As season 25 of The Voice comes to an end on Tuesday, May 21 finale, the next season of the competition is already set with a new lineup of coaches. John Legend, Dan + Shay, and Chance the Rapper are stepping down for S26, while Reba McEntire will return and be joined by previous coach Gwen Stefani, and newcomers Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg.
“If you know anything about me, you know that I love all forms of music,” said Snoop on a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “So, this is a great opportunity for me to show that I really understand music and be a real coach and to really give direction to some of these artists that could be today’s next big thing.”
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The rapper called McEntire “the queen” and shared his admiration for country music. “I love all forms of music,” said Snoop Dogg. “That’s what people are going to learn about me. That’s why I feel like people attract to me. I’m not one-sided. I’m not just for you, I’m for everybody. I’m the people’s champ.”
Before being revealed as a season 26 coach, Snoop appeared on The Voice as a mega mentor during the season 20 Knockouts. During his first run on The Voice, he also shared plenty of constructive advice with the contestants crossing multiple genres.
Here’s an early glimpse at the rapper as a Voice coach and some of the sage wisdom he previously shared that can be applied to other components of music and songwriting.
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1. “Make People Feel Good”
“Don’t let this moment blind you from what your real goal in life is,” said Snoop. “You’re supposed to make music to make people feel good.”
2. “Your Voice is an Instrument”
“Let the music find you. You gotta look at yourself as one of those instruments being played. Don’t try to catch the beat. They’ll catch you. Just find your groove and make it smooth. Verse with us. Make us feel what you saying.”
3. “Become That Song”
“You gotta become the song. You gotta become these lyrics to where we feel like we feel what you’re saying. We don’t hear what you say. As far as connecting, you gotta fall into the song. You gotta make the song a part of you. You have to look at your vocals as being an instrument in the song.”
4. Calming the Storm
“When you’re actually in the moment where there’s 100,000 people in the crowd, you’re training yourself for that right now. So that way, when they’re actually there you’re going to be calm in the storm. Act like you been here.”
5. “Perform at Your Highest Level”
“Perform at your highest level so in case you don’t make it somebody may be looking in the wings and be like ‘You know what, I ain’t gonna let that person go home.”
6. Clap
“The clap is the engagement,” suggested Snoop on how some movement while performing can engage an audience. “It’s between me and you because if I’m clapping then you gotta clap. And before you know it, the whole room is clapping. Now you got them right where you want them.”
7. Rap (With Melody)
“We do rap with melody, so that way you can still rap it so you’re in the middle, whereas, you’re talking but you’re putting your melodies on there.”
Snoop added, “Don’t make it so seen. Make it about the cadence of it.”
8. The Country “Connection”
“I love country,” Snoop Dogg told former Voice coach Blake Shelton. “I don’t like it. I love it.”
On singing country music, Snoop added: “Old-school country musicians used to talk on their records because their voice was so slick that when they said something you paid attention. Country music talks to people. We feel like it’s a connection like ‘I feel you, man.”
9. Make the Song Your Own
“It’s good when you can hear a song that you heard a million times then hear it like you never heard it before,” said Snoop on finding a personal connection to a song regardless of how much its been covered. “Now it’s your chance to give people that same feeling that you got when you used to hear that song riding in the car with your dad.”
10. Bring the Songwriter to Tears
When season 20 contestant Corey Ward performed Kelly Clarkson‘s 2009 hit “Already Gone” during rehearsal, he brought the former coach to tears.
“When you can make the songwriter to lose emotional control,” said Snoop, “that’s when you doing your job.”
11. Soul
“One thing about soul: you don’t hear you, you feel it.”
12. “Conversation Beats Demonstration”
“Conversation beats demonstration. Make sure that you’re controlling the way that you’re pushing it through that microphone so that it sounds like you’re in control.”
13. End with a Bang
“You’re banging us all the way through the end of the record so you gotta end with a bang. That merry-go-round you put us on, you gotta find that special feeling for the end, so that way we want more.”
He continued, “You got those pieces that are gonna come up big, and you’re setting them up. ‘I know I’m gonna hit this, and I’m gonna ride with y’all and get you all engaged. Then when I take you on that rollercoaster, hold on ‘cus you might fall off.’ You gotta end with a bang.”
Photo: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET
