February 29, 2008

Snoop Dogg Says His 'Cool' Cover Of Time Song Is 'Dynamic To Your Ears'

By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Tim Kash (MTV.com)

He had a place in New York, two more in Malibu. Diamonds on his fingers and toes. Ladies by the dozens and money by the tons. Lead singer of the Time, Morris Day epitomized what he sang about on the group's 1981 hit "Cool." He had his own dance and somebody to carry a mirror around just so he could check out his own sharp splendor. Now, in 2008, one of the coolest guys of the past two decades is honoring the Time in song.

"Sensual Seduction" was just the beginning for Snoop Dogg's full-on singing. His upcoming LP, Ego Trippin', includes a tribute to the Time. Coooool!

"I redid 'Cool,' " said Dogg, sitting with his new business and musical partners Teddy Riley and DJ Quik. "Teddy put his fingerprints on the music. We did a remake of it. It sounds amazing. Everybody who hears it don't believe I sang. Teddy made me sing. I was trying to cheat in the beginning.

"I was like, 'Teddy, you should keep your vocals on there,' " Dogg continued. "We sound good together. He was like, 'Nuh-uh. You come in there and you sing.' He stripped it all down. He made me sing it. Find the right note, get on the right key. It's a fun record. It's one of those records that if you never heard it before, it's gonna be dynamic to your ears. If you have heard it before, it's gonna take it back to a time where it felt good, where music was all about feeling good and partying. No killing. No dying. Everybody just lives happily ever after and parties all the time."

"I ain't afraid," said Riley, who produced the new version of "Cool," about making a record as big as "Sensual Seduction." "I just think that music is music. Anything with the touch and print of Snoop on it is gonna feel good. People are gonna say, 'Wow! That's him?' They gonna bug out. It's gonna be a totally different world after that single."

The Time have heard Snoop and Riley's song and have co-signed on it. When asked whether he would appear in the video, Day replied, "Absolutely."

"I think it's a good thing that Snoop Dogg chose to cover 'Cool,' " Day said. "We heard it, and he did a decent job. So it's all good. I'm happy to see he's singing, going towards the R&B direction. Props to Snoop Dogg."

Snoop's next two singles from Ego Trippin' are "Neva Hafta Worry" and "Life of Tha Party." No word yet on whether "Cool" will be a single.