Snoop Dogg Talks This Generation’s Rappers Biting Styles Versus Paying Tribute

“I DON’T KNOW WHO IS WHO WHEN THE RECORD IS OVER”

(AllHipHop News) Snoop Dogg is now an OG in the rap game. His latest album Bush comes 22 years after his debut Doggystyle, so the Long Beach legend has seen Hip Hop’s transformation over the last two decades firsthand.

In Snoop’s view, one thing that has changed is the way modern-day rappers borrow from their predecessors. He spoke about biting versus paying tribute during an interview with Pigeons and Planes.

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Snoop said:

I don’t know who is who when they doing that rap style, and I love them all! I love Future, Migos, I love all them. Drake. They my n*ggas, but I don’t know who is who when the record is over. When I came out as a rapper, everyone had their own style. If you sounded like someone else, that word was called biting. You biting my style, you biting my sh*t. If you paying tribute, like I did with “La Di Da Di” with Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh—I paid n*ggas who I grew up loving. I’m gonna redo your song, get you paid all over again, and let everybody know it’s your sh*t, and put a twist on it for the new kids who don’t even know it exist. That’s a different way of showing love as opposed to everyone rapping the same style.

Atlanta-based producer Zaytoven addressed the topic of rappers biting other rapper’s style with AllHipHop.com in January. Zay specifically commented on how his regular collaborators Migos’ “Versace” flow became extremely popular over the last few years.

Zaytoven said:

I would really say it’s biting. Guys like Migos – what made those guys popular was their flow. That’s what made them stand out. I know last year after the song came out, every rapper that’s in the game was using that same flow. So I almost see it as biting, because people will wear it out.

It will make Migos seem less special when everybody else is doing the same thing they did. It starts getting watered down when everybody uses it, so I think it’s a form of biting.

[ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: “Versace” Producer Zaytoven Says Rappers Using Migos’ Flow Is Biting]