Crypto Megan Podcast | Hip Hop, Hustle, Wealth: How the Snoop Family is Shaping the Next Generation

I wasn't gonna do it at first.

I wasn't even gonna come to the metaverse. Most Black dads want their kids to be athletes. I was just hearing other things as a kid, like you can have land, you can have a business. Boy, does she love the weight that I rock on the microphone 'cause I rock it this way. Makeup, take up, break up.

Another fun fact is you and I also invested. Our first investment was Cardano.

I definitely wanna invest in the next Steve Jobs. I wanna find the next Mark Zuckerberg. And I feel like, you know, they're out there, especially right now during the bear market. You feeling like I'm feeling? Hey, you feeling high?

Feeling high? Feeling high? Oh, wow.

Welcome to the Crypto Megan Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nielsen. I'm a high-end crypto and NFT portfolio and Web3 strategy consultant. I'm currently on a world tour as a Web3 keynote speaker at all the biggest Web3, tech, and fintech events around the world as an industry leader To educate anyone from beginner to C-level executive, and of course, to advocate for women in Web3. My mission is to inspire new people to get involved in the crypto and NFT space with quality, entertaining information they can trust as pioneers in this cultural and financial revolution, a paradigm shift. Welcome to the show. We are here today at ICON Industries Studio in San Diego with Actually, a couple of icons from an iconic family. We got Papa Snoop on today, and Cordell Broadus, also known as Champ Medici. Guys, thanks so much for being here.

Welcome.

Thank you for having us.

Yeah, it's such a such an honor to have you both here, keeping it in the family, just discussing what your journey was like growing up and and how you happened upon this space. And Cordell Champ, we have you here because you're you're a talented. artist, athlete, and serial entrepreneur. And in fact, you come from a long line of entrepreneurs. And I'd love for you guys to kind of take us in there to what it was like growing up in that lineage of family and how it kind of developed something inside you that you said, man, I have to go for this now.

Well, Pops can start it off 'cause he's the—

Yeah, everything started with me. Okay. I grew up in a small town in Mississippi, McComb, Magnolia. And my dad's, it was my dad's people who had the money. My dad had a landscaping business.

Okay.

About 47 and a half years before he passed away. So I grew up with money, land, rental property, all kinds of stuff. And my auntie's sister lived 7 houses down from us. She had a store. Then his other sister, she had a nectarary. Then my other auntie, she had a farm and she had people working for her.

Wow.

Then my other auntie, she was a piano teacher and a voice coach. So they all had land, they all had money and everything. So I've been around and I worked for nothing but millionaires back then because my dad, and all the rich white people who had big houses and had money. And that's the environment I grew up around. So what I did, like I said, at 25 years old, I made my first investment in Englewood. I bought my first duplex at 25.

Wow.

So I've been in the real estate game since 1975. I bought maybe about 30-something, about at least 30 pieces of property. And what I did with my grandsons, when he was in junior high school, I sure put it in their heads that, hey man, when you got land, you got real estate, that's generational wealth. 'Cause my dad, when he passed away, he left us a lot of land in Mississippi, right? And houses. So my family's set. So I'm letting them know, the sooner you start investing in real estate, the better off you are. Now, he bought his first, he bought 100 acres of land, 100 acres of land in Georgia, 2 and a half hours from me.

Wow.

And he got a house in San Diego. He finna go to the Bahamas and buy land. So he got kids, right? So his kids would never have to worry about nothing because they got me as backup.

Yeah, they got the security blanket right there.

But I'm letting him know that, okay, you 26 years old now. He has more than the average person 45, 50 years old.

That's amazing.

I know people in Georgia got land, but not 100 acres that's theirs, you know what I'm saying? Paid for.

Right.

But that being said, I keep him motivated to keep doing this and doing that. And I keep all my grandsons and my granddaughters motivated. You got to make moves while you young. So I'm predicting, like I told him, I'm saying by the time he turn 35 years old, from me seeing what he doing right now, he's gonna be a billionaire one day. Wow.

Oh, you heard it here first.

Yeah, no, no, that's true.

No.

There's no question in my mind.

I, you know, I've been doing a lot of research. I've watched a lot of your interviews and you are absolutely just taking this whole thing by the reins. We're gonna talk about your, your journey and how you evolved into what we're all here to talk about today, which is Web3. in the wonderful world of crypto and NFTs. But so it started, seems that you've got this entrepreneurial spirit in your veins, in your blood. And this is a long lineage of, man, we just gotta, I wish they taught this in school, you know? Right, right, right. We don't learn how to invest in school. We don't learn how to manage money or, you know, what it is to be an entrepreneur.

Right, right.

So I think they tend to push you toward more roles that are, you know, within their escape of, you know, we're gonna work here for somebody, 9-to-5 job, which is fine. But if you have that entrepreneur, entrepreneurial spirit, you got to explore what that's like. I'm really excited to tell you about one of my favorite products on the crypto market right now, Ballet, maker of cryptocurrency cold storage cards designed for ordinary people that is easy, safe, and reliable. Ballet's flagship product is the Real Series cryptocurrency cold storage card that gives you full and exclusive control of your digital assets and holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, and thousands of other digital assets offline in the most secure way possible. The card is the size and shape of a credit card and is made of stainless steel, which functions as a bearer asset like cash or gold. And also for creators, I have my own Ballet Card customized with my logo, which is great for my community, and it can be used as a business card for promotional purposes for brands, companies, and even countries. The crypto gift cards can be used for special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, weddings, graduations as a tangible representation of a digital value. Another cool feature is the scratch-and-sniff authenticity test. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. Just scratch, sniff, and it smells amazing. It smells like ballet. So then you have Papa Snoop here guiding the way, right? And then for all our listeners who, you know, don't know who we're talking about, who we are, You're Snoop Dogg's son. This is Snoop Dogg family, you know, Papa Snoop, Little Snoop. Is that what they call you? That's what they call me. Yeah. And so this is just like an iconic family of all kinds of legends. And now you're standing in line to be the next future billionaire, perhaps the entrepreneur, the serial entrepreneur of the family. So what was it like growing up in a household with, you know, a guy like your dad who was so successful in music? And what did that feel like for you?

