Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent have joined forces as a four-man unit for the first time on a new song called “Gunz N Smoke,” which pays homage to the late, great Notorious B.I.G.
Despite being longtime friends and collaborators who have worked together in different combinations over the last 25 years, the rap legends have never previously all featured on the same song.
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The heavyweight track comes courtesy of Snoop and Dre’s new album Missionary and finds 50, Snoop and Em trading rejuvenated rhymes over groovy production from the Aftermath founder.
The G-Unit boss fires the starting pistol with a fleet-footed verse warning his opps about his firepower, before Tha Doggfather takes the baton and moves through the gears with various flows.
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Biggie’s presence is felt throughout the first half as 50 adopts the Bad Boy MC’s cadence and spits: “Red dot ya, I got ya / B.I.G. time, who shot ya?” — just as Dre drops in a heavy-bottomed bassline that harks back to “Hypnotize.”
Snoop repurposes Big’s “you should too, if you knew” lyric from “Notorious Thugs” in his verse, while a sample of his “gunsmoke!” line from “Dead Wrong” rings throughout.
Carrying the collab across the finish line, Eminem delivers a typically intricate and technical verse that finds him reflecting on his chaotic upbringing, past propensity for violence and maturity into middle-aged mellowness.
Missionary was released on Friday (December 13) and serves as the long-awaited (and amusingly-titled) successor to Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut Doggystyle, which was also produced entirely by Dr. Dre.
The 16-track album boasts further appearances from the likes of Method Man, Jelly Roll, Jhené Aiko and BJ The Chicago Kid, as well as rock legends Sting and Tom Petty.
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Missionary has been one of Hip Hop’s most eagerly awaited releases since it was first announced by Snoop in late 2022.
During an appearance on former NBA stars Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s All the Smoke podcast earlier this year, the Death Row Records boss explained how the idea for the album came about.
“[Dre] called me one day about two years ago. He was like, ‘N-gga, come over, let me do a couple of songs with you,'” Snoop said.
“I go over there and he like, ‘N-gga, let me do your album.’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go!’ We go in, knock out a couple of songs. He hit me back: ‘I need two more days.’ I got that call probably about 85 times [laughs]. This n-gga need two more days all the time.
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“But when you hear what we have and how he got me rapping, it’s like a grown Snoop Dogg. There’s some growth to him. It’s the way he selects his bars, it’s the way he uses his voice. [Dr. Dre] uses me like a fucking robot and I love it because I love to be produced. I love to be challenged.”
