50 Cent Explains How Snoop Dogg Got Cast in ‘Black Mafia Family’

As his upcoming series Black Mafia Family prepares to premiere this Sunday, 50 Cent sat down to discuss the show, casting Snoop Dogg for one of the episodes, and his advice for young artists dealing with how to navigate social media.

In an interview with Billboard, 50 explained how he approached Snoop for the role of Pastor Swift.

“With Snoop, I knew he would have a field day with the character,” 50 said. “They initially cast me in that role, and I knew that I would be doing the marketing for Raising Kanan – and because of my voiceovers in that show, coming directly off of that as a minister [when the shows air back-to-back], I felt it may not connect the way I would like it to.”

He continued, “I was like, ‘Snoop would do a great job at this’– and I was able to reach out to him, and get them to commit to it because he was already a big fan of Power and a big supporter of me publicly. He was like, ‘Yo, this is like my favorite s—t.’ He would be saying that constantly.” 

50 also said that Snoop was excited that the G-Unit rapper would be directing the episode of BMF that he is in. Elsewhere in the interview, the rapper discussed how he separates his online persona from his real life, and how online comments don’t affect him.

”The way to defend yourself emotionally at points is – you gotta let it not matter how they feel. When you look at it, socially [online], they can say anything to you. So, if you allow what they say to matter, you’ll be an emotional wreck.”

50 emphasized that younger artists are the most vulnerable to being impacted by negative comments on social media. “A lot of times, new artists are very vulnerable to all things people say,” he said. “It could spin them out of control, spin them off their game and get them in the trouble.”

Black Mafia Family is executive produced by 50 and premieres on Starz this Sunday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. EST.