Snoop Dogg
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/ Getty Images

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtape: Snoop Dogg Presents: We Da West Volume One

Headliners: Snoop Dogg, DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Skee

Co-Stars: Nipsey Hussle, Kurupt, Tha Twinz, Soopafly, Katt Williams, Jay-Z and Ludacris

Essential Info: Snoop Dogg said his coast still needs to unify and the artists have to be leaders.

"All I just want is the n---as out here to see if you make good music and we are one, they're gonna get onboard and they gonna give you what you deserve," Snoop explained to DJ Whoo Kid, who hosts the tape with DJ Skee. "You gonna get your radio play, your spins. But if you ain't organized, n---as can come out here and pick and choose. They can take Nipsey, put Nipsey on a remix. Put Kurupt on a remix. They can never pick all of us and say, 'You all go on a mission. The West Fest Tour. All West Coast n---as go on tour.' "

Tha Dogg said his latest mixtape is the first of many to showcase up-and-coming talent.

"Volume One is just me bringing awareness to the artists. I have a vehicle to put their sh-- out, through people such as yourself," he told Whoo Kidd. "After this sh-- comes out, n---as need to be running to the studio. Now you can be heard and seen. Even if a n---a only hears your record once or twice, you in a new system. You not just local no more. You not just in your neighborhood. You in a world system now."

Last year, Snoop dropped his I Wanna Rock mixtape, and he said it was better than Malice N Wonderland because it was uncut.

"That sh-- was banging harder than my album, 'cause the mixtape, we don't have to make records to release to the radio," he said. "My label looking at me: 'We need a couple of songs for pop. We wanna go top 40.' Then I call these radio stations: 'Snoop Dogg, you're working on a new album. When is your album coming out?' Mutha----a, my album is out, n---a! 'Your single "Gangsta Love" is top 40.' N---a, I'm on the next single, 'I Wanna Rock.' Some gangsta sh--.

"It's so square, man," he said about working with the top 40 stations. "I'm so far in my career, I'm at the pinnacle. It's a mode I have to go to. I don't knock that, but I knock it when they say you have to do that to be successful."

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For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Snoop Dogg, Mikkey Halsted, Young Jeezy

• Snoop Dogg

T.I.
Photo: Moses Robinson/ Getty Images

On Tuesday, Lil Wayne is scheduled to surrender to New York authorities and is expected to begin serving a one-year prison sentence, stemming from a July 2007 attempted gun possession arrest.

Wayne is certainly not the first artist to go down this path, especially not in recent years. And, much like those before him, he's addressed the situation, in the form of a Web video last month (when he was originally expected to begin his term, before the sentencing was delayed due to dental surgery), in which he thanked his fans for their support and asked them not to forget about him while he serves his sentence, "because I will forever think about you. I cannot wait for you to see me again." More recently, he's been sending MTV News videos that document his activities leading up to his court date on Tuesday.

As in the past, MTV News has been following Wayne's legal situation every step of the way. And over the years, we've managed to speak to many of his fellow artists as they faced the prospects of jail time, or breathed a sigh of relief after being acquitted of very serious charges. Two of the most famous instances were a 1996 interview with Snoop Dogg, one day after he was found not guilty on a murder charge, and an in-depth conversation with Sean "Diddy" Combs, following his acquittal on bribery and gun-possession charges.

In our 1996 conversation with Snoop, he told us what was going through his mind as he stood waiting for his verdict to be read.

"I left it in God's hands. That's why I looked it, so stone-faced. I was just, I didn't have no expressions. You know what I'm sayin'? It was all inner. I prayed on it. My family prayed on it," Snoop said. "[My attorneys] did what they were supposed to do, and they gave the baton to the jury, and I couldn't do nothin' but just bank on them and worry about what the outcome was gonna be, as far as to just sit there and hold my position, and to keep my head up high. And just, you know, wait for the outcome."

In 2001, MTV News' Sway Calloway sat down with Combs, who had just been cleared of all charges after a six-week trial (and 15-month media firestorm) that stemmed from his then protégé Shyne firing a gun at a New York nightclub in 1999. And in our conversation, the rapper/producer made it clear that he relied on his faith to make it through the ordeal.

"Man, I just feel blessed. [That's] the first word that comes to mind. I was in a situation where the only way I could come out of it was by putting my faith in God. No matter how good my lawyers were, no matter how much celebrity I had, everything was just stacked up against me," Combs said. "I was innocent, but all the things that were coming out was just ... it just felt like ... oh, man, my worst nightmare. All the things personally [that] I was going through at the same time. God just really blessed me and got me sitting here with you today. ... It's been like a year and a half, life being on hold, just waiting to get this over with."

