Snoop Dog has already made his name as an actor, so the news that he wishes to develop a television series for HBO should no amaze the audience. Although this project is at an incipient stage, with no decided title or cast, Snoop Dogg made public his desire of developing a Drama TV series for HBO in his keynote speech at SXSW on Friday.
Despite the project being at the beginning, Variety informs that Snoop Dogg intends only to produce the drama, without any intention of acting in it. What is more, the actor-rapper already chose a part of his team for the upcoming television series. Firstly, we have director Allen Hughes – known for The Book of Eli (2010) or From Hell (2001). Secondly, writer Rodney Barnes also seems to have accepted to be part of the project.
The ‘’Snoop Dogg television series’’ will be a realistic story, as intends to focus on the changes which occur in the life of a Los Angeles family once political changes take place, with emphasis on the consequences of the Reagan-era. According to Daily Mail, Snoop Dogg considers Ronald Reagan culpable for all the negative changes that occurred in the area around the 80’s. In his statement, he emphasizes the difference before and after the Reaganomics era: ‘’Early in the ’70s and toward the latter part of the ’70s everything was beautiful because we had ways to have fun and communicate, and those who were underprivileged, the low economic side of life, the government would provide for us, which helped us get by.’’
As a counterargument, Snoop Dogg spoke his mind on the changes which occurred at a social level once the new political view was installed: ‘’When Reaganomics kicked in, certain things were taken away, after-school programs and things of that nature. Guns and drugs were shipped into the neighborhood. So it was a shift of having fun and playing football to selling drugs and shooting at each other.’’
With HBO behind the 1980s Los Angeles drama, even Snoop Dogg confirmed – during his SXSW Q&A with longtime manager Ted Chung – that he is totally confident that the project will be an accurate story of past realities: “HBO is the No. 1 network in the world as far as developing and having these types of shows come to life (…) This is a dream come true to be able to tell a story that’s going to be told the right way on the right network.”