Hate It or Love It

  West Coast hip-hop is beginning to bloom again, thanks in part to two key players.

  On September 7, 1996, the West Coast hip-hop scene was murdered on the streets of Las Vegas, when four bullets were fired into the chest of Tupac Shakur.  Six days later, Shakur died in a Vegas hospital, taking with him the spirit of West Coast rap, and leaving only memories of hip-hop’s heyday.

  Almost nine years later, key Left Coast rappers have come together in an effort to unify The West, squashing all beefs, and once again making the West Coast a major factor in the rap game.   Those in attendance at the landmark meeting included Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, The Game, Young MC and Warren G, to name only a few.

  “I felt we should come together as one, organize, unify and start making records with each other and be about a cause.  It’s time for us to start standing up for something.  It’s called ‘Protect the West.’ We’re all moving together, we ended all our beefs.”  So says Snoop Dogg of the summit that brought together more than 80 West Coast rap artists on April 13. 

  And squash beef he has.  Snoop has personally set aside his differences with Suge Knight, Jayo Felony, and Kurupt.  In fact, Kurupt recently re-joined Snoop’s hip-hop entourage, Tha Dogg Pound. 

  Notably absent from the event, which was moderated by comedian Steve Harvey, were Dr. Dre and Suge Knight.  “They were both busy in their respective rights,” says The Game.  “I spoke on behalf of Dre and Aftermath [Records], and Steve Harvey spoke on Suge’s behalf.”  Representatives from both of the long-warring camps confirmed that each was behind the unification.

  Snoop is currently on his U.S. tour with The Game—another West Coast artist often given the credit for revitalizing the West.  The “How the West Was One” tour has tested the solidity of this coastal truce.  Snoop and The Game are setting aside one of the streets’ biggest obstacles.

  “I hate to bring the whole gang thing into play, but him being from Long Beach and being a Crip and me being from Compton and being a Blood just sets a whole new future,” says The Game.  “This is so much bigger than a poster with our faces on it.  This provides for a new unified and diverse West Coast community as a whole.”

  In spite of their opposing gang-affiliations, Snoop and The Game have a lot in common.  Both are protégés of Dr. Dre, both are credited with putting the West Coast back on the hip-hop map, and both know the feeling to be at the top of the charts.

  Snoop is touring in support of his recent platinum-selling CD “R&G: (Rhythm & Gangsta) The Masterpiece.  “How the West Was One” is The Game’s first-ever American tour, coming on the heels of his record-breaking CD “The Documentary.”  Snoop and Game have also enlisted the help of a couple of fellow Westsiders.  Joining them on tour are Daz Dillinger and Kurupt.

  The “How the West Was One” tour hits Albuquerque’s Journal Pavilion on May 18.  Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, and Hot 103 will have tickets to give away. 

-From Pulse
   May 12, 2005