While a Snoop Dogg and BTS collaboration was merely the topic of rumors, The Doggfather has confirmed that he’ll be working with the South Korean pop band on a new song.
Snoop, who appeared as one of the Super Bowl LVI performers earlier this year, revealed that it’s “now official like a whistle,” suggesting that the band’s been wanting to work on a track with him.
The rapper explained why he decided to work with the band after originally being unsure who BTS was.
Snoop says collab with BTS will ‘bring worlds together’
The new reality television series American Song Contest premiered earlier this week, with Snoop Dogg as the show’s host. Before the premiere, The A.V. Club talked with the legendary rapper about working with BTS during the red carpet event.
“The BTS experience you keep talking about. I’m going to let them tell you about it. It’s official like a referee with a whistle. I love that entertainment world. It’s good music. It’s [a] vibe. I make good music. They make good music. And we end up doing this. This is what it’s always about, bringing our worlds together,” Snoop told The A.V. Club.
According to International Business Times, Snoop brought up his potential collaboration with BTS on the Mogul Talk Podcast earlier this year.
“I got a group named BTS that’s waiting on me to do a song with them right now. And I’m trying to figure out if I got time to do that s**t,” Snoop told the podcast’s hosts.
The 50-year-old rapper said he also needed to consult with his nephew about who these guys even were. Snoop had no clue how big the South Korean pop stars were, but after he understood the boy band’s magnitude, he was ready to collab.
[He] showed me five motherf*****s who look like the Asian New Edition,” Snoop said. “I said okay.”
Snoop previously collaborated with other K-Pop artists
Snoop’s known for collaborating with plenty of big names in music over the years. His early years included his successful work with rapper and producer Dr. Dre. Along with his collabs with other rappers, he’s also been a featured artist in music by pop stars Mariah Carey, Katie Perry, and The Pussycat Dolls.
While Snoop may have initially been a stranger to BTS, he realized their popularity and musical impact, making the decision to work with them easy. That’s also because he’s worked with K-Pop artists before.
“I’ve been experiencing the K-pop experience for a long time, connected to the music world [and] scene,” Snoop told the A.V. Club. “I got a record with a group called 2NE1 back in the day. Come on now, it’s what I do.”
In addition to 2NE1, Snoop has teamed up with Girls Generation and was featured on the 2014 Psy Song, Generations.
And while Snoop may have needed a crash course about who BTS is, the K-Pop group needed no introduction to who he was. His classic 1993 album Doggystyle popped up as a reference in their song Hip Hop Phile from the group’s 2014 album Dark & Wild.
The group also mentioned during a BBC Radio 1 interview last year that there are “no clear cut and specific genre boundaries” when it came to the trend in modern music, and they intended to create more hip-hop tracks in the future.
When and where the Snoop Dogg and BTS collaboration will arrive has yet to be announced. However, BTS is releasing a highly-anticipated new album this year, which could include the song featuring Snoop.
Ahead of that, the group is set to perform at the upcoming 64th Annual Grammy Awards, where they’re also among nominees for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song Butter.