I mean, for me it's just like, you know, that's your dad. You don't see him as the hero that everyone sees or the icon. You just see him as dad, you know? And when he wasn't there, 'cause he had to travel and, you know, do shows and all that stuff, make the money, my aunties and my grandmas and my mom and cousins, our house always had 15+ people there. So I'm around all kind of different family members. And my grandfather, he would call me every week nonstop. And, you know, he would try to like tell me like, you know, get your own stuff. Don't depend on Snoop. You know, make a name for yourself. Buy real estate when you can. Set up a Roth account. You know, I'm like, what is a Roth account? Oh, you're gonna have millions of dollars in 40 years. Just set it up now.

The traditional investing we spoke about earlier, which didn't appeal maybe so much to our generation, but— You know, you have that exposure.

So that's what I was getting told and knowing like, okay, you know, I know who my dad's dad was. I know the family lineage on that side. Who is my mom's side? And knowing like, okay, my mom's father was a big-time drug dealer, you know, and it's not to shine light on him, but he had an entrepreneurial spirit too. And, you know, him being a millionaire in Long Beach and, you know, having all the cars and having all that type of stuff and Seeing where that led him to, you know, he was in prison for like 20-plus years.

Right.

And then seeing this side, it's like, okay, I wanna do the positive things, you know? I don't really feel like I'm a musician, so I didn't wanna walk in that light. My dad has already done that at a high level. I wanna be an entrepreneur. I wanna be a boss. I wanna be an investor. Those were the things I was telling myself as a kid. And at school, I would have leftover snacks that my dad and his friends didn't eat. I would sell 'em at school.

Wow. So it was like I was already—

I was always making money as a kid and coming up with business ideas, but I wasn't articulate enough and confident enough to tell people that's what I wanted to be. It was like my own secret. Wow.

Okay. That's, that's so interesting. And so then you kind of had your life set in a way that you were going to go into being in sports, right? So your dad was super into football, right? And you were a really good football player and you had that pretty much as an option. for a career and you decided to diverge from that and go into what you felt you truly wanted to do in life. And let me tell you, that takes a lot of courage. That takes a lot of courage to be in this world, in the Web3 world in general, but to kind of follow what you believe is your true path, which sometimes goes against what your family might want for you or your loved ones. What was that like?

Really, most Black dads want their kids to be athletes and superstar football players, basketball players. And it's— I get it. It's the community we come from and what we know and what success looks like.

Something very exciting.

You must be so proud.

One of your sons— Your son—

Snoop Dogg's son—

Is going to be going to college on football scholarship. Is a highly recruited high school football player on here.

I was just hearing other things as a kid, like you can have land, you can have a business, you can have, you know, all these different assets versus being the player or being the talent.

Right.

Why isn't there 32 African American owners in the NFL, but there's millions of players that's been in and out of the league? So I was always trying to think on that end. So sports was never something I really identified with, but I looked like an athlete. I was friends with all athletes. So it was like, that was my community. But when I got of age, as soon as I turned 18, I got to UCLA. I'm like, you know, I don't wanna do this. Take my scholarship, give it to the next kid. I'm gonna go be an entrepreneur. I'm gonna get into film. I'm gonna get into fashion. I'm gonna try to figure out tech. I'm gonna try to get into real estate. And I've done all that.

Yeah.

And you know, it took a lot of courage. It took a lot of people, you know, not respecting that. and family not understanding until just recently. But—

Just recently. Okay. So yeah, this has been a long struggle that you've had to kind of change your life path and tell people, step up and say, this is what I'm about now. This is what I'm doing.

And I'm not the only person that endured this. A lot of kids, what I noticed when I stopped playing football, I still studied at UCLA. And all the kids that was in class, they parents want them to be doctors, lawyers, They don't wanna be that.

Yeah.

You get what I'm saying? So it's the same as your father wanting you to be a football player. This person's father want him to be a doctor.

Right.

It's like we just doing this all for brownie points 'cause it's good talking points for our parents when they in rooms and make them look good. But in actuality, we gotta figure out what your kid is good at and you start to push them in that direction. And if you don't get that type of love, you gotta jump out on a leap of faith. 'Cause you gonna learn.

It is a leap of faith and having that conviction and belief in yourself, right? To be like, I got this, I can do this despite all the adversity, despite all the challenges and the hurdles. What did you think, Papa Snoop, when Champ comes over to you and says, hey, I'm done with football, I'm gonna do this?

And— Well, let me tell you about this. We was in Atlanta. We was in Atlanta at a concert and he's a grandpa. He said, I'm gonna have to tell my dad I don't wanna play football. I said, well, when you tell him, I don't wanna be nowhere around.

That was the first thing he said. I don't wanna be nowhere around.

His older brother, he took him up to Joe Montana's camp and he came to the football field with house shoes on and no playbook, no cleats. And Joe Montana gave him the name House Shoes. And he told Stoopid, he said, I ain't with this shit. So he never played again. But he was real good. Both of 'em was good. But I told him, I said, when you tell Snoop you're not playing football, I don't want him to be nowhere around. So what happened was he was over in, I think Norway or somewhere on tour and he called me, I think either Sweden. And he was mad as hell, man. He went off and said his mom didn't tell him this and that, tell him that. And this is where I got him after Snoop. When you was in high school, you was a basketball star and plus you played football.

Right.

