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CNN Larry King Live
Snoop Dogg On Reality, "Fatherhood", Politics & More!
Aired February 01, 2008 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBERTS: This is going to be a huge contest. 23 contests for the Democrats 21 for the Republicans. One side or another it could tell us who the nominee is going to be.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Snoop Dogg gets real and keeps it crack a lacking (ph). Rapper, Dogg father, football coach, TV star. The man who put the izzle in foshizzle (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG: It's a party, baby.
Why not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Talking family business and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG: And I might love it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Yes, it's Snoop Dogg for a surprising hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG: You better believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Next.
(VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Welcome to another edition of LARRY KING LIVE -- a night we've looked forward to for a long time. One of my favorite people -- a lot of people's favorite people -- he's Snoop Dogg. And he's with us right here with us in the studios. In fact, I believe he should be coming in. And there he is. Just look at that walk. Look at that casual air, that air of superiority. The Snoop man -- 6'4," 270 pounds. I know (INAUDIBLE) -- I feel like I'm at a boxing match. How you doing Snoop?
SNOOP DOGG: What's up with you, Larry?
How you doing today?
KING: How you doing?
SNOOP DOGG: I'm good.
KING: Why -- how does one -- we've got a lot of things to talk about, but how does one choose to become a rapper?
Why are you a rapper?
SNOOP DOGG: Well, when I was a kid I was infatuated with the rappers in the early '80s, who were, you know, able to put words together and rhyme and have melodies with it. And as an infatuation of mine, it made me want to, you know, become a part of it. So I learned how to do it and mastered it and here I am today.
KING: You did.
Was it very big in the early '80s?
SNOOP DOGG: In my community, in Long Beach, it was real big because it was always looked at as something that, you know, the New York rappers were like the dominant rappers. And then a couple of West Coast rappers were dominant, as well. But it was looked at as something that was farfetched for somebody from Long Beach. So it was a dream of mine and I wanted to be the first one to do it.
KING: It is music, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Music for us, baby (ph).
KING: Is it teachable?
SNOOP DOGG: It's very teachable. I mean it's -- it's actually -- people say that my music is like education to the kids because it's very like A-B-C. It's very melodic. It's very entertaining for the kids to listen to my music and to recite it.
KING: In a little while, we'll talk about an album you've got coming out in which you're going to do country rap.
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, I've got a country song on that that you're all going to -- you know, you all might love it.
KING: And at the end of this, we may -- I may even rap with you.
Your real name...
SNOOP DOGG: Why not?
KING: Yes. Your real name is Calvin Broadus, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: Anybody ever call you Calvin?
SNOOP DOGG: Sometimes, but mainly Snoop Dogg.
KING: How did you pick Snoop Dogg?
SNOOP DOGG: My mother did. When I was a youngster, I used to watch the peanuts. And the character on there, Snoopy, was a favorite of mine so.
KING: He was the dog.
SNOOP DOGG: Why not?
Yes, that's my little brother, Snoopy. So I mean, you know, I loved him. So my mother said that I watched him so much that I started to look like him.
KING: Now how did the reality show come about?
SNOOP DOGG: Well, I've been approached about it for about a year- and-a-half. And I talked to my wife about it because I wanted to involve my wife and my kids. And once I talked to her, she talked to my kids. And they was open for it. And it was just something that was needed because it shows us as a family and it shows the wholesome side of Snoop Dogg.
KING: Reality -- you've always been known for keeping it real, right?
That's one of your things. And there's nothing realer -- if that's the correct word -- than reality TV.
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: But there are dangers in it, aren't there?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, I mean, there is a lot of danger in it, because you expose yourself to a lot of unboarded territory or they say, you know, what I'm saying, because a lot of people get a chance to see you in environments and situations that you're normally not accustomed to being seen in.
A with me, it doesn't matter because I've always had a microscope on me since I came in the game. I mean I've always been open about who I am and what I love to do. And now when people get a chance to see me with my family, now they see that I love being with my family.
KING: The name of the show is "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood".
Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM SNOOP DOGG'S FATHERHOOD, COURTESY E!)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (INAUDIBLE).
SNOOP DOGG: Ain't Germany got the best beer in the world?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no.
SNOOP DOGG: I might want to get me a beer because it looks like you already had one. Give me the same kind you had.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here she comes.
SNOOP DOGG: It was (INAUDIBLE).
SNOOP DOGG: You ever hear my song?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that water?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SNOOP DOGG: Did you ever hear my song?
(RAPPING) Drop it like it's hard. Drop it like it's hard. Uh-oh, drop it like it's hard. Drop it like it's hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: How much of that show is planned?
How much is like laid out before you start?
