Snoop Dogg, who previously hailed the late Johnny Cash as his “main man” and “a real American gangster,” is venturing further into his Nashville country side with a fresh collab with ERNEST. But first, I’ve got to highlight the telling emojis Snoop used during the track’s development: blue hearts, flames, and paw prints.
The super chill song, from ERNEST’s upcoming Cadillac Sessions mixtape (which launches his DeVille Records label), features the Tennessee and California artists exchanging thoughts on the crucial mission of “Gettin’ Gone.” For the video, of course, the pair hit up essential Music City locations for what feels like a spontaneous shoot that created buzz long before anyone even knew the song existed.
As fans know, Snoop’s love for country artists is no secret. Just last year, he and Dr. Dre brought in Jelly Roll for a track on their joint Missionary album. Also in 2024, Snoop and Dre recruited HARDY for a fresh take on the 1994 hit “Gin and Juice,” complete with a short film.
Right before dropping the “Gettin’ Gone” video, ERNEST chatted with Complex about collaborating with Snoop ahead of launching DeVille Records (a partnership with Big Loud Records) and more, including those meaningful emojis mentioned earlier. Keep reading for the details, plus a behind-the-scenes peek at the “Gettin’ Gone” video shoot.
TWC: Word is this song started with you playing it for Snoop backstage. Tell me more about how it came together, and how Snoop’s creative process complemented your own. ERN: The song started on a writers’ retreat with Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, and Mark Holman out on my bus. They came to write for the weekend. We had a fantastic time and at the end of the weekend we wrote “Gettin’ Gone.” The following weekend is where Snoop comes into play. We were at the Jelly Roll concert, and I basically weaseled my way back to Snoop’s green room and I was like ‘Yo, can I play you a song I wrote last weekend?’ and he was like ‘sure’ and he loved it and we exchanged numbers. Another couple weeks go by and he’s like ‘I need to get on that record’ and I was like ‘You want a verse?’ He sent back an array of emojis including but not limited to blue hearts, flames, and paw prints. Then it came together perfectly, and he wanted to shoot a music video for it. He asked to feature on it, I sent him an instrumental, and he sent me back his verses like two days later.
What’s your personal all-time favorite Snoop song? There are so many great songs and collaborations that Snoop has done over the years. I grew up on all of them. It’s gonna sound cliché but it’s too hard not to sing along to “Gin and Juice.” That moment was cemented in stone with me when we were shooting the music video and pulling back into Castle [Recording Studios] in the Cadillac and I just started playing “Gin and Juice” and he sat there and rapped the entire thing on video while my subs were bumping in the back.
Tell me more about what fans can expect with your upcoming mixtape. This is a collaborative project that I’m so happy to put out with my artists Cody Lohden, Chandler Walters, and Rhys Rutherford. The whole purpose of this project is to shine a light on these guys and a new wave of talent that’s in town. Rhys grew up in Nashville. Chandler is from Marietta, Georgia. Cody is from just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. They’re such great songwriters and wrote the original songs they are singing on the project. I’m just happy to shine a light on them. We’ve got cool features too.
Where’s your favorite place to “get gone” in Nashville? Either Troubadour Golf Course out in College Grove, Tennessee or Losers in Midtown. And sometimes I be gettin’ gone while I work at the office.
