“From The D 2 The LBC” by Eminem & Snoop Dogg

The title of this song is largely a reference to Eminem and Snoop Dogg’s hometowns, which are respectively Detroit (aka “the D”) and Long Beach City (i.e. “the LBC”). In other words, said title represents a collaboration between two classic hip-hop artists who are from distinctly different parts of the United States. “From the D 2 the LBC” does a sound job of illustrating the characters Em and Snoop curated throughout the years.

For instance, whereas Eminem doesn’t necessarily go buckwild in this piece, he does get to dropping his lyrical gun references. Moreover, he make at least one really-outlandish, potentially-controversial statement in traditional Slim Shady fashion by expressing a desire to ‘bounce balls off Paul Deen’s tonsils’ – presumably with said “balls” being a referral to his testi*les. Or put otherwise, he’s alluding to the (in)famous chef (who, to note, is almost 30 years Marshall’s senior) performing sex of the oral variant on him.

Eminem’s verse is also replete with metaphors or what have you pointing to the usage of weed. To note, he’s never been known as a ganja advocate, but of course Snoop Dogg very much is. So with that in mind, it can be said that “Calvin” is in fact the dominate artist in this particular equation, considering that the chorus is also very weed-inspired.

Snoop Dogg

As for Snoop’s verse, he uses it largely to, most simply put, point to his gang affiliation. In fact it should be noted that technically speaking, there is no Long Beach City. Rather, it’s the city of Long Beach. So another way the term “LBC” has been interpreted is as an acronym for the Long Beach Crips. 

The Crips, as you may already know, is the name of a prominent street gang which the Doggfather is affiliated with. And, let’s just say that affiliation comes through in full force during his verse, where his emphasis is barely on smoking and more centered on his street cred, so to speak, and the fact that his rivals can’t match up.

Indeed, we all know that these are the two of the most-successful rappers of all time, as made evident by the fact that, despite both being seniors in the game, they were granted the opportunity to perform this song at the 2022 MTV VMAs. And they also make that known to the listening audience and specifically the likes of haters – i.e. that they’re chillin’ – and basically proceed to mock their enemies accordingly.

In Conclusion

Conclusively, we can classify this piece in the category of mainstream-rap braggadocio. But the content isn’t such that any rapper can just come and spit these lyrics.  Rather, they are very much indicative of the personalities of Eminem and Snoop Dogg and especially the latter.

Em and Snoop

Despite both artists being the products of hip-hop kingmaker Dr. Dre, Snoop and Eminem have only collaborated on one track prior this one, that 2000’s “B*tch Please”. This would likely have something to do with the fact that whereas Eminem has been and remains signed to Dre’s Aftermath label, Snoop was never directly under the Doctor. He rather worked with Dre, most notably during the 1990s, with both being employees of the troubled Death Row Records (which, by the way, the Doggfather recently purchased). 

“From the D 2 the LBC”

“From the D 2 the LBC”  was released, with little fanfare, on 24 June 2022. It served as the second single from Em’s album “Curtain Call 2”. 

The song did appear on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. But it actually performed most impressively in New Zealand. Here, it was a top-10 single on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.

This track received a lot more notoriety when Snoop and Em performed it at the 2022 edition of the MTV Video Music Awards, which was held on the date of 28 August 2022.

The music video to this track, which one James Larese directed, is in part animated and in that sense features characters from a brand known as Bored Ape. The Bored Ape Yacht Club, as said entity is called in full, is not only an exclusive group but more to the point a collection of high-end NFT cartoon characters that a number of A list celebrities have patronized. Both Eminem and Snoop are on that list. And in fact, it has been reported that Marshall paid nearly half-a-million dollars for his Bored Ape avatar. Moreover, said avatars were heavily utilized during the rappers aforementioned MTV VMA (primarily-virtual) performance.

This song is a product of Aftermath, alongside Interscope and Shady Records, i.e. the labels behind Curtain Call 2. Eminem produced “From the D 2 the LBC” himself and also co-wrote it with the following:

• Snoop Dogg
• Luis Resto (a regular Eminem collaborator from way back)
• Cordel Broadus (Snoop Dogg’s son)