A few weeks after Snoop Dogg bought over Death Row’s brand and catalogue, some landmark albums from the 90’s have gone missing since then. The ‘Doggystyle’ and ‘The Chronic’ are among the affected albums from all streaming platforms.

Image credit: PA ImagesSnoop Dogg at the American Song Contest Live Show Red Carpet, 2022 / Kay Blake/Zuma Press/PA Images

Snoop Dogg could be gearing up the start of a new year with change in the ownership of Death Row Records. The Chronic rapper earlier promised of transforming the label into “an NFT Label". At such, the label will be operating in the metaverse which is the medium for all NFTs.

What is NFT?

NFT simply stands for non-fungible token. It is non-interchangeable data or digital ledger that runs on a blockchain platform which the owners can create, store, and trade as well. NFT is the latest development in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrency. The major difference between NFT and other blockchain cryptocurrency is that each token is peculiar since it is uniquely identifiable. Type of NFT unit data includes photos, audios, and videos. Each NFT data has a public authenticity certificate that prevents copying and sharing of such digital files. In recent times, NFTs has been used and recognized as a digital asset all over the world drawing several criticisms from different groups.

The Affected Albums

It is now better understandable the reason behind Snoop’s transformation agenda. Since after the takeover, several key albums have gone missing from all streaming platforms. The following albums under the Death Row’s label has been removed: Dr. Dre’s iconic debut album The Chronic, Snoop Dogg 1993 debut album Doggystyle, and Dogg Food from Daz Dillinger and Kurupt in 1995. Although The Don Kiluminati: The 7 Day Theory, and All Eyez On Me from 2pac are still available on the streaming services since these two are not part of the Death Row catalogue snoop acquired. Snoop Dogg bought over the ownership of Death Row’s catalogue from MNRK Music Group formerly known as eOne Music.

Top streaming services such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify has not released any comment concerning the pulling down of the albums by the new ownership of Death Row record label. Snoop Dogg has already mentioned the plans for the future following the transformation from regular to NFT. Some of these plans include transforming the record label into an NFT fixture, moving the label to multiverse as well.

The Chronic crooner Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg has top plans for this West Coast hip-hop brand since after taking ownership. There is a plan to return the affected albums back to streaming sometimes in the coming years. Plans are in place to return two of the biggest selling albums under the Death Row’s label – Doggystyle and The Chronic. These two albums are the biggest albums from the list of the albums removed from streaming platforms. Each of these albums earned over 169,000 sales in the 2021.

NFT Albums Roll out

In March 2022, Snoop Dogg released the first NFT Album for sale on a blockchain based platform. Death Row Mix: Volume 1 is available on Web3 music start-up Sound XYZ for sale online. It is a DJ mix of about 30 minutes length. Information gathered says it is a combination of some scraps and pieces put together for a non-stop hit. It is a great collection of music that can played as a background song in a casino. Some listeners already gave good feedbacks and DJ’s can have few minutes along the way to put in a verse of two. Sound XYZ has taken to social media sites like Twitter to make an official announcement. Sounds XYZ has made available 1,000 limited edition version of the album NFTs which also sold out in less than an hour. Interestingly, the hosting site crashed during the hour of the rush. Good news is that the secondary market was already open which help to facilitate the sales.

NFTs enthusiasts have a lot to watch out for such as more album transformation. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre co-founded Death Row Records decades ago and has since grew together making remarkable impacts such as performing together at the 2022 NFL Super Bowl Halftime. Albums under the Death Row Records includes Tha Doggfather, Dogg Food, Murder Was the Case and Above the Rims. Although there were rumours concerning the ownership of certain albums such as The Chronic. It is confirmed that Dr. Dre owns 100% of the famous Chronic album which features several artistes such as Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre seem to be the first Rapper and Music Producers to go online with the transformation of the albums to NFTs. Hopefully more record labels will suit in the coming years.