Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg have plenty to celebrate this week. In addition to the rave reviews for the longtime friends’ all-star Super Bowl 2022 Halftime Show, both hip-hop legends scored their first-ever billion-view video on YouTube in the wake of the extravaganza.
The official video for the pair’s 1999 tune “Still D.R.E.” from Dre’s multi-platinum second solo album, 2001, crossed the billie line after they performed it at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., during the midway point in the contest between the Cincinnati Bengals and this year’s champs, the Los Angeles Rams. The Hype Williams-directed clip represents the first video for either man to reach the 10-digit mark on YouTube.
And though it took its sweet time getting there, the video — first uploaded to YouTube in October 2011 –stands as a hermetically sealed time capsule of one of Dre’s most iconic songs, from the shots of the dynamic rap duo bouncing along the streets of L.A. in their lowrider, to the giant party scene and brief cameos from Slim Shady, Xzibit, Funkmaster Flex and Warren G.
The Feb. 13 halftime show found Dre and Snoop opening with “The Next Episode” and a Tupac Shakur tribute (“California Love”), before a surprise appearance from 50 Cent, a raging two-song set from Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar’s intense “Alright,” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and a finale that found Dre at the piano with Snoop right along for “Still D.R.E.”
Though the song topped out at No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its release, it has become one of Dre’s most beloved anthems in the years since. It was later featured in the 2001 Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawke drama Training Day — in which Dre and Snoop appeared in memorable cameos — and the Grand Theft Auto V video game.
Watch the “Still Dre” MV below
Comments