Well before he was hosting Puppy Bowls with Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg helped propel Death Row into hip-hop's premium label. However, his time on Death Row wasn't necessarily the smoothest. Between cross-country feuds and Suge Knight's hostility, Snoop's leap to No Limit in the late 90s was a crucial move that undoubtedly saved his career and his life.
During his recent appearance on 85 South Show, Snoop Dogg reflected on working with Master P following a tumultuous time at Death Row. Snoop said that Master P ran the program differently compared to Suge Knight, who owned everything that the Doggystyle rapper had.
"They was soldiers, for real. Organized. Structured," he explained. "Them n***as didn't play, and P was serious about his business..."
Snoop explained Master P showed him a different side of music industry during his early time with the label. However, C-Murder and Soulja Slim were still bringing him to the projects, despite Master P telling them not to.
"I'm violating but then I'm listening then I'm watching how they not listening then I said, 'I'm not going to be a bad student. I'ma stop doing what they doing,'" Snoop said.
Though P put Snoop to work, he also provided opportunities to own property and get his money up. Snoop said that P told him he'd get paid for every album he appeared on until eventually, he brought the West Coast rapper to a gated community to purchase a house of his own and a car from the dealership. Snoop revealed it was the first time owning anything under his own name.
"This was the first time shit was in my name. Everything was in Suge Knight's name," he said.
Karlous Miller noted how Snoop was humble to have gone from a Death Row star to starting from the ground up on No Limit. "That was real humble of you just to -- 'cause you was already Snoop Dogg," Miller said.
"But I wasn't," Snoop responded. "My spirit wasn't that. See that's what you gotta understand. N***as broke my spirit. Thet broke me, man. They broke my spirit. Look, Doggystyle, workin' on Doggfather, win my murder case, Dre leaves, Tupac get killed, Suge going to jail, Death Row want to kill me. That's all in the same year."
Check the full interview below.