SNOOP DOGG: Well, a lot of it is like blueprinted. They give us an idea of what they want and then we give them an idea of what we want and we just come together with it. And then once the cameras get to rolling, it's all natural. It's not like it's a scripted television show where they say hey, you have to say this or do this. They just basically came up with some ideas with myself as far as what type of environments would I like for me and my family to be in, you understand, where we can best, you know, portray what goes on in my house. And that's what it is.
KING: Now there's always a danger in something like this in exposing your kids. The kids are seen, they're open to danger, you're a famous person.
Do you think about that?
SNOOP DOGG: I mean I thought about it when I became successful, you know what I'm saying? It was something that they had to live with when I was just the only one on TV in the house. But now I feel like now that they're on TV, they get a chance to see what the work is, what the ethic is, as far as what it takes to be a celebrity. And if this is something that they want to do they'(LAUGHTER), you know, jump into it even more, because now they have a chance to say that they had their feet wet at an early age.
KING: Was the divorce hard for you?
SNOOP DOGG: It was. You know, that's why, you know, I reconciled with my wife, because I felt it wasn't, you know, something I wanted to do. I don't want to be lonely. I wanted to be at home with my wife and kids.
KING: And you had problems with fidelity, right?
Well, that was admitted, about cheating and the like.
SNOOP DOGG: Yes. Yes.
KING: Were you able do get over that?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes. I mean, you know, through time and perseverance and me figuring out what I need and what makes me who I am, you know what I'm saying?
When I come home to my wife and my kids, that's what makes me feel better than anything in the world, to know that they have somebody that's successful in life that they can look up to and say that I'm a part of their lives.
KING: How did you get back together?
SNOOP DOGG: A whole lot of begging and pleading.
KING: (LAUGHTER)
No, did it work -- you're the one that said please?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, because I'm the one who asked for the divorce. So it was, you know, it was up to me to try to put it back together, because I'm the one who said I didn't want to be a part of it no more.
KING: Was it hard to do?
I mean did...
SNOOP DOGG: It's hard now to this day. It's still hard because there's a lot of, you know -- there's a lot of roller coaster to a relationship. You know, we've been together for 17 or 18 years. We've been married for 10 years. So it's a roller coast, you know what I'm saying?
But, at the same time, it's like, you know, some people in life are chosen for you. And I feel like we're chosen for each other. KING: How did the kids deal with it?
SNOOP DOGG: I mean my kids just don't like us to argue in front of them, you know what I'm saying?
There's their big thing, you know, as far as...
KING: Yes, no kids do.
SNOOP DOGG: I know. That's the hard part. But it's life. You know, sometimes it happens. So, you know, we just try to be as real as possible with the kids and let them know that life is life and, you know, we have problems and we try to work them out and try to become a family.
KING: How old are they?
SNOOP DOGG: My oldest son is 13. My youngest son is 10. He's about to be 11. And my daughter is eight, going on 9.
KING: Do you like being a father?
SNOOP DOGG: No, I love it.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: You love it, not like it?
SNOOP DOGG: I love it.
KING: You're supposed to be hosting the 2008 Penthouse Desire Super Bowl party next weekend in Scottsdale. That is going to feature a lot of pretty girls.
SNOOP DOGG: Yes.
KING: In fact, this coming week -- you're going to be there Sunday.
How does your wife feel about that?
SNOOP DOGG: She know I know how to separate business from pleasure. So, it's a business move. It's me going out there to support, you know, the NFL and then also my youth football league has a Snooperbowl that we play every year annually the day before the Super Bowl. So it's all business and it's all a good time and I know how to keep it professional.
KING: You call it the Snooperbowl?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: This is this the Pop Wonder League (ph)?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir. My own football league, Snoop Youth Football League. KING: And you have one of the better teams, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir, the Pomona Steelers. We are 15 and 0 right now, looking to be 16 and 0, trying to do what the Patriots are doing.
KING: Now, it's supposed to be balanced for kids, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Definitely.
KING: I mean you're not supposed to have a superior team.
SNOOP DOGG: I mean but that comes with coaching. That comes with a pre-season workout. And that just comes with being Coach Snoop the great.
KING: Snoop the great!
We'll be back with more of Snoop Dogg.
Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM SNOOP DOGG'S FATHERHOOD, COURTESY E!)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anthony's going to a party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A party?
SNOOP DOGG (RAPPING): The world keeps spinning to the D-O-G-G-Y.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: It's a dog eat dog world.
SNOOP DOGG: (INAUDIBLE) I went to the store and bought you -- all right, see why they ain't got no black folks on this?
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: It's a doggy dog world. It's a doggy dog world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We're back with Snoop Dogg.
Don't forget, Monday night, it's a Super Tuesday eve. Bill Maher will be our special guest with an appropriate eve guest, and Bill Maher, on top of an election. That's Bill Maher on Monday night.
We're with Snoop Dogg, an appropriate guest anytime.
You're in a -- we talked about that Penthouse thing.