You had basketball scholarships. You was a point guard.

I did not know that.

Oh yeah, he was the shit.

Okay.

But what happened was he told me one day, he's a grand— he's A-Pop. I don't want to go to college because I'm going to be the biggest rapper in the world. I told him to go for it. I said, you can't blame me. That's the one thing about kids, you can't make a kid do something he don't want to do. I said, did I force you when you told me that you wasn't going to college? You want to be a rapper? I told you to go for it. Look at you now. I said, but never force your kids to do something that they don't wanna do. They gonna get mad and 9 times outta 10, they gonna be left out there hanging in the breeze. But they always had me. They always had me.

You were the glue that kept the family together.

I'm gonna be the glue.

Yeah.

Because I love my grandkids and I love my great-grandkids. I love my family, period. But I just wanna see my grandkids, like I told them, do better than me, do better than your dad.

Right.

Okay, doing better than your dad, it's not gonna be easy.

Yeah.

But you can do it though. So he's on his way and there's no doubt about that.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, it's no question in my mind. And they get that.

You know, Snoop said in one interview that he's gonna be always the hardest worker in the room. He's gonna be wanting to always strive for more. And right. You're just putting everything he has into it. And so you get that work ethic from the family, right?

Right.

Like you just, it's just this intense desire to produce, to make good quality songs or content or music or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. And when you apply that to your life, you can literally do anything you wanna do.

Right.

Uh-huh.

Be anything you wanna be.

Right.

And you know, if it feels like, you know, you're so talented at so many different things, but if you find that one thing that I always say, it's not just your job, it's not, you know, what you wake up to, to go make money in. It's your calling. And that's when you hit the jackpot.

Exactly right.

So it's amazing that he has your support. And now, you know, segueing over to that and being kind of like following in your father's footsteps in a way that he's such this iconic artist and being able to step out. And now you come out and you say, I want to take the lead now. I want to take the reins. I want to be the next entrepreneur in the family. Find the next— I saw you on one of your interviews, you said you wanted to find the next Steve Jobs or invest in the next Mark Zuckerberg. You've got that in your blood. And so now it's you leading your dad, right? And so you've really embraced that role of, okay, I'm not going to be in the shadows, so to speak. I'm going to embrace the role of being from this amazing family and work with it and run with it and make something amazing out of it.

That's definitely what it was. And then ever since my mind shifted to that, It's been, you know, me teaching him things and me showing him new ways to diversify, not just financially, but as a brand, as an IP. And it's definitely been working and it's just genuine. You know, I told him in 2016, I'm like, the Super Bowl is gonna be in LA in 2022. We need to figure out how you can perform.

Wait, wait, that was you? That was literally like, you got him to do that? 'Cause that was my favorite Super Bowl halftime of all time.

All time, Dre.

But I told him that in 2016. He like, man, Super Bowl would never let me perform. And I'm like, nah, you can't think like that. Like, we gotta, that's big for LA in general. And I remember leading up to Super Bowl, there was talks about Bored Ape being in the halftime show.

Yeah, I remember that.

It was me on the call, Ivan from MoonPay, and we talked to Jimmy and Dre, but it didn't fall through. But just to see like I could, you know, have those type of conversations and be taken serious, it was like really eye-opening for me. And it's just like, you know, tied into manifesting and really believing before you even see it in front of you. Like, you gotta really believe it.

So hard for people to do that. And I get it, you know, but I think that's the only way. If you can't envision yourself being there, doing that, having that, or making it to that point, then it's so hard to get there. You have to have that vision, right, first. And even if you don't understand where you'll go, if you have that conviction in yourself, eventually you will get there if you want it bad enough.

Exactly.

If you work hard enough.

Yeah.

So that's really cool. That's cool that you had that vision. I know, so we talked about that I had read that you described Web3, this void in your life when you were playing football, like you didn't quite feel like you were in your, the place where you needed to be. So what was it that drew you to Web3 and made you want to get involved in blockchain technology?

Really, you know, it wasn't money because at the time, you know, I had a cleaning company, I had a trucking company, and I'm making like $30,000 a month. And I told my friend Shiv, my business partner, I'm like, yo, nothing matters right now like Web3. We need to get rid of everything and focus on Web3. Just because I saw people and I saw the energy and I felt it. And it was like I missed out on Facebook, MySpace, and Instagram.

Yeah.

But I was an early Right. I was influencing people to get on the app. I was the first person at my high school with an Instagram.

That's pretty cool.

I remember that and showing people how to get it, walking my dad how to post. And if I was smart, I would've invested in Instagram before they sold. So it was like, okay, you missed those waves. So when the next opportunity come, be a part of that. And that's how I felt about Web3 when early 2021, it was like, I see what's going on. Like, I don't wanna just, you know, financially win. I wanna create an IP and be remembered for being a pioneer on bringing people here.

Your legacy, meaning introducing new people, getting them interested by cool shit that you're doing with your IP. And then they're like, hey, wait a second. That's how the whole, you know, run-up with the Bored Apes happened. And that's another common thing we have in common is that I'm also in Bored Ape Yacht Club. and Doodles, World of Women. And those are just incredible communities. And just that whole energy is just like a fire, you know? Papa Snoop, what do you think of this whole movement? When he, when Champ told you, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump into this magical world of internet magical money, which some people think it is on the outside. Like what was your—

Well, what, what really what happened, we was in Spain, in my other grandson's garage. I heard, there's you and, and Mo and all, and all the children were talking about, Bitcoins, cryptos, and NFTs. I didn't know what it was. I'm old school.

Yeah.

And then my other grandson Julian, he kind of took him to school on it. But it seemed like to me it happened so fast. 'Cause now you gotta hit, I mean, you've been in that one 2 years, right?

Yeah, 2 years.

