How Snoop Dogg Became The French Connection

The Paris Summer Olympics has tons of winners. NBC Universal, Peacock (finally), Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, Team USA track and field, memes, and the NBA’s elder statesmen. The ultimate winner though, is our guy Snoop Dogg.

The New York Post reported that NBC paid the 52-year-old $500,000 per day plus expenses to be the network’s special correspondent for the games. He’s getting paid more than most NFL running backs to be himself for three weeks in France. To be clear, it’s still work. Snoop says he hasn’t slept much, but he’s been stealing the show in the meantime.

There have been dozens of recent articles about Snoop’s big moment and how we got here. It’s easy to forget that he once hired Johnnie Cochran to beat a first-degree murder charge, and now Snoop’s a flag bearer for Team USA at the Olympics like Muhammad Ali. His life sounds like the inspiration for a Shondaland project just waiting to get greenlit.

According to NBC’s Mike Tirico, some people had questions about the network’s hiring of Snoop, but the real ones who paid attention knew he had this in him.

Remember that random fight on Triller between Jake Paul and Nate Robinson in November 2020? Snoop’s hilarious commentary stole the show during an otherwise ridiculous sporting event that seemed slightly less absurd during peak-pandemic times. The immediate reaction was “Snoop is amazing. He should be a commentator on everything.” And here we are today.

It’s hard to turn on a TV, scroll a social media feed, or walk into a liquor store, and not see Snoop in some form. He’s a brand endorsement machine. Snoop has net at least 50 partnerships including his own brands. Some have been wins, like Corona. Others have been overhyped duds, like “giving up smoke” for Solo Stove, which led to minimal sales and the CEO’s departure. The wins stick to him and the L’s don’t stick. His charm continues to land him new business.

Snoop’s arc follows a trend of public figures whose mainstream persona has evolved from controversial to comforting in a matter of decades.

Remember how Howard Stern and Charlamagne Tha God were when they started on the radio? They said the wildest shit for shock value. It worked to their advantage but most of their old antics would never fly today. Yet today, they’ve mellowed down and still stay true to themselves. When either of them has interviewed presidents, no one blinks an eye. It’s expected.

There are plenty of examples outside of radio too. Jimmy Kimmel and Robert Downey, Jr have become reliable bets in their respective fields of entertainment, which would have been wild to say about either in the early 2000s. Even Doja Cat, who was once the definition of an internet milkshake duck, has become one of the most reliable hitmakers of the streaming era.

I expect this trend to continue. There are a number of people who are seen as too controversial for the mainstream today but may become beloved mainstream public figures in the next 10 or 20 years.

For this exercise, let’s avoid outspoken political figures. Several of them do apply here, but I don’t need that energy in my inbox right now. I do have a couple of predictions to share:

DJ Akademiks. Listen. His fans love him and his format. He’s managed to survive the hate and criticism from legends in hip-hop and the broader media world. He may not be your cup of tea, but he’s the go-to for many, even as recently as the Drake - Kendrick Lamar beef. For all we know, we could be a few years away from Akademiks partnering with CBS to do Grammys red carpet interviews or his own livestream simulcast of the awards show.

Logan and Jake Paul. Logan is already interviewing former presidents. Jake has an upcoming special on Netflix for his “fight” with Mike Tyson. Again, they may not be your go-to for entertainment but I won’t be surprised if they continue to reach more of the mainstream.

Who else would you add to the list? Send me a reply and let me know your thoughts.