For Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, it simply made sense to finally put their decades of proven friendship and artistic collaboration behind a product with particular personal importance to them both: Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.
The canned cocktails, of course, are inspired by Snoop’s Dre-produced Doggystyle hit “Gin and Juice,” which was reimagined by Hardy for a Snoop and Dre-featuring short film earlier this year. In a recent conversation with Big Boy, Snoop and Dre spoke at length about their lifelong friendship and how it informed what ultimately became the Gin & Juice brand.
"Look at where we’re at in our careers," Snoop said, as seen up top. "Look at our age. Look at what we’ve done. And we still love each other. So why not do something together? A lot of times people have been in relationships for 30 years, can’t talk to a motherfucker, can’t hang out, can’t go visit. We actually love each other, so why not do some shit together? I’m doing great business, he doing great business. Let's stop and do some business together. What’s wrong with that?"
As Dre noted, citing prior remarks made by his friend, the duo is simply "better together" than they are apart.
"I think Snoop said it the best," Dre said. "We’re better together. I can’t go on stage without Snoop and be serious about what I’m doing. Of course, I’ve been on stage with people and shit like that and it’s been fun and we’ve done some really great shit. But us together, it’s always magical. I think Jimmy [Iovine] said it best. It’s Keith and Mick. It’s Bono and Edge. That’s what it is."
Earlier in their careers, as both attested, mixing up a large volume of gin and juice was commonplace during studio sessions.
"That’s all we was drinking every day in the studio," Snoop recalled. "This n***a would come in there with a gallon. You know the milk gallons? He’d pour the milk out. Half gin, half orange juice."
Dre interjected, noting that they were both "in our 20s" at the time. But something that has maintained in the years since is Dre’s proven meticulousness, something he and Snoop both say is evident in every facet of Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.
"It’s incredible to know that you’ve got something that’s amazing that you feel is gonna really work. … It’s all there," Dre said of the venture, which also saw him paying a visit to a lab facility in the Chicago area to partake in the gin creation part of the process. "The only thing we have to do is not fuck up. This is not a liquor that we’re just putting our name on at all. It’s just like the headphones. It’s like Beats. Everything was us from the ground up."
See more up top. Gin & Juice is available now.
Before year’s end, fans are expecting to get Snoop’s new Dre-produced album. In a recent chat with Complex, the duo confirmed the album was slated to arrive before Christmas.