2 years. But the moves they made in 2 years is funny.

Shiv feels like a decade, right?

Yeah, right. Shiv is, I call him a professor. He's smart as hell. But the team he got around him, he got the right team around him for what they're doing.

So important.

But I remember when we first got started, I didn't think that never, you know what I'm saying? I mean, they told me, I mean, I don't know nothing about it. But my thing was once he got off into it and I started seeing him doing interviews and stuff, I was like, okay, then I began to get it. I said, I see something emerge from all the stuff they doing.

Right.

And I look at him now, I still can't believe it happened so fast.

Yeah.

'Cause it's like it was yesterday and now all of a sudden, bam. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. It feels crazy to be pioneers in this movement.

Yeah.

Where it does happen so fast because it's literally being shaped and created as we speak, as we are today. And so, and you and your dad had a big hand in that really with the IP and the Bored Apes and getting that whole message out there, getting mainstream excited for this whole movement. I remember I told my dad, my dad's a CPA, so a traditional finance accountant. And I was like, Dad, you know, I'm getting involved in Web3. Oh my God. You know, like it was to a traditional finance person, but now he's totally on board. He wants to know about the metaverse, which we'll talk about in a minute because I also agree with you on your viewpoints on the metaverse and things. But, um, so yeah, I think it's such a wonderful world and amazing that we can all be connected through this social construct that we're all united in that same goal.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so then segueing back to the IP, the Bored Apes, you guys were one of the first. to do that really in a big way with the ice cream. I mean, tell us a little bit about the different IPs that you— things you created with your IP.

Well, really, I sat down in New York 2021 and they were showing me the Bored Apes and all that. And I picked the one out for my dad 'cause it was a Vietnam helmet that he had on. And I'm like, my grandpa was in the war. And he got a cigar in his mouth. I'm like, okay, I see the alignment there. And really what I wanted to do was just like have him own it. And he sat me down, he like, it looks stupid just sitting in my wallet. Like it don't do nothing.

Yeah.

And I'm like, he was like, can we make music? I'm like, yeah, we can make music. He was like, when? Where? And I'm like, they don't have platforms for it just yet. And he's like, man, Y'all taking too long and getting frustrated. So I'm like, I started to research and look around and I ran across Spotty Wi-Fi who was dropping NFT songs and he made like $800,000 off one of his albums he did all as NFTs. And I'm like, I bought one, sent the screenshot to him. I'm like, look, teach us the game. I'm gonna fly you down to our studio. We gonna meet. To his face in a pink mink fur on the yacht with my gang. Murder was the case. Apes put bananas to your face. Talk to me. Show me how to do this stuff and we gonna always give you credit. But we need to bring the masses in. Somebody with Snoop's platform can definitely do that. So with his Bored Ape, we use it as a single cover and we did 500 songs. We did one song, but 500 copies and sold out Uh, like in 10 hours. I could pull it apart. Doggy got things on the MIDI, bop like Diddy. Doggy gonna bang for the city ever since my nigga was itty-bitty. He always had it in him, acting like me. No, not really. He would play with my money. Now it's—

I have to say, I was one of those people who bought that. I was one of the first people to buy that because I understood right away, this is amazing, you know?

Like, because with the song, when you buy the song, you get the beat. We send you the beat.

The hook, the sync, right?

And you get to remix it and release it and we gonna sign off on it.

Yeah. And we get to use it, right? And the content is part of like, you know, rights to that music now.

Right.

Yeah. And so that was revolutionary. I'm like asking all my friends, you guys understand what's happening here? You see what's— this is like the biggest transition I've ever seen in my life with music. And I remember I watched something on Netflix called The Playlist. I don't know if you—

Spotify. I'm friends with Daniel Ek.

Daniel Ek. He's Swedish. My husband's Swedish.

And so they went to school with some of his, Close friends, some of my clients actually.

And I always say that that playlist, the evolution of music from Pirate Bay to Spotify was kind of like, you know, when the dinosaur record labels had to jump on board.

Let me tell you something. Me and Daniel got the same birthday.

No way.

Born on the same day. So, and me and him used to work out in LA a lot. So I definitely like embodied his spirit when we was doing this NFT stuff. And I'm like, The idea isn't just NFTs, but having artists be able to sell their music right to you and you get a chance to have something to do with the creative and also being a part of that intimate experience. So what we did with the OpenSea NFT drops was just a glimpse of what, you know, I think the bigger picture is for music on the blockchain in general.

Yeah, like scratching the surface, right? We're just starting. It's just so early. And so that was the first iteration of what we could do. But I really feel like Web3 and crypto mirrors that whole, you know, the crypto pirates and versus the Pirate Bay that they wanted it all for free and they found out that doesn't work. So we need to kind of have a model where we can incorporate Web2, which is just another layer of the internet, right? This is just a layer on top of the Web2 internet version, right?

Mm-hmm.

And so we need to mesh those 2 together and find a kind of intermedium. So now it's come to the point where Spotify now is probably the one who has to stop and take a look and be like, how can we evolve? How can we start getting involved in helping fund these artists? Because that's, that's one of the things— Spotty was on one of my first episodes.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, I like— I love Spotty and what he's doing. And, and we talked about that, how you really can make a living as a musician with just 1,000 true fans. 1,000, you know, and that's it. And they have to spend $100 on you per year for you to be a 6-figure artist.

Oh, that's all?

That's all.

That's game I had got from Nipsey Hussle. He was the first person to tell me about cryptocurrency in 2017. But he sold his mixtape for $100. And that was like the first time an artist ever did something like that. 'Cause usually it's for free or like $10.

Right, right.

And he did a limited capsule. And with that, you got a signed copy, you got to go to his intimate show. You got access to his merchandise. And he did that in 2013. If you think about that, that's an NFT.