You're in a business where temptations are many, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir. KING: Now, you fell to them in the past.
How do you resist them now?
SNOOP DOGG: Just staying focused and knowing and understanding that have I something lovely at home waiting on me and I don't really have to be out here gambling on something that's really not real, that's fake, that's not official, like a referee with a whistle.
KING: You said that one of the things you didn't like about being apart was the thought of another man raising your kids, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, that just -- I couldn't see that. I couldn't see another man raising my kids. So that was like the hard part, as far as me getting back with my wife, because I felt like my kids deserved to have their father in their life.
KING: How would you describe the way Snoop Dogg fathers his children?
What's "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood?"
SNOOP DOGG: The way I father my kids is a little bit of the old school ethics as far as the way I was raised, with respect your mother at all times. And then with a little bit of discipline, alongside with a lot of fun and a lot of friendship. Because I want my kids to be a friend to me, not, you know, to look at me so much as a father figure, but more of a friend. Because with a friend, you can be more open and you can talk about things. And with a parent you tend to hide and protect things from them, because you don't feel like they understand.
KING: Are you strict?
SNOOP DOGG: Not as much as their mother. Their mother is. Their mother is very strict. But she's the backbone. She's the one who raises the kids, who deals with them seven days a week, so she has to be. So I'm the -- I'm the nice guy.
KING: Yes, it's usually that.
Are you this -- are you a strict football coach?
SNOOP DOGG: Oh, that's what I'm very strict at. I'm so -- oh, you've got to have good grades, you've got to be on time, you've got to pay attention, you've got to be disciplined, dedicated and you've got to have desire.
KING: Is that the only sport you get involved in or do -- do you do any Little League work?
SNOOP DOGG: That's the only sport that I'm so passionate about, that I really know and love and I understand. And I really get out there and get hands-on with them. So, you know, that's like my number one passion.
KING: In the opening credits of your show, you rap, "this ain't the Huxtables."
SNOOP DOGG: Yes.
KING: The old Bill Cosby show.
SNOOP DOGG: Uh-huh.
KING: Would you not want to be a Huxtable?
SNOOP DOGG: No, that's a great situation. I was just explaining to you that I'm not, you know, raising mine like the Huxtables. You know, they had a great persona and a great perception on the way life is for the black American family in America. But my family is not like the Huxtables -- despite -- we would like to become them one day, but right now we're not.
KING: Oh, you'd like to become them, though?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes. I'd like for my kids to go to college and live (INAUDIBLE)...
KING: Do you think they were unreal, the Huxtables?
SNOOP DOGG: No, I think they were very real. I think they were very real. I just feel like it's hard to reach that coming from where I'm from, as far as where all your kids go to college and just everything is a perfect world and it just works all the time and it's always happy times, you know what I'm saying?
So I'm trying to get it to that point.
KING: How does your wife like the reality show?
SNOOP DOGG: I think she loves it more than anybody in the house. Her and my daughter, they really take a liking to it, because it gives them a chance to, you know, venture off and do some things -- if this is what they like, maybe they want to become superstars. Maybe being in front of the camera is made for them. But it gives them a chance to see that this is something they might want to venture off into. And I feel like as far as the overview of my house, that they really enjoy being in front of the cameras.
KING: Do you ever get involved in politics?
SNOOP DOGG: I never have, not in the past. But I feel like -- now I'm trying to get people aware to vote. Because, you know, in the past, I felt like, you know, my vote didn't count. But I feel like now that, you know, if we do get a new president and new people in office, that our vote will matter. And we have people now in positions that they will listen.
KING: What do you make emotionally as a black man about the Obama/Clinton race?
SNOOP DOGG: To me, I feel like they both are candidates because they both have strong situations to support them. As far as Clinton, her husband was in office and when he was in office, we had a great time and she was his backbone. Anybody knows that every strong man needs a woman to be his backbone. So she basically probably was the mind and soul behind him being the president.
KING: You're not supporting either one?
SNOOP DOGG: I'm not down with the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. I represent the gangsta' party.
KING: The gangsta party?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: I mean are you -- Snoop, are you still basically a gangster at heart?
SNOOP DOGG: It's just a figure of speech (INAUDIBLE). But I like using that word.
KING: Was it G-A-N-G-S-T-E-R or G-A-N-G-S-T-A?
SNOOP DOGG: Say it, Larry. Say it like you mean it.
KING: Gangsta'.
SNOOP DOGG: Say it like you mean it, Larry.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Gangsta!
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: Don't you emotionally, though, have some -- a tie to Barack Obama?
SNOOP DOGG: I do. I do, because I am a black man in America and I know that he relates to everything that I'm going through. But, you know, politically correct -- I just want to see somebody win that's in the best interests of America, whether it be him -- a black man; whether it be Hillary -- a woman. Either one, to me, is a great move for America, because we need change. We need somebody in there that's going to be about listening to the people and representing the people. And I feel like both of those candidates will do that.
