Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre have sampled a London learning disabilities charity for a single from their new album, ‘Missionary’.
The LA legends released ‘Outta Da Blue’ in November before the album dropped on December 13. Now it’s been found that the two hip hop stars sourced a sample from the song ‘Watermelon Fantasy’, released by the charity Daylight Studio in 2018.
The sampled track was performed by three artists with learning disabilities and produced by the founder of Daylight Studio and one of its trustees. Daylight is a day centre for adults with learning disabilities, run by Islington Council.
‘Watermelon Fantasy’ is an abstract piece, featuring industrial synths, booming 808’s, jolty percussion rhythms and echoey vocals. Dre and Snoop’s reworking loops part of the song with some added funky drums beneath it.
Tina Bruins, one of the featured artists on the original, told the Guardian: “I was shocked. I remember being like: ‘Whaaaaaat?’ I didn’t know it was going to be released by Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. I thought no, I thought it was a fantasy.”
She added that “It was a good shock because it sort of proves I make good music. I’m proud of [‘Watermelon Fantasy’] because Snoop Dogg took it over.”
Jack Daley, a recording engineer, and Oliver Price, a music producer and songwriter, created the track with Tina Bruins, Mandy Priddice and Cedrick Letshou Olembo while hosting music sessions at the day centre. The proceeds from the collaboration are to be split equally by the three artists, with production shares being donated back to the Daylight charity.
Daley was happy to be sampled by Dre, telling The Guardian “This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m pretty certain I can say that this year has been the best year of my life because of it.”
Price said “I still can’t believe it’s a real thing. It sort of feels divinely ordained because the song is called ‘Outta Da Blue’ and it came out of the blue and it’s like we’re living in a watermelon fantasy. It’s all quite funny really.”
Since its November release, ‘Outta Da Blue’ has been featured in the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming film Back In Action featuring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, American football game Madden NFL 25, and in an Amazon Music Live series where Snoop performs hits from his extensive discography.
‘Missionary’, the new collab album from the California duo has featured a wide array of samples, plucking material from jazz artists like Ahmad Jamal, soul from The Stylistics, and even a few rock samples from Sting, Pink Floyd and Tom Petty.
All creators of ‘Watermelon Fantasy‘ would like to do more collabs with local and international artists using Daylight Studio’s music. Price hopes “maybe this won’t be the last sample. It would be awesome if Kendrick Lamar or Drake or someone would use it. You just don’t know.”
Dre and Snoops new album has received generally favourable reviews – while Slant Magazine branded its maximalist production as “sonic overindulgence” that sounds “ultimately uninspired”, The Independent complimented it as “relentlessly interesting” and praised Snoop’s inspired performance. You can listen to the full album here.