Wow. I didn't know he did that in 2000. So that's like the experience now, though. The difference would be because people ask me this all the time, like, is this just hype? Why can't we just use Web2 for all of this? And it's like that experience is baked into the code of the NFT.

Yeah.

So that's the difference. The ownership— always say Web2 is the free transfer of information. Web3 is the free transfer of value. And so you as artists, says, you know, entrepreneur, there's so many things that we can teach the world that you can do. Yeah, right. So how do you think— what do you think will be the biggest source of getting new users into Web3, introducing them? One of my friends told me it's not onboarding, it's introducing. Like, let's just call it something simple.

It's really just like every other field. Like, the more we do cool collaborations and keep moving the needle, the more people are going to come in. Technology wasn't cool at first. They started making ways and integrating in other fields to make it— everybody has a laptop now, everybody has computers, everybody has phones. That wasn't cool 20 years ago. People didn't usually have all that. So it's like integrating and cross-pollinating is gonna bring everybody. So we got to see more collaborations that that we wouldn't expect. And I think more people gonna come 'cause we still in communities.

Right.

And we introducing IP that already exists with new IP. And it's— that's how you introduce it. So I think it's just gonna take some time for cool collaborations to happen and masses gonna come in and—

Yeah.

Everything should work itself out.

I agree. I think brands are gonna bring in a lot of people too. And it's in the hands of of people like yourself who have a following, who really like what you do, who will understand about it in a cool way and really get like, why is this valuable to me? 'Cause they'll experience it firsthand through you. And you're so maybe, and also the, the cool thing is you can cross-pollinate, like you said, I love that with maybe somebody's building an NFT game and they wanna incorporate an artist's music and collab with the artist, a big artist, get 'em out there.

Mm-hmm.

Another way is that, that it's revolutionary for music I've seen is that the record labels don't have the hold on the artist so much anymore. have more creative freedom.

You know, some people want creative freedom and some people want that hold and that guarantee on their money.

Or the guidelines, we'll call it, right?

You know what I mean? So it's just, more people are gonna want freedom though. But the fame and the lights and all that look better. So it's like, you know—

You gotta kind of decide between them right now.

Which one you want, fame or fortune?

Let me speak on that though.

That's interesting.

You know, by me living in Atlanta, you know, like it's known for music too, right? So I know a lot of guys down there that'd rather stay away from these record labels 'cause they got to a 360 deal.

Yeah.

Where they want a piece of everything that you make versus my son and Dr. Dre, all these Busta Rhymes, these old rappers, they don't play that, okay?

Yeah.

When they go on the road, the merchandise money, all the money is theirs. I know a lot of rappers told me, young guys, my grandson's age, man, I got a computer, I got a guy to film my videos and stuff. I can do this, I can do that. These kids nowadays aren't like my son was when he first came into the music business.

Right.

They all got screwed, okay? I've been with him through his whole career from '91 up until right now. These kids nowadays a lot smarter, so they really capitalizing on the mistakes my son done made. But let me say this, I'm gonna close with this. They would never see the money that the guys made back in the '80s and '90s. That money isn't there no more. 'Cause these record labels are suffering.

Right, right.

Yeah, I mean, nobody wanted to deal with them.

Yeah.

Okay, so then I heard all these stories about, you did all these, you got all these hit records, but no royalty checks.

Right.

I was surprised to see the warrants you getting, and BJ Quick, he my son. They said, well, what's the royalty check? Which they supposed to have gotten, but they didn't get it. That's why the music business would never be the same.

Yeah.

Okay.

So would you say that the music business, the record labels, they're going to eventually evolve to incorporate some type of blockchain technology or to get involved in that scene? Do you see them kind of like adopting some of that technology, or do you think that's a long way away?

I think music labels should put all their albums on Ledgers.

I love it.

I love it. I'm a super Ledger fan too. I mean, why not? Yeah, right.

I think start there and then all the other stuff will follow because there's no reason albums should still be getting leaked.

Yeah.

Like, why is that still a problem?

That's, that's a really good point. You know, you don't think about that as— but you being from a creative family of artists, I mean—

All albums should be on ledgers until they ready to be released.

Yeah.

Every record label should just be in agreement on that. 'Cause it's like, what's the point of you risking the chance for your art to be released without you knowing?

Right.

And without you properly planning and being able to monetize off of that?

So it gives you more control over what happens with the music as well.

Let me give you an example, okay? I'm getting ready to drop my album next month.

Really?

Yeah, this album is— well, let me take you down memory lane.

Oh my gosh.

It was an album I did back in '98. I retired from the post office in '95, and I was up in San Francisco at KMELA radio station with my nephew Dez. He's the 3rd best producer in rap. And this guy approached me, he said, I heard you are Snoop Dogg's father. I said, yeah. He said, how would you like to do a compilation? I didn't know what a compilation was. I mean, I grew up with Motown and Stax Records and Atlantic, you know what I'm saying? So I played it off. I played it off. He said, I got $500,000 to put you out there.

Wow.

So I was already named, my name was already Papa Snoop. So we came up with this album. It was a compilation album. I had 20 rappers on it. I got half from Southern Cal, including my son, the other half from the Bay Area. Come to find out, I got the first half of my money, he disappeared on me, right?

Oh.

And just found out about 8 months ago that he got killed. So the 2 Latino guys that I was dealing with, Six-Four Joe from Vallejo, Gold Toes from San Francisco, back then we was green, we didn't know the business, right?

Right, right, right.

So Gold Toes moved to Houston, so he has a distribution company. He just gave me a distribution deal, 80/20, for my album. They was the one that called and told me, 'cause I forgot about the album. But I found out that, It's been selling since 1999. It sold over 5 million copies. But I haven't got paid. He haven't got paid. He haven't got paid.

Wow.