KING: Do you think America's really ready for a black president?
You see prejudice all the time.
SNOOP DOGG: All the time. I think America is ready for a black president by him winning, you know, like he's winning so far and even competing to be in the talks right now. You know, I remember in the past where we had presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson. And it was a gimmick. It was like a joke because nobody really believed Jesse could win. You know, win Jesse win -- but we didn't really think he could win. Right now, people really feel like this man could really win and he's got the right thing going for him. He's got the right conversation. He's in line with the right, you know, with the right scenario to win. And, you know, whether he wins or loses, I feel like he -- he made a great step for black America by him stepping to the table and pulling off something like this.
KING: Have you met him?
SNOOP DOGG: I've never met him.
KING: We'll be back with more of Snoop Dogg right after this.
(VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
KING: When we look at the homes of other celebrities, they're usually a lot of mansions, a lot of Beverly Hills high style. You are kind of -- how would you describe where you live?
SNOOP DOGG: I live in an old man's house.
KING: Yes.
Where -- where are you?
SNOOP DOGG: I'm in Diamond Park, California.
KING: Diamond Park?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes.
KING: That isn't here.
SNOOP DOGG: No, it's not. See, but it's like, you know, when you get to the point where I'm at, Larry, where, you know, you've had all that -- I've had mansions and fancy cars and the best of this and the best of that. Now I just want to live. And it's about my wife and kids having the best things in life. It's about what they want.
If they want mansions and this and that, I'll provide them with that. But right now we're just happily living like we're living right this second and the house that we live in is comfortable.
KING: But you do have bodyguards?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, but when you're at home, you really don't feel like you need bodyguards. Home is the place where you rest your head and you feel you should be at your most comfortable.
KING: So your bodyguards don't stand in front of the house in Diamond Park?
SNOOP DOGG: They might sometimes -- come by and see them standing out there.
KING: You ever get threats?
SNOOP DOGG: No, I don't get no threats, Larry. I'm a peaceful individual. I passed that part of my life where I used to be involved with gangs and negative stuff. I'm an ex-gang member. I'm actively involved in creating ways to stop the violence and try to, you know, better ourself out here, as far as the youth and with the gangs. So I've come from that lifestyle so I know and understand what it is.
KING: What was the attraction then of gangs?
SNOOP DOGG: Well, when I was young, the attraction was just being around my home boys and, you know, making money doing illegal things -- whether it was selling drugs or trying to be tough and just trying to be cool, searching for an identity. And that was what were seeing in my neighborhood. So it's what infatuated me. And I wanted to be cool. I wanted to be known.
And, you know, after I realized that that wasn't for me, I chose another path, as far as making music. I felt like I could get known off of my musical ability, off of my talents, off of me doing something constructive and positive with myself.
KING: Was it hard to break away?
SNOOP DOGG: It was very hard to break away. But it was something I wanted to do and I had to believe in myself first and foremost. And once I believed in myself, the people around me believed in me. And then my gang started to respect me enough to where they didn't force me to become a part of the gang. They pushed me to do what I'm doing now, which is music.
KING: Do you hear from them now?
SNOOP DOGG: Oh, yes. A lot of my home boys that are, you know, turning their lives around, because I'm the best example in the world.
KING: Oh, boy. Yes, you are.
SNOOP DOGG: I'm the best example for them to show them how to get their lives right. So they look to me for guidance, for experience, for hey, man, what do I do?
I don't want to be a part of this no more. I want to get my life right, you know.
What is it going to take?
And sometimes I'm just a phone call away as far as helping them to say that you've got to believe in yourself, because the first person to doubt you is you. And when you believe in you, everybody believes in you after you believe in yourself.
KING: How did the entrepreneurship -- you don't just make records, right? You produce.
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
Well, being a business has always been an infatuation of mine, as far as wanting to own and to be, you know, somebody that's going to be here 20 years from now and say that I have something to show for what I've done. So as I grow in the music industry, I learned to become more of a business, more of a conglomerate, to where I wanted to own. I don't want to just make records and be hot today and then gone tomorrow. I want to have some ownership and create sounds and create legacies for myself and other artists.
KING: That's hard, the production of the song, right?
SNOOP DOGG: It's very hard because, you know, people think that our job is so easy because when they see us performing, it just looks like it's just so natural. But we have to really go create a sound. We have to create a melody. We have to create something that the people are going to feel comfortable with singing along to and making it become part of their everyday lives.
KING: Yes, how true.
Do you think of yourself as rich?
SNOOP DOGG: I'm rich in spirit. I have a rich spirit. I'm rich in soul, not financially, because that doesn't move me. Because money, I can't leave with that. But my legacy and my spirit will be here, you know, even long after I'm gone, and that matters most.
