Snoop Dogg was the soundtrack of my childhood. Trump won’t make me stop listening to him | Opinion
If aliens came to Earth and asked for a playlist of the most influential music in the past 50 years, Snoop Dogg’s debut album “Doggystyle” would be included in that mix. Produced by rap legend Dr. Dre, the 1993 album was ahead of its time. Snoop’s flow was untouchable and smooth.
Snoop’s career spans more than 30 years, gracing us with classics like “Nothin’ but a G thang” and “Drop it Like It’s Hot.” Now 53, he has become an American icon.
And yet, Snoop D-o-double G is now on the cancel culture train.
Just days ago, the Grammy award-winning rapper performed at The Crypto Ball in Washington, D.C., where cryptocurrency executives celebrated the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
All it took was this one performance for people to tarnish Snoop’s reputation.
Are we going too far with cancel culture?
“It’s time to throw @SnoopDogg in the dumpster with the rest of Trump’s white supremacist, insurrectionist allies,” one person posted on X.
On the popular TV show “The View,” pundit Ana Navarro likened Snoop to a “trained seal” for performing at an event linked to Trump.
There was a lot more of this, but you get the point.
Dang, performing at an event associated with Trump should not mean that Snoop’s entire discography should come off Spotify or that people should stop listening to him. This situation brings us to a point in our culture where we simply have to grow up.
Do I think Trump is the greatest leader for our country? No, but millions of Americans did. The idea of canceling an individual used to mean something. It used to be that if a celebrity or person in power were doing things unethically, people would use their rights as consumers to see that person would be held accountable for their transgressions. But now we’ve forgotten that and are choosing to cancel someone for thinking differently than us. And in the case of Snoop Dogg, for simply doing his job as a performer.
Not everyone deserves to be canceled
We cannot and should not cancel people we like because they like or associate with President Trump, who was duly elected to the highest office in the land by a majority of Americans. Our sanity is what matters most here and there will be another presidential election in four years that will be even more important to the direction of our country.
My plea is this, keep your disgust for MAGA and its following if that is what you believe. But respect the actions and decisions of other people with different views from your own.
This past election showed the country that there are myriad reasons why Americans voted for Trump. Just as there are people who didn’t vote for him, don’t support him, but also don’t support cutting off family members who do. This moment does not call for our responses to Trump to be so rigid or simplistic.
Inauguration weekend traditionally attracts celebrities who perform at inauguration events. This tradition was never controversial until Trump was first elected in 2016. But now he’s been elected a second time. Trump’s popular vote was narrow but decisive. His electoral win was decisive. Americans wanted Trump to be president.
There is surely a rift in our country but we must take responsibility when we are the cause of furthering that division.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