So we go, okay, now here, now found out Al got killed. I mean, I don't know what happened to him. He got killed. So now the album is back in my hand.

Wow.

I was the executive producer.

What a story.

So now what I'm doing right now, I took Snoop off of it. I'm gonna use Snoop. I'm gonna use my nephew Dez. I'm gonna use JT the Bigger Figure. He's really big in San Francisco.

Right.

And my oldest grandson and his friend Wes, I'm gonna give them the last 7 songs. I'm gonna introduce them 'cause they brand new artists.

Right, right, right.

They really have potential of being platinum artists. But now that I know the game, I know how to go out there and work my magic to make them platinum artists. 'Cause I'm down south, listen to these guys down south rapping, they all sound alike.

Yeah, yeah, you gotta sound, you have that distinct sound, right?

My grandson, his brother, And Wes, they got a different sound. They more like Snoop now.

That's cool.

Okay, so it's a perfect combination, but it goes to show you, it's been what, 23 years, and now everything's back in my hands.

Wow.

And that one phone call, like I said, we all got together and say, we're not gonna name it the Westside Riders, we gonna name it the California Riders.

Yeah.

So I got my album cover done. The only thing that breaks my heart right now is that all the record stores are gone. 'Cause back when my son first came in, the record stores was the place to go.

Right, like Salzer's. Do you guys remember that place?

Yeah, Chicago, George's.

Okay.

You know, like I was on the road with my son for a long time. Back then, when you were a new artist, you went to a record store.

Yeah.

'Cause everybody wanted to meet you.

Yeah.

Everybody wanted to see your face.

Right.

Nowadays it's not like that. Either you do it, you have to do it on what, Instagram or YouTube?

Or in, you know, Snoop's mansion in the metaverse, right?

Right, right, exactly, right.

Yeah.

So what he talking about is perfect, perfect for what he doing, 'cause they need people like him.

They need, we need people like you, Tim, in this industry. And that's why I'm so happy to have you both on today because celebrities, they get a bad rap in this industry because previously they haven't provided a whole lot of value to people trying to learn, right? I mean, there have been iterations, it's been like, they have, it's got like a, the stigma of, oh, okay, what are they doing in this? But you have taken the lead. Made it your own and you are now this just entrepreneur doing amazing things in Web3 and a leader, a thought leader in Web3. How were you able to establish that trust and kind of like get, make, create your whole own lane in this industry?

Well, before I came over here, I was in fashion. So I remember sitting at the shows and walking for certain designing brands and seeing like, Why am I not getting invited to the Met Gala? Why am I not on Vogue? Why am I not? And it was like, oh, you gotta do the proper introductions. You gotta politic. You gotta do certain things. You gotta be beside certain people and wear certain brands. And it's the rules in that industry. And same with Web3. It's certain things you gotta check off before you could try to sell a product to anybody. And that's in any industry.

Yeah.

You know, so I just was really doing the proper research first. And then second was, let me get with people who's done this before. I'm not gonna just have—

Smart man.

My dad do something by himself. I'm gonna get the biggest— all right, Cody. Cody, you an OG artist. All right, come on, come do this collaboration with us. And then we not gonna just do stuff with the biggest artists. We gonna do stuff with small artists. So we show y'all we not in it just for us to get big, but we pulling people up and putting them on our platform, hoping that y'all find them.

That's amazing. That collaborative spirit that was kind of hard to come across in the, you know, Web2 life, I call it, because this whole movement is so collaborative. It's like we're all one degree away and we all have the same mission. And so it's so nice to see that you guys are, you know, lifting people up like that.

And I've worked with, different landscapes. Like, we, we didn't just stay pigeonholed to Ethereum. Like, I purposely brought us to Cardano and did a project with Claymates, and it was the biggest project on their blockchain. I purposely brought us over to Polygon to do all our album songs. And, you know, we want to bridge relationships with everybody. I don't want to just be in this space one-dimensional.

I love that. You're like chain agnostic, you know, branching out. I, I thought about it and it was like, It's on Polygon. I was like, wow. It surprised me actually because nobody was doing that.

Yeah.

And it was just us saying, well, let's do where— let's go where people aren't.

I love that.

And make it cool.

I love that.

Versus being another one on OpenSea.

Doing your own thing, you know, creating your own lane.

Exactly right.

And he's really just like embodied this role of, you know, I'm stepping up now. Like, this is what it's gonna be. And you really have done that so successfully. It's very cool to see you experimenting with the IP, with building new things. And I know that in your new project or in what you're working on now, which we'll talk about in a second, you referenced that you talked with MoonPay, with Ivan from MoonPay, the CEO of MoonPay. And I really love what they are doing because Ivan said on an interview, we have to make this easy. We have to make it like a one-stop shop. His original vision for this was the wallet, was the ID, the wallet, the bank all combined.

Mm-hmm.

So that's just your identity that you go. Like plug and play everywhere. And he's trying to make it simple. And it feels like what you're doing is making it easy for people on the outside to understand and experiment with.

And well, really, I'm making it easy for the influencers to influence the masses because I know my reach isn't as big as someone like Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop. So I'm going, I'm going to their management and sitting down with them. and finding ways we could communicate this to their fan bases because it's millions of people that could be introduced in an organic way and it don't got to be, you know, too cash grabby.

Yeah, the cash grabby bothers me. You know, I like the bear markets for this reason. Not that I like things to be down, but the noise is gone. And I know you said this is when you find the next Mark Zuckerberg. This is when you do the big—

Invested in more companies now than I did in the bull market just because I see who's still in the office. I see who's still clocking in. Like, look, when I invest in somebody's company, I'm calling you at 6, I'm calling you at 7. We gonna pull up to your office and see if you there. And all the people we invested in, they're still here and they still believe. And it's a good sign to see, like, this is the new Silicon Valley, but it's on the web.