KING: But you do have an extravagance in custom cars, right?
SNOOP DOGG: I've got about 20 something cars, you know what I'm saying, a lot of old school cars. I've got a storage spot I keep them at in Somewhere, California.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Do you have a favorite car?
SNOOP DOGG: My favorite car would be my Fleetwood. I got a 1969 Fleetwood with a picture of me and my two sons on the back. I call it Brown Sugar. And it's got chandeliers hanging on the inside so I can feel like I'm in my living room when I'm driving, you understand what I'm saying?
KING: Just your everyday kind of guy.
SNOOP DOGG: Just like me.
KING: We'll be right back with Snoop Dogg.
Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the big neptizil (ph) with the Snoopy deal double jizzle (ph).
SNOOP DOGG: You just moved up a notch in my book. Guess that puts you at notch one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snoop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snoop a loop. Snoop.
SNOOP DOGG: I'm going to take this hook (INAUDIBLE) up another 1,000 feet and catch me a slip stream and going to be there five minutes early. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we got a call about the music.
SNOOP DOGG: I don't hear any music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we sell this.
SNOOP DOGG: I don't know (INAUDIBLE). That's too bad, man. I just stopped smoking yesterday. Look fuzz, I gots the buzz. This meeting is adjourned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG: It's my goal right here. This is my house. I don't care if he is David Beckham.
DAVID BECKHAM: I want to get over the ball. I also want to get it down and curve it.
SNOOP DOGG: We will protect this house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We're back with Snoop Dogg. An amazing, amazing story.
David Beckham came on to your reality show, right?
SNOOP DOGG: Yes, sir.
KING: How did that happen?
DOGG: I met David Beckham at this Live Aid performance I had a couple years back in London. He came backstage and met me and said he was a fan. I let him know I was a fan of his and we exchanged numbers. The idea came about on my television show, as far as what sports figure would you I like to have on my show. I didn't just want a basketball player or a football player. I said I wanted somebody big like David Beckham that was international, that could show my kids a different sport, a different element of sports. He agreed. He was open for it. He came down and did it, and it was a hit.
KING: The word is that his wife, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham wasn't happy about that.
DOGG: No, she wasn't happy about us, you know, initially meeting at the Live Aid, because she thought I was a party animal and I was going to take him away from his husband values. But once she found out that I have a wife and kids and I am family oriented, she has a different perspective on Snoop Dogg.
KING: One story on your show involves your wife trying to improve your eating habits. As they say, a guy's got to eat. So you and I met up at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles the other day. This is quite a place. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOGG: I like the Oscar.
KING: I was going to guess that, three chicken wings, grits, one egg and a fluffy biscuit.
DOGG: Yes.
KING: I'm going to try it.
DOGG: I want water. Water is good for you nowadays.
KING: I'll have an Arnold Palmer. That's a combination iced tea and lemonade.
DOGG: That's what that is? That's the name that have drink?
KING: Arnold Palmer, he invented it.
DOGG: Give me a lemonade and a water. We're going to call that the Tiger Woods.
I see you working over there. Work that out, Larry.
KING: Chicken's fantastic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That's quite a place. You like that place.
DOGG: I love that place. For years, that's my spot. That's why I look so good, Larry, because what you put in is what you get on the outside.
KING: Waffles and chicken.
DOGG: Looking like this here, man, chicken and waffles. Bock, bock, bock.
KING: One of the story lines on the show is the untrained dogs in your house and the mess they create. How many dogs do you have.
DOGG: About ten dogs, four or five on the inside, four or five on the outside. We've got all the pretty dogs on the inside and all the -- on the outside.
KING: Big dogs, little dogs.
DOGG: Big dogs on the outside, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls.
KING: Rottweilers and Pit Bulls.
DOGG: Yes. And then on the inside, we've got like Pomeranians and -- I don't know the name of them. I don't want to say the wrong name. Snoop Dogg.
KING: You don't need bodyguards.
DOGG: I got dogs and I'm the dog father. So it's all good.
KING: Any worry about having a Pit Bull.
DOGG: I have a Pit Bull.
KING: Are you worried about it? They don't have a great reputation.
DOGG: A Pit Bull is like any other animal that you have. You have to put into the animal what you want to get out of them. Pit Bulls are the most lovable dogs in the world. It's all about what you breed them to be. I breed my dogs to be lovable around my kids and to love people. It's all about how you breed them, like I say.
They can become --
KING: vicious.
DOGG: It's all about how you train them.
KING: But if you don't train them.
DOGG: They will never know that. It's like a kid that's trained to be a good kid and do what's right. If he never knew what crime was, he's never going to experiment with it.
KING: Therefore, you didn't like the idea of Vick and dealing with dogs.
