SNOOP DOGG KIDS’ TV SHOW? F’SHIZZLE!
Snoop Dogg
Claude Brooks
October London
Everybody’s favourite canine rapper Snoop Dogg launches his latest business venture: a kids’ TV show
Snoop Dogg has dabbled in some eclectic business ventures over the years. He’s coached youth American football teams, dropped music as NFTs, published cookbooks (From Crook to Cook), directed pornographic movies and reportedly received a cool £5m extolling the joys of receiving “chicken wings to the crib” in the Just Eat videos. He’s also launched gluten-free cereals (Snoop Loopz), his own range of cannabis (Leafs by Snoop), a wine label (Snoop Cali Red) and a video gaming esports league, Gangsta Gaming League. In 2013 he even launched a vague precursor to crypto with his Snoopify app, where users could buy and sell virtual ‘stickers’ for real money. Then there was his Emmy-nominated cookery show Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party where the rapper and Martha Stewart unveiled their fried chicken recipe to the world. But his latest extracurricular activity is arguably the most public-spirited.
Doggyland – Kids’ Songs & Nursery Rhymes is a new animated children’s series which features a cast of cute canines who teach social, emotional and cognitive skills through the medium of song, dance and rap. The series is available on YouTube and YouTube Kids and was created with Hip Hop Harry creator Claude Brooks and wonderfully-named singer-songwriter London October.
According to Dogg, the series is aimed at “preschoolers, toddlers and eventually kids of all ages because it’s so influential, it’s so educational and it’s so fundamentally smart the way we put it together with song, dance and education.”
Doggyland’s audience might primarily consist of kids, but it has many elements that many businesspeople might recognise.
For a start, there’s mentoring: Snoop plays Bow Wizzle, an adult dog who mentors the younger pooches. Diversity is also a central theme. Says Dogg: “You can just be you and be accepted in Doggyland and what’s what these characters represent — diversity, so kids can learn to love each other from the beginning, because hate is what’s taught. Love is what’s in their heart.” Meanwhile, the energy and water bosses who received record bonuses this year might find Doggyland episode Sharing is Caring an enlightening watch.
"As a father, grandfather and long-time youth football coach, it's always been important to me to build positive and educational environments for all children,” he adds. “I've always wanted to create a kid friendly series that lets kids be kids and is truly representative of the culture with everything from the music to the characters.”