Yeah, I love that you're hustling in the bear— this is where all the hustlers kind of like One guy came up to me and he said, oh, that's really cool. I see you're still here. Like, this is my career. Like, of course I'm still here.

A lot of people left though.

But it's, it's crazy thought to me to think that you would just leave something so revolutionary because some hard times come or, you know, a market cycle go. It just shows how many bad actors there were and people who weren't in this for the long run. And now what we have is people building like the most brilliant minds of the internet leaving their Web2 jobs, coming here. To build this, like—

And I'm not even just looking in America. You know, we just got back from Europe and it's a lot of startup companies out there that I'm interested in. And, you know, I plan on going to Abu Dhabi later this year and Japan and just really trying to expand the Champ Medici IP and, you know, picking up people and making that communication easier for all regions. not just America, because this shit is global. Like, you know.

Oh yeah, I know, because I live in Spain and I've been to these European conventions and they're just so different. There's just so many other people out there that are doing amazing things and we don't necessarily hear about it or see it here in the US. So that's, uh, that's pretty cool that you're able to do it, to make it global and to connect people. You're a master connector, a facilitator of opportunities, right?

And that's what I love because that's my role and that's what I'm good at. I don't want to be the star. I don't always got to be in front. Like, sometimes I like being the architect or I like being the man behind the scenes that told them what to do. And he's just one just saying it like, right? I'm not too big on credit. Like my grandpa always told me, like, just, you know, handle your business and then have fun.

Like, that's amazing. I mean, you have a very humble attitude for who you are and what you've accomplished. And I just see you going so far in this space and doing such amazing things and You know, to kind of wrap this up, I'd like to hear more about what you're working on now. I saw that you're working on something called Welcome to the Block.

Yeah. Yeah.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

So that's what I'm going to Abu Dhabi for. We working on a crypto fund and it's not just crypto, but all Web3, Web 2.5. And it's just me jumping out on a leap of faith again and immersing myself in a Field I don't know much about, but like you heard, I've been investing in a lot of these companies by myself. Over 12 companies I've invested in Web3 specifically. So now I just want to get in the fund realm of things and legitimize myself as an investor and hopefully find that next Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs type of company. you know, have some sort of involvement before it gets big.

At the rate you're going, I definitely can see that happening and being possible. And people are following your lead now, and your dad is following your lead now, which is absolutely incredible. You are the next entrepreneur in the family, right? You're gonna see this legacy through and take 'em into a whole nother dimension.

Yeah.

So that's pretty cool. And just to touch on IP real quick, I know we're both in Doodles, and some of the holders have been really frustrated about how Doodles has been happening and things, but they actually also have the vision for the IP. And they say, you know, Funko toys, Funko Pop is like the actual figurine toys. They do like $900 million a year. And Jordan Castro, who's, you know, the founder, he says, you know, the digital version of that is right around the corner. So of these Funko toys, like making the Doodles figurines a digital figurine with experiences baked into the code that can also be translated to the physical world.

Hmm.

But who's capitalizing on that digital Funko toys, right? Like, so you're all about the IP and I'm really excited to see where you take this because I think it's, it's like limitless where we can go.

Thank you.

Right.

And I appreciate you and I love what you've built and I'm honored to be on this show.

Yeah, I know. We're honored to have you both. I mean, it's just so cool. I know another fun fact is you and I also invested. Our first investment was Cardano, right? Which is not normal usually. Like, it's kind of weird. And I heard that and I'm like, man, This is where it's at. I feel at home now.

And let me say something too. You know, I'm friends with Charles Hoskinson, and he invited me down to Wyoming on his ranch. And I got to, you know, know who he is and understand the entrepreneur he is and see all the other cool companies he's, you know, behind. And, you know, he's a very, very interesting person, and I'm honored to be friends with somebody like that. And it's crazy to know, like, That was my introduction to crypto, and now you know this is somebody I could text or call, and it's like it's you know all about the manifestation and staying on your grind. I stay on my hustle. Who the fuck you think better for this? Why the fuck would we settle for less? Never had the thought of giving up. Stuck to the plan, level up. Oh, before we had bands, it was us. I can never change up now.

That's so cool. I mean, you got Cardano, you got the founder of Cardano on your speed dial. That's pretty awesome, man. Like, that's, that's pretty epic. And I think you guys are both doing amazing things. It's just so cool to, to have you here and to talk about this. And the last thing I, I would touch on is I'm a big advocate for women, obviously, in this space.

Yeah.

Because I think this is an incredible time for women to start coming forward and doing their thing and taking these leadership roles and bringing a new perspective in. So how have the women in your life kind of reacted to this?

Well, the wife, Sophia, she love it. Yeah, I bought her a CryptoPunk in June.

Oh, that's amazing.

With her IP, she's turning it into a cannabis brand. Um, it's selling out cookies.

So cool.

I would love to try that. And Backpack Boys. Um, so, you know, the, the women love it. And one thing I'm doing for women in this space, I partnered with Tezos on a million-dollar fund.

Wow.

So we're giving over $50,000 to 20 artists.

That's amazing.

Most of those artists are going to be females. And, you know, a lot of those artists are from different regions and into all different things. And we want to introduce them to this technology and, you know, have them release a project on Tezos blockchain.

That's so cool. What you talked about before, just being diversified within the space and helping different parts of the space grow and, and come to fruition. That's, that's so cool. And by the way, your wife is super welcome. We saw her with you traveling the world and we would love to have her in our Bored Ape Ladies chat. Because like you said, it's all about the connections and the facilitation that, that community we've been able to build in the Bored Ape Ladies Club, you know, all the women in Bored Ape Yacht Club, 'cause it was primarily male dominated, you know, and, and man, it's just such a good vibe. So she's always welcome there.

