Snoop Dogg’s Masterclass in Reinvention

“Drop it like it’s Hot.” -Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr

Ryan Floyd

Sep 25, 2024

I enjoyed watching the summer Olympics in Paris with Snoop Dogg as the commentator. I found myself smiling and watching badminton like never before with his lines like this: “They rollin, back and forth, give me that, no I need that, no over here, no over there, what about over there, nope, what about over there, no, give me that.” He was making every grandparent in the country happy too, even the ones who had banned his albums in their houses in the mid 1990s. I admire his dramatic changes in his career and life and think he has lessons for all of us.

When I was a little kid, Snoop Dogg’s albums were massive, but my parents didn’t let me buy them. Lyrics like “Can you control your hoe” just wouldn’t fly in my house then or now. But I appreciated the funky beats on the radio. When I had my own children, I read Dr. Seuss books to the instrumental version of “Gin and Juice,” and they loved it. (Highly recommended). I liked many of his songs over the years, but I had assumed that he had basically fallen out of style like most artists who are so influential during a different time. Then I saw on a headline that my favorite California coffee shop—Philz—had taken Snoop Dogg as an investor. I became interested in this man’s impressive pivot in life away from hip hop toward other things. And here we are in 2024, seeing him as perhaps the most fun announcer each of us has ever heard.

He has had many different stages to his own life. We can characterize his life in a few key eras: child who sang actively in his church and played sports like football; hip hop artist and subsequent producer which led to the next period as an investor, then gospel singer and investor, and announcer now.

In the summer Olympics, he was a voice for the most obscure sports wearing gaudy American gear (which I loved). You can’t help but smile and appreciate it. More than anything, however, I like the arc of his life and his willingness to evolve and change. What would that mean for the rest of us, particularly in the financial service industry?

I have met so many investors over the years where time had passed them by and they didn’t realize it. In Snoop Dogg parlance, they had just continued to sing “Gin n Juice” over and over again in concert even after people were sick of the song. These investors waited for their small niche of the world return, like horse equipment manufacturers perhaps in the 1900s. I identify with these challenges. Change is very difficult in the investment industry. Learning a new sector is tough, particularly later in life after having had some “wins.” The lingo, metrics, and information networks of a new sector are like learning an entirely different sport. An investor has the real career risk that he might try this new thing and then mess up, causing tremendous humiliation. Better to continue to own all the horse equipment manufacturers instead. With the humility of hindsight, I think each of us in this industry has to carve out some time to branch out and learn new things. And I think Snoop Dogg is an inspiration.

The lessons from Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr’s evolution provides lessons for how one actually works day to day. I recently spoke to someone about technological changes happening now in AI, and he looked exhausted and admitted he basically didn’t want to learn a new type of technology. He’s right in a way. We have had so many changes in the last ten years, many of which never seemed to do much. Not that long ago, fancy tech-futurists were predicting most of our work life by 2023 would consist of wearing very good virtual reality glasses and software connecting us in metaverse living room meetings with avatars. That future doesn’t seem likely at least any time soon (this article s time-stamped, so I may be humiliated if this future arrives next year!). On the other hand, Chat GPT and Claude and the others are very interesting. I’m not sure where this evolution in AI will lead and very frankly I am quite concerned about it. Nevertheless, a professional these days probably should be playing with this technology and trying to incorporate it into monthly if not weekly or daily activities. My point is: one has to try new things, even if some of them seem silly. Use Snoop Dogg and his evolution as a motivator.

Finally, and most importantly, I find Snoop Dogg’s evolution most inspiring in terms of life in general. What would we do in life if we wanted to channel that energy? There’s a lot of discussion about trying out a side hustle. I think those are worthy pursuits. But moreover, I have a few ideas listed here on areas where one could change without breaking himself.

Change your look. If you have let your gear go to waste during Covid, maybe it’s time for a change.

Start a new project around the house, on the side, with other people, or all of the above. Each of us has some idea of something we have wanted to do and haven’t done it.

Change your routine. I just rented new office space. It feels great.

Spend more time with friends and work contacts who give you energy. After some more time, it might lead to an area you didn’t expect.

These are sort of small ideas with the idea, in my opinion, that maybe it leads to a change like hip hop artist-turned-hilarious badminton announcer. I’m not sure that my perspective here is that special. What I do know, however, is that I admire Snoop Dogg and his human evolution.

This document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities or investment advisory services. I am the Portfolio Manager of Barca Capital, LLC, but the views I express are my own not necessarily those of my firm. I don’t own any shares in Philz, but I love their coffee.