I love old skool hip hop. I was there for much of its beginning—its beats, its brilliance, its power. But I have to be honest: it has not always lov
Photo by Nick Fewings
I love old skool hip hop. I was there for much of its beginning—its beats, its brilliance, its power. But I have to be honest: it has not always loved me back.
For decades, powerful and entertaining men have been able to weave misogyny into the culture, unchecked. And because they were celebrated, others learned to imitate them. What begins as “just music” or “just a joke” spreads into the air we all breathe—into classrooms, courtrooms, homes, and workplaces.
📌 A Pattern We Laughed Off
Snoop Dogg is one of hip hop’s greatest cultural icons. Snoop earned his permanent top spot in music the hard way.
And, yet he has a long public record of insensitivity toward women, including:
Lyrics that degraded women on The Chronic (1992) and Doggystyle (1993). The album cover alone cause C. Delores Tucker to declare that she had had enough.
Walking Black women on dog leashes at the 2003 MTV VMAs, defending it as his “pimp persona.”
Music videos like Wet and California Gurls, where women were displayed as props or captives.
Calling Gayle King a “funky dog-headed b—” in 2020 when she dared to ask tough questions as a journalist. (He did apologize for this one, later.)
UPDATE: Most recently, in 2025, spoke on a podcast saying that he was “afraid” after taking his grandson to see Pixar’s Lightyear, a film featuring a lesbian couple. His discomfort with lesbian representation drew sharp backlash. But I do need to add that he said: “Y’all are throwing me in the middle of s*** that I don’t have an answer for.” (Implying that he did not feel up to the task. )
ALSO, people have since informed me that Snoop’s grandson is 3? That’s very different.
Explaining family differences to children at three is different than say thirteen. He could say adoption. But then that might not be true or the best answer either. We wouldn’t want the child to go to school assuming that every child with two Moms is adopted.
I think I would have gone with something like: “Families can look different sometimes. As long as there is love though right?“
I’m not Snoop’s PR I just wanted to put it in context and not lead readers to believe he said something that he didn’t.
🌊 The Ripple Effect of Insensitivity to Women
It all adds up and then one day…….
Cultural Normalization: When women are called “bitches” and “hoes” by the most celebrated voices in music, millions learn to think and speak about women the same way.
Institutional Endorsement: Award shows, leagues, scripted tv shows, and brands keep booking him. That tells the world: your misogyny won’t cost you, as long as you’re profitable.
Silencing Women’s Voices: When Gayle King was attacked, people rallied around him—not her. Even respected Black women are told to swallow public disrespect.
Intergenerational Harm: These moments shape how the next generation views women, love, and dignity.
🔥 The Cost to Women and Survivors
For girls and women, the language Snoop popularized is not entertainment. It is the same language hurled at them during assaults, in courtrooms, or by abusers who wanted to silence them. When women are led on dog leashes as spectacle, it tells girls watching: your pain, your body, your dignity can be turned into a punchline. And award shows, radio shows, brands and others will co-sign the degradation and disrespect of women. “It’s funny.”
✨ Moving Forward
Snoop is not the only one. But he is a clear example of how much we’ve tolerated, excused, and laughed off. It’s not about erasing his talent. It’s about naming the harm and how fatiguing it can get.
We can love the art and demand more from the artists. We can enjoy the culture without letting it teach the next generation that women are less. We can also listen to the voices of Black women within the culture without pushing the same tired directives to “forgive” when no one apologized or changed the behavior.
Part of the reason that hip-hop is in the state that it currently finds itself in is the constant refusal to listen Black women. From C. Delores Tucker to Oprah (who hosted open forums with the rappers on her show) to Gayle King. Anyone who dared to offer a critique on the misogyny had to deal with a years long campaign of slurs from adored music industry kings. And audiences ate it up.
Snoop is one of the most innovative artists in hip-hop. Like hip-hop, I just wish he appreciated all of us as deeply as we have appreciated some of his art.
Entertainment has always had the power to liberate. It should never be allowed to chain us.
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
― Maya Angelou