Oh, we appreciate that.

Love to have her. And you guys have been incredible. As a closing statement, I just like to try to get you guys' advice on somebody who's kind of struggling to find their path in life. and doesn't really know what they're doing, where they want to head, or it kind of feels kind of lost and they want to maybe transition into Web3, what advice would you give them?

I would tell them to go on YouTube, watch as many videos, get a notebook, look at the stock market, you know, try to figure out what you feel is missing in this space. Look at the blue chip projects, learn from the founders. Learn from the founders that messed up too. You know, take all that in as mental notes and then just start buying the cheap projects and, you know, the more affordable projects and like crawl before you walk.

Mm-hmm.

And try to fail in a way where it's not detrimental on you. And that way you could really pick up and learn things on your own. 'Cause what I may tell you may, you know, detour your journey versus how the obstacles I had to overcome. Every— everybody's journey is different. So you just gotta really like put everything into one sector and like focus. Like my first, you know, initial introduction to Web3 was, okay, IP, like what is it gonna be for you? Is it gonna be, you wanna be investor, you wanna create your own IP? you want to consult.

Kind of find your niche.

You know, it's all different lanes in this new industry, but whatever it is that you do, make sure it's something that you gonna be passionate about.

Yeah, and believe in yourself like you did, right? Papa Snoop, what would you say to somebody figuring out their way in life as one kind of like piece of advice to get them to really rise like you have done for the family and help in their rise?

Yeah, like I told my grandkids, I said, you know, In the 10th grade, start thinking about what you want to do when you finish school. 11th grade, have some kind of sense of direction on what you want to do. Once you finish high school, just go out there and do one thing. Make sure that you're comfortable with it, but whatever's making you money and you love doing it, that's what you do. That's what he did. That's what I did. Okay? I mean, my grandkids are where they are because of me. No offense against my son, But he was always on the road, right?

Yeah.

So like I tell him all the time, Snoop can never give him information that I'm giving him 'cause I'm living life. It's all life. My son knows this life he's in. You know, he got so many people around him.

Right.

He really can't think. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Yeah. Me, I'm always by myself, but I've lived it.

Right.

Okay. I'm 73 years old.

You have that experience.

That life experience. I have the experience. But like I told all my grandkids, you guys got my bloodline. Ain't no doubt about that. But you have to get off your ass and do it. You can't talk about it. No, no, really, really. This is what I told him. I could talk to you all day long, but unless you go out there and do what I told you to do and live it, it don't mean nothing. You have to live it. You're going to run into obstacles in life. Even me, I run into obstacles, but I minimize my mistakes. You're going to make mistakes. But like I told him, if you're going to make mistakes, make them while you're young.

Yeah. Okay.

You can't. I can't make no mistakes at 73 years old. I can't recover from it.

I don't know. Gary Vee would probably like be like, "You're still so young." Gary Vee is just a joke. Yeah, he's always like they just did Snoop in it. Yeah, Champ did a show with him.

Everybody.

He's always like, "You're so fucking young." Yeah, no, but.

But the good part of the thing about me is like I'm 73 years old, but see, I don't hang around some people my age.

I hang around my grandson to keep your mind fresh, and I don't hang around people my age.

Right, right.

Hey, hey, but that's why you're so sound and smart. I mean. I mean, this is, you're unusually mature for your age. I mean, it's just insane how much you've done by this. I mean, you're a father too of 3 kids. You've got a wife, you're doing this amazing career. And I just think that you're an exemplary kind of person to follow in the footsteps of for other celebrities or even people who are just up-and-coming musicians or whoever wants to get involved in this space. Not even, but you actually are leading the way.

Yeah.

And my whole goal on this podcast is to get people information they can trust and get involved with people, platforms like you in a meaningful way who are doing things. And you're about the action. You are out there making it happen.

Right, right.

And that's the difference between you and everybody else who just thinks.

Right, right.

And you said you have to be solving a problem that the market needs, not just coming up with ideas to grab cash, right?

Yeah, yeah.

And one thing, last thing I'll say that I love that you guys do is, you know, you're pretty tough when you come to your investments and you have to vet them and you have to figure out who's who. You said you'll call 'em at 6 or 7. So you said one quote on one show, that you're not rude, right? You're shrewd or something like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think that's cool.

And that's just business. Like, we got kids we gotta feed, we got a lineage we trying to keep alive. So the stakes are high and it's serious, you know?

Yeah, but it's good. You hold 'em accountable, you make people do better, you make them do excellent work. You bring out the best in them when you do that. And so that's how this space is gonna evolve by people like you who are putting that out there and holding them to that standard of excellence.

But the advantage he have, like I tell him all the time, I've been around a lot of his friends. A lot of guys might see their grandfathers every now and then. They give them a hug, talk to them for a minute. I'm a different kind of grandfather. Now when I'm out here, I'm with him. He's my other grandson, but now I'm down here with him. But every time I'm around one of my grandchildren, I give them the same advice. Okay, so I'm a proud grandfather. Now I can lay back and relax. Now What he's doing, he's really taking me to school too. You know what I'm saying?

Right.

Because everything I got to tell him, everything I'm that I do that's making me money, it's not for me. It's for my. It's for his kids.

Right, right.

I want to keep. I want to make sure that a generational wealth when I'm out of here, that my great grandkids won't have nothing to worry about.

That's amazing. We all need a Papa Snoop. It sounds like in our lives.

Love you, Pops.

Yeah, man. That's what it's all about though.

Yeah, it is. It is. And it's about this. And thank you so much for being so. Amazing and humble to be here and to connect with people who are in this space. It's just incredible what you're doing. I can't wait to see what you come out with in this year and the years to come. And thank you guys again for being here.

Thank you for having us.