Of course, MTV News has also spoken with artists in prison, particularly Shyne, who was found guilty on two counts of assault for his involvement in the 1999 shooting in which Diddy was implicated before being cleared.

"You die in here, you know," Shyne told MTV News in 2004, three years into his sentence (he was released late last year and is currently in his native country of Belize). "Just like you could die on the [outside], you could die in here. They probably won't find your body for a couple days. This is just like the [outside], even worse. You got people that ain't going home ever, so their life is over. Being here is like being dead. And when you've got a dude who's got life, he don't care. He'll rip your heart out."

Of course, in 2008 MTV produced a series around T.I.'s then-impending prison sentence called "T.I.'s Road to Redemption," and we also spent time with the MC before he began his 366-day jail sentence following felony gun charges. As he did in the series, T.I. remained upbeat about his prospects.

"At the end of the day I'm not going to be gone long enough to have any long-lasting effects," he said. "Of course, the initial emotion will be one of somber grief. But by the time they get over it, I'll be getting home. Compared to how bad it could have been, I think I made out all right."

• Lil Wayne Goes To Jail
• MTV News RAW: T.I.

• Lil Wayne
• T.I.
• Shyne
• Snoop Dogg

"Freaknik: The Musical"
Photo: Adult Swim

T-Pain has a cartoon on the way called "Freaknik: The Musical," but it's probably not for kids. The show, airing March 7 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, will be an hour-long extravaganza detailing a group's quest to "successfully resurrect the spirit of Freaknik ... the biggest spring-break party known to man."

On Wednesday morning (February 24), T-Pain tweeted a trailer including castmembers like Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg discussing the show and remembering their experiences at the original Freaknik.

"Back in the '90s, Freaknik was Atlanta's version of the ultimate block party. It was Mardi Gras meets spring break, at your crazy cousin's bachelor party, and anything could happen," T-Pain said in a statement last month. "A decade later, I'm bringing it back for people like me, who didn't get to experience it the first time around. We've re-created Freaknik's vibe and energy with amazing animation, new music and an all-star cast of characters."

The Adult Swim cartoon has long been in the works, and T-Pain has recruited everyone from comedians Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Charlie Murphy to musicians Cee-Lo, Big Boi and George Clinton to lend their voices to the show. Still, with all the good-time nostalgia flying around, some participants like Rick Ross had to be coaxed into joining the "Freaknik" cast.

"If it was for anybody else, I wouldn't even be part of a cartoon," Ross said. "But because of what Pain told me, he told me we're doing it uncut, we're doing it. It turned out to be fun, man, so it's me, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, the list goes on."

Others were more than happy to relive the glory.

"I was at the first Freaknik back when it first started in, like, the early '90s, when it was poppin'. ... I was a young rapper, selling CDs and tapes and posters," Snoop Dogg recalled with a smile.

Pain isn't the first hip-hop star to team up with Cartoon Network. In 2006, Outkast's Andre 3000 produced "Class of 3000," an animated series set in Atlanta's Westley School of Performing Arts. And Danger Mouse and MF Doom released an album and EP — 2005's The Mouse and the Mask and '06's Occult Hymn — that featured beats taken from Adult Swim programming (and more than a few cameos by Adult Swim stars).

"Freaknik: The Musical" premieres March 7 at 11:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network.

• T-Pain
• Snoop Dogg
• Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)

Snoop Dogg
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Snoop Dogg just released his Malice N Wonderland album late last year, but that's not stopping the West Coast MC from teaming up with Kid Cudi and hipster producer Diplo for his new single "That Tree" for his follow-up LP More Malice. The album is slated to hit shelves on March 23.

The track is a trippy mix of descending drum rolls as Snoop comically rhymes "groupies on my head like a kufi" until Kid Cudi's voice begins the melodious hook.

"Everything I'm having no it ain't necessity/ Though I'm shining, keep on grinding/ What you see ain't all of me," Cudi sings over organs.

As enjoyable as the song is, Diplo, the cut's producer (who has also worked with M.I.A. and Santigold), had no idea the two rappers were even recording the track.

"I've known Snoop's manager Ted Chung for a while and I actually met Snoop through the Swedish singer Robyn at the Grammys last year," Diplo recalled. "We exchanged information because he'd heard of me and I kept in touch. When Ted came around asking for beats, I didn't have any so I gave him some small loops and Ted actually just looped the loops over again."

Diplo never heard anything more about the beats until late one night during another recording session with Kid Cudi.

