Et Tu, Snoop?

In 2017, a modestly successful African-American R&B singer named Chrisette Michele stirred up controversy when she agreed to perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. 

To say that the decision was not warmly received would be a colossal understatement. Spike Lee nixed plans to feature one of her songs in the television adaptation of She’s Gotta Have It. 

Michele told Billboard of her controversial decision, “My family has disowned me. If you decide to Google me, you’ll see that America is writing about me in their newspapers. I’m the black poster child for discord right now.” 

The journeywoman singer-songwriter saw performing at the inauguration as an apolitical gesture designed to bring people together and fight what she saw as a hopelessly divided political scene. 

It was not received that way. Michele’s label dropped her.

She became a pariah. Playing Trump’s inauguration became something that will follow her to her dying day and beyond. 

Michelle’s decision was wildly unpopular, but there was some logic to it. With any other president, being asked to perform at an inauguration would be the kind of honor that you brag to your grandchildren about.

The singer was rumored to collect 750,000 dollars for one performance. She denied being paid that much, but it seems safe to assume it was probably her biggest payday. 

Alas, if Michelle were to tell her grandkids that she performed for Trump, they’d probably be filled with shame and go no-contact with her. 

Michele’s once-promising career hit a brick wall. Her community did not forgive or forget. The musician might have thought that performing for Barack Obama as well might have won her some sympathy, but the reaction was swift and intensely negative.  

A lot has changed in the last eight years. 

I am writing this blog post because a black musician much more famous and successful than Michele, generated a lot of controversy and backlash when he agreed to perform at a crypto event at the inauguration for what I imagine was probably several million dollars at the very least. 

I am talking, unfortunately, about Snoop Dogg, a legendary performer and hip-hop icon who squandered a lot of the goodwill that he earned as a beloved staple of the 2024 Olympics. 

The Death Row mogul criticized Trump harshly during his first term. In 2017, he even filmed a music video firing a gun at a clown dressed like Donald Trump. This led the thin-skinned Leader of the Free World to tweet crankily, “Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!”

Dogg even released a single, “M.A.C.A (Make America Crip Again”) which contained lyrics like, “The president says he wants to make America great again. F–k that s–t, we going to make America Crip again… don’t you look strange having all that power, but you won’t make a change.”

Then something predictable happened. Trump saw an opportunity to win favor among huge figures in the hip-hop community through pardons and took it. 

Eight years later Trump’s people were overjoyed to have a star of Dogg’s magnitude performing at his inauguration, failing career and all. 

Trump did Dogg a favor in pardoning Death Row co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris. 

Suddenly, Snoop was singing a different tune. A man who vowed to vote for the first time in 2020 because he was so angry about, among other things, the Muslim Ban, police brutality, and drug laws told The Sunday Times, “Donald Trump? He ain’t done nothing wrong to me. He has done only great things for me. He pardoned Michael Harris.”

Dogg’s experience of Donald Trump’s presidency as a rich, famous, powerful celebrity with a friend to be pardoned was much different than, say, that of Haitian immigrants in Ohio. 

Snoop Dogg is rich. Of COURSE, he did great things for him, if not for our country or African Americans. 

The veteran rapper’s popularity and reputation both took a hit, but he’ll be fine. 

Unfortunately, this sets a precedent for big pop stars who are not associated with Republicans or Trump to play his gatherings. It might still have a stigma, but Snoop single-handedly made getting into bed with Trump, however briefly, more acceptable.

That sucks. Trump’s victory and eagerness to use his power to punish his enemies and reward his friends have led a lot of sleazy opportunists to decide that, actually, they totally support Trump now and must give him a million dollars for his inauguration so they can sit in the front row. 

Think of it this way: Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos’ million-dollar donations to Trump’s inauguration could have collectively paid for Snoop to trot out the hits for an hour and a half for the glory of cyber-money and Trump 2.0.

Snoop Dogg, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos have publicly shown the monster in the White House that they’re willing and eager to play ball. That sucks. We shouldn’t normalize supporting him in any way. Artists shouldn’t necessarily be blacklisted for playing one of his events, but Snoop’s decision to play the inauguration will forever change the way that I see him for the worse. I am disappointed. I hoped he was better than that. 

Hopefully, other pop icons will not follow suit because it would suck if more of my favorite artists compromised their legacies by playing footsie with Trump.