Snoop Dogg faces backlash for performing at Trump inauguration ball in DC after being anti-Trump before
Popular personality Snoop Dogg did a 180 from his public anti-Trump stance some years ago and performed at a Trump pre-inauguration ball.
In a move that surprised some and seemed to be entirely expected by others, Snoop Dogg, the popular media personality, rapper and performed at a pre-inauguration ball in support of President Trump, leading many to refer to “Uncle Snoop” as a sellout and question his commitment to the Black community.
On Friday, January 17, Snoop Dogg performed at the Inaugural Crypto Ball at Washington, D.C.’s Andrew Mellon Auditorium. The Crypto Ball featured a slew of cryptocurrency executives and was emceed by President Trump’s incoming crypto czar, former Paypal COO David Sacks. Rappers Soulja Boy and Rick Ross also performed at the Crypto Ball. Based on videos posted on YouTube and Instagram, Snoop DJ’ed his own performance and played a litany of hits from his catalog as well as others like N.W.A. that seemed…curious…considering the audience and the occasion.
As you can imagine, Snoop performing has ruffled the feathers of Snoop critics and even some supporters, alike. Especially because Snoop had some very harsh words for all who supported Trump back in 2019, referring to those who might vote for him in very profane terms, stating quite clearly that Trump didn’t care about anybody, especially blue collar, hard-working people. Snoop’s about face led many to question not only commitment to the community but his motivations. Even Elon Musk joked about the turnaround, posting on X with a laughing emoji, “The Vibe shift is real.”
The account for the popular card game “Black Card Revoked” asked “So are we snatching that card or what?” In a sentiment that could serve as a summary for most, another user on Instagram said “this is culturally embarrassing and disrespectful.” Similarly, a lot of people questioned whether or not Snoop and Nelly (who also performed at a Trump inauguration ball, alleging in an interview with Willie D from The Geto Boys that it was an “honor”) will receive the same backlash as Chrisette Michelle who performed during the first Trump inauguration and was effectively blackballed from the music industry.
“Chile… let’s see if y’all do him and Nelly like y’all did Chrisette Michele!”
Snoop has yet to publicly respond to the backlash, posting to his social media accounts in what could be deemed an unbothered fashion. Only time will tell whether or not Snoop will address his performance (as Nelly did), but I think for most people, there isn’t a good enough reason he could give that would make it all make sense. Unlike Chrisette Michele, though, I doubt it will impact his life, career or future prospects, which only leaves us to unpack the “why” of that double standard.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
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