"Cudi was like, 'I just did a track with Snoop over your beat.' And I was like, 'What are you talking about?' " Diplo told MTV News. "I had no idea that Ted had taken the small loops and they'd rapped on it, so Ted eventually sent me back a vocal and I kind of constructed a track around that."

Unfortunately, "That Tree" did not make the track listing for Malice N Wonderland.

"It didn't make that album because of deadlines and it wasn't in the right shape," Diplo said. "But they liked the track and really wanted to use it, so I did some more work on it and that's why it's just coming out now."

• Snoop Dogg
• Kid Cudi

• Yo Gotti
• Young Jeezy
• Nicki Minaj
• Scoop DeVille
• Snoop Dogg

Photo: Priority

• DJ Green Lantern
• Snoop Dogg
• Jay-Z
• Swizz Beatz
• Lil Wayne

Snoop Dogg
Photo: Priority

The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive

Snoop Dogg sent out a warning on his Twitter page earlier this week to look out for the "Kings G-Mix" of his hit "I Wanna Rock." Shortly after, the track featuring him and Jay-Z was igniting the Net.

"I wanna rock right now," Jay raps. "The name is Hov, and I came to shake the town/ Yeah, your boy's internationally known, but I'm from the 'hood/ Got a pocketful of stones."

From there, Jigga drops an assortment of rappers' names, such as Big Daddy Kane, Notorious B.I.G., Doug E. Fresh and Rob Bass, as he talks about his rise from street drug czar to greatest MC ever.

Fellow New York hip-hop heavyweight DJ Green Lantern said that's not the only "I Wanna Rock" remix you'll hear. The Evil Genius has an official reworking on deck, which is going to give the record a Down Bottom feel.

"I'm working on a remix for Snoop, 'I Wanna Rock,' " Green told us a couple of days ago. "Trust me: When you hear it ... it's got a Southern feel to it. It's got a bounce to it. Right now, I got Yo Gotti, the cat Roscoe Dash, who's got the 'All the Way Turnt Up.' I'm waiting on a couple more verses. Snoop's got it. I'm working with it right now. It's a crazy flip of that."

Green is also quick to point out that he loves what Scoop DeVille did with the original record: "I think that's a crazy beat."

On Tuesday, get ready for an in-depth preview of the Evil Genius' next huge mixtape — the much-anticipated Green Ghost Project with Styles P — right here in Mixtape Daily. The mixtape will be released February 2 with production by Green, Statik Selektah, Vinny Idol, Buckwild, the Alchemist, Dame Grease and Poobs. Guests include Jadakiss and Raekwon.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Snoop Dogg, Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z, More

• Snoop Dogg
• DJ Green Lantern

Snoop Dogg
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Celebrities continue to express their love and admiration for the legacy that Teddy Pendergrass left behind — the soul legend died on Wednesday at age 59.

"It hurt my heart to hear about his passing," Snoop Dogg said in an e-mail to MTV News. "I remember when I was young, my momma and her friends went to a concert when I was little. It was all ladies in the audience — he was the only man who could sell out a concert to all ladies.

"I loved his music when he was in Hal Melvin and the Blue Notes and when he went solo," Snoop added. "My favorite song was 'Where Are All My Friends.' That was the coldest song he made."

"Teddy Pendergrass — artists like that to me, I don't even know what they was on," Jermaine Dupri marveled. "I always wish I could be a fly in the studio with them one time. If I could ever take myself back one time to just see what made them make 'Love T.K.O.' — the sound of the records don't even sound like what we make now. Sometimes I sample records and when I'm sitting in the studio, I go between whether I should sample or replay it. The sample of that whole Philadelphia sound and what they was doing and the way his voice was and all that, it was incredible to me. It sounded different from anything else we hear today. Even when you listen to 'Wake Up,' listen to how piercing his voice sounds. You have to really pay attention to what he's talking about.

"I put on my blog last night that we continue to lose the best," JD added. "I hope this generation could follow. It's a hard bunch to follow. Michael Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass — this ain't no easy show to get on. These boys was the best that ever did it."

"Turn off the lights and light a candle," Omarion said in an e-mail, quoting some of Pendergrass' most famous lyrics. "Whenever Teddy said, 'Turn em off!!!' You did! Teddy P. Hall of Fame in my book."

"Teddy, man," Trey Songz said. "From 'Wake up Everybody' to 'Turn Off the Lights,' he made it possible in a lot of ways for guys like me. It's only right we pay our respect to him. My mother might have been conceived to some Teddy. He is the heart and soul of the music I make today. Everybody has to go at some point. It's God's will that he's gone, but we pay our respect and pay our condolences to his family and cherish the moments he did have here."

