Baker Boy, who will be playing his second grand final (the first was in Perth in the COVID-affected 2021 season), was still trying to work out what to wear. “I’m probably not going to wear the full Gucci tracksuit,” he said, referring to his attire four years ago, “but I’m definitely thinking about trying to top it”.
Tash Sultana, who has been drafted by Mr Dogg to play some guitar licks during his set, almost stole the show.
The pre-game line-up in full (l-r): Vera Blue, Baker Boy, Snoop Dogg, Tash Sultana, Mike Brady.Credit: Wayne Taylor
“Look, it’s not hard work, but it’s honest work,” they said of the invitation to perform with one of the biggest hip-hop artists in the world. “You get Snoop Dogg give you a call up and say, ‘Hey, I love your stuff. Can I have some options for guitar’. Well, that’s what I do. So I said, ‘Sure thing, mate’.”
They had got to know each other a little. “We’ve been hanging out,” Sultana she said, before offering a tantalising glimpse through the smoky haze of the MCG dressing room in which Snoop and co have been holed up between rehearsals.
“I got invited into the lair to acclimatise to the Grand Final,” they said. “He extended me a very, very special invitation that I’m sure many people would love to have the invitation for. I’ll leave that out. You can speculate all you want.
Though he’s ostensibly here for this gig only, Snoop isn’t keeping his powder entirely dry. He’s doing a couple of DJ sets, at St Kilda’s Espy and at the city venue Ms Collins, on Thursday and Friday nights, under his DJ Snoopadelic alias.
But for the artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, Snoop Lion (during his brief flirtation with reggae), Snoopzilla and more, the main game is, well, the main game.
And what can we expect?
“I mean, classic Snoop Dogg,” he said. No song titles, but you’d guess that means Gin and Juice, Young, Wild & Free, and Drop It Like It’s Hot are likely to feature.
“At the same time, I love this culture, and I appreciate y’all for allowing me to perform,” he added. “So I have some special guests that will be performing with me, to make it feel like it’s supposed to feel.”
He’s played the Super Bowl, he’s performed at the Olympics, and now he’s adding Australia’s biggest annual sporting event to the list. How, McLachlan asked, does that make him feel?
Snoop kicks a goal from the boundary at the MCG on Tuesday as Nick and Josh Daicos, who coached him, look on.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“These are dreams come true for me,” said Snoop. “I was a kid that dreamed of getting to meet athletes, and now I’m actually able to perform for the biggest sporting events in the world.”
The fact he gets to do shows like this, he added, should serve as “inspiration and motivation for the next [generation] that comes behind me … because it’s happening for me so why couldn’t it happen for you.”
And as for the likely winner of the game?
“I don’t know,” said Dogg when asked to pick between Cats and Lions. “You know what I’m not going to do? I’m not going to split half the people that love me.”