DOGG: I love Michael Vick as a football player. I don't have nothing negative to say about him as a football player. What happened to him on that side, I just pray for him and hope he gets back into the NFL. We make mistakes. That's life.
KING: I'm told some in the hip-hop community are fans of dog fights.
DOGG: It used to be a thing, back in the days, that what we did used to like that, because it was what we were used to seeing. We're accustomed to our environment provides us with -- we didn't have like I guess -- in Mexico, what they have peacock fights. We didn't have peacock fights. In certain neighborhoods they had dog fights. Whatever your environment breeds you to love, you love that.
KING: You had an interesting life, Snoop.
DOGG: You think so?
KING: Yes. You have a passion for football and you're sharing it with kids. Let's take a look at Coach Snoop and his players in action. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOGG: Good practice today, fellows, on both sides of the ball. That's what we needed right here. We needed that intensity just like that. Good job.
We can run. We can pass. Everybody doing what they're supposed to do. Pay attention and find somebody to block when you're on offense. No standing around. Yes, Kelly. Yes, Kelly. Yes. Way to get back inside.
Forty eight hours away from game time. Big game, big stage. Good job today, fellows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Who do you like in the Super Bowl?
DOGG: I like the Pittsburgh Steelers but they're not in it, so I'm going to go with the Patriots, because Mr. Craft and Brady and those guys over there, Randy Moss personal friend of mine. You know, I'm just happy to see them try to complete this perfect season.
KING: Both owners are terrific guys.
DOGG: Yes, great guys.
KING: We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Got to go to work. See you Monday.
DOGG: It's been good, Larry.
KING: Looking forward to it, Snoop.
DOGG: Yes sir. Can you put all this in like a doggie bag? He left so fast and I want to eat his and mine. We don't want to waste his good food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No problem, I'll get you a doggie bag. DOGG: Appreciate that. See how Larry do me? He roll out like that so I got to get the doggie bag. I'm going to pack a little lunch. Larry, next time I see you, we'll be on point like Stay Adams. Roscoe's, big Snoop Dogg. We'll be back after these messages.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: By the way, just to be different, I'll pick the Giants because I was raised in New York and I was raised as a Giant fan as a kid and I don't want to see a Dolphin record broke. The Miami Dolphins are in my heart. OK, now your new album, "Ego Tripping." Explain that title.
DOGG: It's to the point in my career now where I've been so humble and so nice and so approachable. Now I'm ready to start "Ego Tripping" and just --.
KING: I am Snoop, hear me roar.
DOGG: Yes, I am Snoop. But even to the effect of I allow people to write for me on this album. I allow people to write and produce for me. Normally, my ego would not allow that. My ego was too big, to where I would write my own songs and create my own atmosphere for who I am. I chose to let my ego down to people write for me. So this "Ego Tripping" is not just so negative, but it's a positive situation.
KING: You're a rapper.
DOGG: Sometimes.
KING: You mention that on this album, you have a Johnny Cash kind of sound.
DOGG: Yes, on one particular song. It's called "Johnny Cash." I did it with Everlast -- formerly known as Everlast, now he's Whitey Ford. We went in the studio and he knows I'm a fan of Johnny Cash. And I always wanted to make a record that was in the likeness of Johnny Cash, but I didn't want to duplicate one of Johnny's songs. Whitey Ford was like Snoop, I can write you a song. I said write me one. He wrote me one. It's hot. It's going to be on my new record.
KING: How's it go? Give me a little.
(SINGING)
KING: Do you use any -- do you use the name Johnny Cash in the song.
DOGG: No, the song is just entitled "Johnny Cash" because to me, he was the epitome of country rap music. To me, he wasn't a country singer. He was a rapper that did country music.
KING: You also told me you wouldn't mind recording with Willie Nelson.
DOGG: Willie Nelson is a fan favorite of mine. I'd love to do some records with him and just divide -- just to sit around for a couple hours and get some knowledge from you.
KING: You like country?
DOGG: I love country. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.
KING: Sleeping single in a double bed. There's no songs like country songs.
DOGG: Nothing like country music.
KING: But to a rapper, it seems very apart from country music.
DOGG: Not really because it's a story of struggle. It's a story of crying out and wanting to be heard. All music is a reflection of who you are inside. Country musicians go through the same thing that rappers go through. You know what I'm saying? We express what we're feeling over melodies.
KING: When will "Ego Tripping" be out.
DOGG: It will be out March 11th. You all be sure to get to the record stores and go online and get it, because Big Snoop Dogg is coming at you so tough for the big 2000 plus four plus four.
KING: In the past, when you had troubles with the law and everything, there's an outlaw aspect to that. Do you think that's part of your affection for country music, which also has an outlaw feeling? Johnny Cash had an outlaw feeling.
DOGG: Yes, I think so. That's why I'm wearing black tonight. They say Johnny Cash wore black, the man in black.