• Snoop Dogg
• Trey Songz

Snoop Dogg's <i>Malice N Wonderland</i>
Photo: Priority Records

Snoop Dogg isn't too conceited to know that the OGs and new kids have to coexist to keep the music and the culture growing. The MC starts his 10th LP, Malice N Wonderland (out on Tuesday, December 8), with one of the hardest rap records in the market place right now, "I Wanna Rock." It's got no R&B hook, no blowing kisses to the ladies, just raw Dogg Snoop co-signing one of the West Coast's new movements, jerkin', while trumpeting his veteran status.

"Long Beach with me, the city and the turf chump/ Get turf stomped, f---in' with the turf punk/ I'm geeked up, I'm on my tip, ho/ Turn it up, bi---, what you here fo'?/ I'm goin' all in, that's what I do/ My little n---as jerkin', what's up with you?/ Little rappin' a--, ni--as tappin' out/ I'm almost 20 in, the f--- you rappin' 'bout?"

The beat, produced by Scoop DeVille, mixes the '80s brash of Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two" (the loop declaring, "I wanna rock right now," serves as the hook) with futuristic, eerie bass-drum baps. The record is probably Snoop's hardest party record since "Drop It Like It's Hot."

"I start off with so much malice in my heart when the record kicks in," Snoop explained to MTV News of the album's theme. "By the time I get to the end of the record, I'm in Wonderland. I'm feeling good about life. I'm celebrating, happy about my wife, my kids, life in general. It's just a roller coaster of what I'm going through as I speak.

"I've always juggled the line: 'Should I make a gangster record? 'Cause I could kill all you rappers if I wanted to,' " the Dogg added. "Then I have to sit back and say, 'I'm a business, so I'm gonna make records that can help me in this business.' I have to make radio records, but when I don't care, y'all in trouble."

The track "Different Languages" is devoid of maliciousness, however. In fact, on the hook, guest Jazmine Sullivan sings about Snoopy being "So good."

"I'm the East Coast, but I'm ballin'/ So hard a n---a got me Crip walking/ I'm from the suburbs, but it's that good/ Make a good girl wanna get to the 'hood ... / So good, got me speaking different languages," Sullivan sings.

"Jay got Beyoncé, I got Shante, with no entrée that's my baby," Snoop raps, paying homage to his wife. "We flying out of town/ Checking in the suite/ Pedicure on my feet."

Legendary producer Teddy Riley teams with Scoop DeVille to provide the track, an up-tempo, piano-heavy, updated version of New Jack Swing that seamlessly blends the smooth feel of R&B with the pistol-toting bravado of a gangster party.

"Pronto" keeps Auto-Tune alive, with Soulja Boy Tell'em using a computer-enhanced voice on the hook about terrorizing the dance floor with his boys. Snoop walks over the down-South bouncing beat with quick-draw slang rifling. "Get in, get it out/ Turn it up, turn it out/ Big Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy/ Told you, boy, in your mouth/ ... Superman and Crip-tonite, all on the same mic."

Other guests on the album include R. Kelly, Lil Jon, Brandy and Nipsey Hussel.

• Snoop Dogg

Photo: Young Money

• Drake
• RZA
• Snoop Dogg
• Beanie Sigel

Mixtape Year End Celebration: Mixtape Of The Year

• Drake
• Gucci Mane
• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Lloyd Banks

Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Calle 13, More At Los Premios MTV

• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Calle 13

Soulja Boy, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg And More At The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards

• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Ludacris
• Snoop Dogg
• Goodie Mob
• OutKast

Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne At America's Most Wanted Stop In Cincinnati

• Lil Wayne
• Young Jeezy
• Snoop Dogg
• Soulja Boy Tell'em

Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Many More At Bonnaroo 2009

• Nine Inch Nails
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Erykah Badu
• Snoop Dogg
• MGMT

On The Set Of DJ Drama's "Daydreamin' " Video Shoot

• DJ Drama
• T.I.
• Akon
• Snoop Dogg

Total Finale Live: Performances

• Beyoncé
• Fall Out Boy
• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Ludacris

Total Finale Live: Rehearsals

• Fall Out Boy
• Snoop Dogg
• Ludacris
• Nelly

Total Finale Live: Show Highlights

• Taylor Swift
• Snoop Dogg
• Justin Timberlake
• Kid Rock

VMA: Rap Royalty

• Jay-Z
• Kanye West
• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Eve