Snoop Dogg — Avalon, Hollywood, 2015

On May 5, 2015, Snoop Dogg took over the Avalon, a historic venue in the heart of Hollywood, for a live concert filmed in full. A founding figure of West Coast rap, first revealed in the early 1990s alongside Dr. Dre, the Long Beach rapper delivers a set of nearly thirty songs that sweeps across his entire career. It brings together his g-funk classics, ‘Gin and Juice’, ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’, ‘Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)’, his takes on ‘The Next Episode’ and ‘Deep Cover’, and tributes to 2Pac with ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted’. The concert welcomes several guests from the California scene, including DJ Quik and The Lady of Rage, in a club atmosphere that captures the energy of his live shows. This capture documents Snoop Dogg in 2015, by then firmly established as an icon of American hip-hop and pop culture. For West Coast rap fans, this full concert at the Avalon is a valuable document: a complete live set, played in a human-scale venue, that highlights the laid-back flow and showmanship that made the performer a legend.