KING: Every time he was on this show, he wore black.
DOGG: Look at me. In the spirit of Johnny tonight.
KING: Johnny would have loved you.
DOGG: I loved him, so it's mutual. I just think that bad guy image or that bad boy image, so to speak, is a good thing sometimes, when it's under the right perspective, when it's not taken too far the way you've got to go to jail and do five or six years, but it's done in a way, you run into the law a couple time, make a few mistakes and you get your life right and keep it moving.
KING: Did you like "Walk the Line," the movie?
DOGG: I loved that movie. I loved that movie. I walk the line.
KING: I keep my eyes wide open all the time. We'll be right back with The Snoop. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOGG: So this is it. You got to make now, making that transition between being a father and being a street man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's heavy.
DOGG: I hear you rapping about this. I hear you going here. I know that's what it is. I need to know that. Give me that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
DOGG: Give me that so I can run with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
KING: We're back with Snoop Dogg. In March, "Ego Tripping" will be available. You've been denied a visa to enter Britain a couple times. Why.
DOGG: I had a couple run-ins or scenarios, I made ad, with a couple people in the UK. I was wrongfully accused and now I've been accepted back in. The judge overturned it. He looked at the evidence and looked at what I've been doing, just checked my character out and found me to be innocent and now I'm able to go back out there. So everybody in the UK, big Snoop Dogg will be back to come give you all what you want.
KING: You got your visa back.
DOGG: Oh, boy.
KING: Are they fans of yours in Great Britain.
DOGG: I think they love Snoop Dogg like we love Great Britain. It's a mutual love. It's like -- it's something about my persona over there, since day, when I first went over there in early 1993, they've always accepted me and loved me. So it's love. You know, anytime you make good music and people appreciate you or respect you and buy your music, you feel like you connected with them.
KING: Do you ever feel with your history and the turn around, you're lucky to be alive.
DOGG: Definitely. I'm blessed to be alive, because I know a lot of my friends and home boys I grew up with aren't in a position to talk right now, because they've either been stripped of their freedom or maybe they don't live no more.
KING: Are you going to do a rock album.
DOGG: You know what? You never know. I've got to find somebody big enough to do it with. Maybe Mic Jagger or somebody.
KING: All these people know you. There's so much duet recording going on now. I know you loved Sinatra.
DOGG: Old blue eyes, that's probably one of my -- KING: He would have recorded with you.
DOGG: Yes sir, they would have put me in the Rat Pack. You'd better believe that.
KING: You would have fit the Rat Pack. You belong with the Rat Pack.
DOGG: You'd better believe that.
KING: Recent report in the "New York Post" that you're big fan of daytime drama and have offered to write a song for "One Life to Live." Is that true?
DOGG: Yes, I love that show. I always loved their theme song when I was a kid. My mom used to watch the story. I feel like I could write them a great song.
KING: A rap song.
DOGG: Yes, because we all got one life to live, Larry.
KING: We ain't got two. What's the current state of rap music.
DOGG: The current state of rap music right now is in a great position. To me, rap is a dominant right now, because I watch television a lot and I see a lot of commercials that are driven by rap music or driven by hip-hop. To me, rap music is the number one music in the world because you can't really involve anything without it. You can't involve a movie. You can't involve anything you're doing without rap music. If it's sports, if it's the Super Bowl, if it's the World Series, if it's tennis, if it's Golf, whatever it is, you have to have rap music to drive it.
KING: For a while, you admit it was laughed at. Right?
DOGG: It was always laughed at because it was never seriously respected because it was looked at as a bunch of black kids that just made it and got big gold chains and gold teeth and they're in it for the wrong reasons. They didn't that understand we were becoming a real music genre. We were becoming musicians. There's some great talented people in hip-hop.
KING: There were some white rappers.
DOGG: Oh, my god. It doesn't have no barrier on it. There's no color barrier. It's like, music is good. You know what I'm saying? Any great musician, you can't say Elvis, if he would have been black, he would have sold 30 million more records than what he sold. Elvis did what he did. You know what I'm saying? It don't matter what color you are. If you make good music, people are going to feel you.
KING: Your cousin, Nate Dogg, right, he had a mild stroke. How's he doing.
DOGG: He's doing a little bit better. To Nate Dogg, we want to send our prayers out to you. I know everybody at home was wondering how he was doing.
KING: How old is Nate.
DOGG: Nate is two years older than me. He's 38 years old. He's doing better. He's in the hospital right now. Nate, keep your head up. You know, we're praying for you, baby.
KING: Isn't that a little young to have a stroke.
DOGG: Yes, but, you know, life sometimes gives you curve balls and knuckle balls. You don't know where they're coming from. You've just got to be ready to swing.
KING: Have you -- have you been those -- a lot of the other rappers accused of rap music that's insulting to women?
