Music can birth a lot of different collaborations that can stretch in different genres. And in fact, country music is not short of that. But by far, one of the most unlikely, yet most exciting collaborations it has seen is from the Outlaw himself Willie Nelson and the Snoop Doggy Dogg. Their common interests? Pot and a bucket of KFC, of course!
The Beginning
Sometime in April back in 2008, Snoop Dogg called Willie Nelson to ask if they could do a song together. Nelson agreed, and Snoop didn’t want to wait for the end of his tour. So, he flew to where the Outlaw was. Snoop narrated the next thing that happened on his appearance on “The Tonight Show.”
“I was in his hotel room, and we was playing dominoes and enjoying life. After enjoying life … we developed a hunger. … Naturally, we wanted to go to Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is one of our favorite spots, his and mine. So we pull up in the drive-through, we order the chicken, they give it to us, and they hand us the big bucket. We take the top off and we both put our hand in at the same time. And we grab the same piece of chicken at the same damn time. And I said, You know what Willie? That’s yours. Go ahead, take that, dog.
And the first song that they collaborated on was an upbeat, true marriage of outlaw country and rap about, you guessed it, marijuana. The duo dedicated it to none other than Johnny Cash, and they entitled it “My Medicine.”
Check it out here!
The Middle
What came next was a collaboration in 2011, with a song called “Superman.” The music video itself was shot like a documentary, featuring the collaborating artists working together, or just driving along. It also showed Nelson addressing the crowd with
“So, we got Snoop to come all the way over here to sing a record with us,”
and Snoop replies with:
“I love this man right here!”
The lyrics take on a more serious note, opposite to their first collaboration. “Superman” dives deep into overworking and the exhaustion of what it means to become an artist. It narrates the downward spiral of the musical career until the singer, in this case, Snoop himself, is coerced just to pack it up and go.
Listen to the track here!
The End?
Their final known collaboration was in Nelson’s song “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.” It also features Kris Kristofferson and Jamey Johnson.
It is kind of like a fitting conclusion to their grand collaboration together if ever this is it. This song, in its core, champions the idea of “celebrate my memory instead of mourning for my passing” kind of vibe. This song is characteristically Nelson and Snoop to the letter.
Listen to their song here!
Tags
My Medicine, Roll me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, snoop dogg, Superman, Willie Nelson