Controversial rapper Snoop Dogg didn’t do much to improve his bad-boy reputation when he yesterday arrived at Malta International Airport topless and proceeded to keep journalists waiting in vain.
His half-naked appearance in public left an impression on timesofmalta.com readers, with some questioning whether he was strip searched at arrivals and commenting on the lack of decency.
A photo and press call at the Grand Hotel Excelsior later was choreographed to a T by organisers from MTV, but the American artist left a host of foreign and local media waiting for two solid hours before deciding to send a message that he simply could not make it down from his room to the pool area.
Journalists were told he would be descending to pose for photos and take questions – “not personal” – in 10 minutes, but he failed to show up.
The red carpet, which had been rolled out for the star, was only trampled on by the nervous media as they left after a fruitless and long wait; the “throne” he was meant to occupy remained empty; and the MTV backdrops for the photos stayed in the foreground.
It seems attempts were made to revive the rapper – “we tried to give him coffee and water” – but Snoop Dog was suffering from jet lag and probably needed a stronger blend to face the irritated press.
Snoop Dogg should get enough rest to perform at today’s Isle of MTV Malta Special, which he is headlining, and make it up the road to the Granaries where any no-shows would displease a far greater crowd.
He is considered to be the “biggest” name Isle of MTV has attracted in its five editions, and is expected to bring the house down.
“I plan to rock the Granaries like that square has never seen before,” Calvin Broadus (his off-stage name) has been quoted as saying. The artist’s single, Sweat, featuring David Guetta, is currently in the top 10 and his recently released 11th studio album, Doggumentary, is a mixture of original hip hop and new music experimentation.
Cursory research on the rapper also unearths a list of legal and criminal issues that is almost longer than his discography. His lyrics are rife with obscenities and he has even been banned from some countries.
But it has been reported he would be on his “best behaviour” in Malta today.
As a rapper, producer and actor, Snoop Dogg is one of the world’s top entertainers, but it is yet to be determined whether he will go down in history as the best – or the bad-est.