Vince Staples has elaborated on Snoop Dogg’s presence in Hip Hop and how the veteran inspired him as a kid who also grew up in Long Beach.
In an episode of Podcast P that went live on Monday (February 12), the 30-year-old MC discussed music, basketball and making his own show, among other things. During the conversation, host Paul George asked Staples about Tha Doggfather’s influence on him, considering they’re both from the same part of California.
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“I think the best thing about Snoop is that he never felt out of reach,” Staples answered. “He[‘s] never being weird, bro, there’s no other way to put it; he’s just not weird.
“Being a kid, I don’t think I even like realized how big — all him, Warren G — I didn’t realize how big all of them were ’cause you would just see them on a random day amongst their people.”
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He added: “As far as I know, especially with us as children, it was always a positive interaction. You learned a lot from that, especially coming from street life.”
Listen to the “Norf Norf” hitmaker talk about the West Coast legend at the 48:10 mark below:
Vince previously discussed growing up in Long Beach during an appearance on ESPN a few years ago. In 2016, the rapper and actor made an appearance on Highly Questionable to talk about gang culture in the city and trying to steer clear of it as a child.
“That kind of directed our path along with other things,” he said. “Just getting into the gang stuff, the trouble stuff, all the things that kids fall victim to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Gang life is something that’s just a part of our community, where we come from. If you think about history of Black people and Hispanic people in Los Angeles County or Southern California in general, that’s one of the only things we have culturally and spews from things that had a positive message.”
He added: “All these people we know as political activists, which people don’t know kinda sparked that whole identity of gang life — it’s just part of our culture, and with idle time and immaturity which comes from being a child, you kinda fall into the wrong things and especially with the wrong guidance.
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“Things sorta get diluted the longer they’ve been separated from their origin. It’s just something that’s already there, but if you have nothing better to do, you often find time to do the wrong things and that’s just kinda where that fell into play.”
