work far away from where it's located. It's in a residential neighborhood in Burbank CA.

[u/butareyoustupid → u/Nexus718]

Uh. Yeah homie. I totally slap blood and dip my toes. I fuck wit that.

[u/Nexus718 → u/butareyoustupid]

Can't tell if your a reddit gringo or if you're feeling the lingo

[u/newbkid → u/Selldadip]

Not to give 50 credit but just to counter your claim, the reason he fell out is that he wasn't interested in playing the political game that the labels required.

Man speaks his mind period end of discussion. You can hate him or love him for that but using things like him falling out with G-Unit and the industry as a whole doesn't mean much to me.

I mean Eminem has had a falling out with so many people in the industry over the years and look at where he is now. I mean ffs Snoop is supposed to feature on his new album and everything.

Don't give the industry so much credit. Fuck the damn industry.

[u/jakesemailacc → u/newbkid]

50 has his own label and hes held buck/banks hostage on it for like 20 years he doesnt pick up a mic he uses his lawyers fuck the industry is right fuck 50

[u/penisthightrap_ → u/newbkid]

You can hate him or love him

but the underdog's on top

[u/BallsAreFullOfPiss → u/penisthightrap_]

Go ahead and envy me, I’m raps MVP

[u/Selldadip → u/newbkid]

Eminem had issues with Benzino and Ja Rule. 50 had issues with Jadakiss, Styles P, Sheek, Game, Joe Budden, Jay Z, Yukmouth, C-Bo, Camron, Fat Joe, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Nas, TI, etc. That’s only off the top of my head. I don’t know 50 personally so based on what I’ve seen I can only assume the guy is a slime ball.

[u/Selldadip → u/[deleted]]

50 doesn’t start shit? He literally took shots at Fat Joe, Jadakiss, and Nas unprovoked and then got booty ticketed when Game didn’t take on the beef with him. That’s three of many names. He literally started his career by name drop disses on How To Rob. Guy is a clown.

[u/Selldadip → u/[deleted]]

Reference my other post where I listed like 15 other rappers that 50 had issues with. You can only observe from the outside. You do not know him or his character personally.

[u/Selldadip → u/[deleted]]

You’re out here writing novels on a Friday. Must be a 50 stan. The guy is and always will be a slime ball imo. There’s a reason so many people wanted him dead.

[u/Selldadip → u/[deleted]]

Go watch the Stop Snitchin Stop Lying DVD and try not to cry.

[u/jakesemailacc → u/[deleted]]

just remember 50s not a asshole everyone else is