If you were to go back to 1993 and tell a teen or young adult that Snoop Dogg would one day be a beloved commentator for the Olympics, proudly carrying the Olympic torch, adored by young and old alike, they’d look at you like you’d lost your mind.
And Public Enemy co-founder Flavor Flav hanging out with the women’s Olympic water polo team, which he swooped in like a superhero to fund and hype? Say what now?
How did these two go from gangsta rap and hardcore hip-hop bad boys, with arrest records for charges ranging from drug possession to murder, to a wholesome part of everyone’s favorite international sports competition? Are we actually living in the upside down?
Gen X in particular is reeling from the surreality of it all. It’s delightful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s…weird. Older folks and youngsters may not fully understand who Snoop and Flav were in the 90s, and they definitely weren’t immersed in youth culture of that time. But these guys were famously rebels of the highest degree and criminals by definition. The last word most people would use to describe them would be “wholesome,” and yet here we are.
Snoop Dogg is one of the official hosts of the Olympics and has been crushing it with his uniquely hilarious and endearing commentary. He even hopped into a pool to let Michael Phelps teach him to swim like an Olympian, for goodness sake. And not only has Flavor Flav been all in on water polo, but he’s also met First Lady Jill Biden in the aquatic center with a joyful hug and played the piano for the U.S. Ambassador to France in Paris—and that’s just so far.
So many of us are incredulous at these developments:
“Look I don’t know how we got here but in the year 2024 the two most wholesome people on the television are Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav.”
“If you’re younger than maybe thirty years old, it’s probably impossible to fully explain to you how surreal it is to see Snoop be the star of the NBC Olympics opening ceremony broadcast.”
“Imagine going back to 1992 when ‘Nothin’ but a ‘G Thang’’ dropped and telling people that in 30 years Snoop would be the one celebrity Americans generally agree they like.”
“I would love to go back 20 years and see the reaction of people when I tell them that Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav have become warm and fuzzy mainstream personalities.”
“Has there ever been a bigger career 180 than Snoop Dogg going from the drive-by murder of a rival gang member in 1993 to being America’s Fun Uncle, the guy you call when you need a co-host for Martha Stewart or a kid’s choice award presenter?”
“Snoop Dogg at the Olympics in Paris cheering on the American swimmers. Flavor Flav in Paris sponsoring the USA Women’s water polo team. I don’t know what the what is going but 18-year old me thinks this totally awesome.”
However people might feel about Snoop and Flav’s unsavory pasts, they appear to have redeemed themselves in the public eye. There’s something so loveable about them both, with their infectious enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, the way they seem to get along with everyone they encounter and the genuine joy the exude as they talk about the sports they enjoy and athletes they admire. It’s all just so…wholesome. There’s really no other word for it. We love it. And we’re weirded out by it.
What a time to be alive.