Snoop Dogg will have to dip into the piggy bank for his Irish gigs with P Diddy, after the UK's refusal to grant him a visa, writes Brian Boyd
When the rap star Snoop Dogg toured in the UK in the mid-1990s, he was front-page news for the Daily Star, which ran with the headline: "Kick this evil bastard out." One of the reasons why the "evil bastard" should be kicked out, according to the Star, was his use of bad language on his records.
The other more serious reason outlined by the paper was the fact that Snoop Dogg was soon to appear in court in his native US on a charge of being an accessory to murder. He was later acquitted.
Currently on tour in Europe in a co-headlining show that also features another famous rapper, P Diddy, Snoop Dogg (real name Calvin Broadus) has been denied a visa for entry into the UK for a series of concerts this week, but, surprisingly, will still travel to Dublin for two shows this weekend.
The UK Home Office said that while it can't comment on individual cases, foreign citizens could be denied a visa if there are concerns about their presence in the UK. Last April, Snoop Dogg and members of his considerable entourage were arrested at Heathrow Airport for "violent disorder and affray", after some members of his party were turned away from a British Airways first-class lounge. The airline banned Snoop Dogg indefinitely and he accepted a police caution for the incident. However, a month later, it was reported that a UK Home Office official ruled that the rapper be denied a visa to the UK for the foreseeable future due to the Heathrow Airport incident, as well as his previous convictions in the US.
It came as a big surprise to anyone with even a small knowledge of the economies of touring that Snoop Dogg has agreed to go ahead with his two dates at Dublin's Point Depot, tonight (which is sold out) and tomorrow. By agreeing to honour his commitment to these shows, Snoop Dogg will be considerably out of pocket - something which is very unusual in the rock touring world.
This week Snoop Dogg and P Diddy should have been playing four UK shows, but while P Diddy is still going ahead with the shows, Snoop Dogg is left with a week off - a very expensive week off.
According to the promoters of his Irish shows, MCD, Snoop Dogg has a massive entourage of people on the payroll for this tour, as well as 14 trucks and 16 buses. "He is happy to cover the costs of all these people and equipment sitting around for a week so that the Dublin shows can go ahead," say MCD.
It is impossible to calculate an exact figure for how much Snoop Dogg will lose by waiting around for the Dublin shows (it would be at least a large six-figure sum) but it would have made far more economic sense for the rapper to cancel and fly back to the US. Even if he had announced that he was simply heading back home early because of the huge expense of retaining his entourage and equipment for a week off, there would have been a degree of understanding. The hoary old "sore throat" argument would have got him off the hook.
It is all in stark contrast to when Eminem cancelled his Slane show in 2005 at short notice.
Speaking from Holland earlier this week, Snoop Dogg said: "I am barred from the UK but I am coming to Dublin which will be the climax of this 'Heavyweights of Hip-Hop' tour. Me and P Diddy have been rehearsing the Irish-American rap anthem Jump Around by House Of Pain especially for Dublin."
SNOOP DOGG'S LAST Irish appearance was at the Oxegen music festival in 2005, where he attracted a huge crowd to his main-stage appearance.
Described by his mentor, the rapper and producer Dr Dre, as "the biggest thing to happen to black people since the straightening comb" when he made his musical debut on Dre's 1992 album The Chronic, Snoop Dogg's debut album, Doggystyle, was a massive success on its release in 1993, becoming the first ever debut album to enter the US charts at number one.
Credited with helping to popularise the controversial gangsta rap genre, the rapper has come under attack for his lyrics, which some claim glorify the use of firearms and marijuana and are undoubtedly profoundly misogynist. He has sung about "killin', feelin' no remorse" and his song Can U Control Yo Ho features the disturbing lines: "You got to put that bitch in her place, even if you're slapping her face."
The only explanation he has ever proffered for such sentiments is: "I'm not prejudiced in my rap, I just kick the rhymes."
Recent years have seen a mellowing of sorts for the rapper. He has toned down his bad-boy image, appeared in a video with Britney Spears, and recorded a duet with Mariah Carey. He has stopped making his Doggystyle pornographic films and proudly boasts that he has now cut down his prodigious marijuana consumption to "just two ounces a day". "Nowadays, Snoop is for the kids," says his publicist, perhaps overstating the case.
But as Snoop Dogg puts it himself, in his own gangsta way: "I've gone from being a restless young motherf**ker into an older, wiser, more mature cat."
Tonight's Snoop Dogg/P Diddy show at the Point, Dublin, is sold out. Some tickets are still available for tomorrow's show