DOGG: Yes, in the past I've always made music that was very insulting to women, because that's what I was taught. That's what I was brain washed not to know. As I get older, and with my wife and my daughter and my mother and my grand mother, I tend to make more records that are, you know, aimed at telling the woman how beautiful she is and how she's appreciated and how I apologized for being so brain washed and not knowing that I'm supposed to respect a woman.
KING: Well said. In December of 2006, "Rolling Stone" had you on the cover in a Santa hat, with a headline describing you as America's most lovable pimp. What did you make of that?
DOGG: They wasn't lying. They told the truth, Larry. I am the most -- I'm the player into making in progress. That's what pimp means to me, P-I-M-P, Player into making progress.
KING: That's a different derivation.
DOGG: That's the way I play it. I don't play it the way they do. I know you was talking about pimping, but you wasn't talking about me. You was talking about those other cats. The way I do mine is different. Snoop Dogg walks the way he walks. He talks the way he talks. He's just a cut above the rest.
KING: And he calls himself by his own name when he talks.
DOGG: Why not in third party?
KING: Larry king says.
DOGG: Exactly. It's a party baby, why not?
KING: What do you tell your kids, specifically your sons, about sex? Do they ask questions?
DOGG: My 13-year-old is getting to the point where he's about to get to that stage. As a father, I'll do the right thing when the time is right. But, for the most part, I'm just going to take it day by day. That's hard for me, because I don't know what to say. I don't have a speech together. This is new for me. Father is brand new to me.
KING: Are the words to your songs damaging the kids.
DOGG: Never, my words are never damaging the kids, because my words never say, hey, go kill somebody, go steal, go do this, go take this, go do this. My words are a representation of me, who I am, what I've gone through, and what I'm going through. It's my personal experiences, mixed with a couple of experiences that I've experienced from being around other people, but it's not to be taken in the context of go do something to somebody after listening to Snoop Dogg's music.
KING: More moments with Snoop Dogg right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Back with our remaining moments with Snoop Dogg. What do you make of your association, or your parent association with marijuana?
DOGG: Larry, on grounds of my attorney, I'm going to plead the fifth.
KING: Really? You don't want to talk about it?
DOGG: That ain't something I'm publicly known for speaking. You know what I'm saying? People know that I support it.
KING: You support, you mean legalizing.
DOGG: Yes, I support that in a real way. Actually, I'm on medical marijuana as we speak.
KING: Do they see you smoke it then?
DOGG: Do they see me?
KING: If you're on medical marijuana.
DOGG: Who are they?
KING: The children.
DOGG: No, never. It's in medical use. It's like taking it in prescription forms, as if you were taking pills for heart problems or headaches or what not. This is just my prescription.
KING: They send them to you.
DOGG: In a little capsule.
KING: I've seen them. We had a guy on once who had them. They roll them for you.
DOGG: What did you say, they roll them for you? KING: They get them from the Army Engineering Center. We had a guy on once who gets it and it came in a container, and he gets 30 a month, and they're rolled.
DOGG: Because it's prescription.
KING: Why are you laughing at me. They were rolled. Do you have any goals.
DOGG: I have a big goal. One of my main goals is to have my football league be like the NFL one day, like Pop Warner, where it's the biggest youth football league in the world. I also have a goal to open up Snoop-Market, where you can come get -- a Snoop-Market. You know how you go to a supermarket.
KING: For groceries?
DOGG: For everything.
KING: What do you mean by --
DOGG: Everything.
KING: Everything.
DOGG: Whatever you need.
KING: Whatever your needs and desires.
DOGG: We sell pleasure, baby.
KING: Boy, are you going to be -- when are you going to open the first one?
DOGG: I don't know. Somewhere where they really need this, where they need something like this to come to their town and take them by storm.
KING: Let's do a -- You like Sinatra. I like Sinatra.
DOGG: I love it.
KING: Can we do a Sinatra rap? How do we do it? What song can we do in rap?
DOGG: Let's do, "Start Spreading The News."
(SINGING)
KING: That's not rap.
DOGG: But you can make it rap, Larry.
(SINGING)
DOGG: Larry, I'm following your lead. I'm your background. This is the Larry King show.
KING: You're hanging me out to dry. Give it the Jew every time. Thanks Snoop.
DOGG: I love you.
KING: Snoop Dogg, you are amazing.
DOGG: You are too, man. Thank you for having me, Larry.
KING: He picks New England. I pick the Giants. To get the latest on what's happening with our show, check out CNN.com/LarryKing. You can email upcoming guests or download our current podcasts. We have even got a special Snoop Dogg web extra, all at CNN.com/LarryKing.
Monday night, Bill Maher will be here with a preview of Super Tuesday. You don't want to miss that. Another show you won't want to miss is "ANDERSON COOPER 360," and it starts right now. Anderson?
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