The Voice Coach and Olympics commentator took a walk down memory lane, sharing a 1996 red carpet photo of himself with Tupac Shakur.

These days, Snoop Dogg rocks long plaited hair down his back, but once upon a time, he had a bouncy shoulder-length bob.

The rapper and future The Voice Coach took a walk down memory lane with his latest throwback post on Instagram, sharing a pic of himself at just 24 years old where he looks barely recognizable. In the picture he stands with his friend, the late Tupac Shakur, who chose a pinstripe suit and fedora for the occasion.

Taken on the red carpet of the 1996 MCA Records Grammys party, Snoop wears a long jacket and a red AIDS ribbon, and his hair has been straightened to silky perfection into a shoulder-length bob.

Tupac made Snoop the man he is today

Snoop and Tupac rose to prominence in the 1990s, with both representing the West Coast hip-hop and rap community at a time of heated rivalry between the East and West music scenes. They were signed by Dr. Dre’s record label, Death Row Records.

Shakur was killed later that year, but his legacy as an artist lives on, and in 2017, Snoop inducted his late friend into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur at the 1996 Video Music Awards. Photo: Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage

In his speech, Snoop revealed that his friend was the one who introduced him to what he’s since become synonymous with.

“To me, Tupac was first and foremost the homeboy. We shared a whole lot in common. In a way our journeys started together. We were both born in the same year, 1971,” he revealed, per XXL. “I finally got a chance to meet ‘Pac in 1993, at a wrap party for Poetic Justice in L.A. And on that night, ‘Pac passed me my first blunt. Yo forreal. That’s right: Tupac is the one that got Snoop Dogg smoking blunts. See, I was a zig-zag man before that shit. And we became very good friends quickly thereafter.”

He also credited Shakur for inspiring his own career ambitions, saying, “He saw more potential in me than I saw in myself. And it’s funny because after he passed away, I started getting a lot of movie roles, and I always felt that ‘Pac was looking out… even after he was gone.”

Snoop Dogg and American Tony Hawk attend the Men’s Park Final on day twelve of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde on August 7, 2024 in Paris, France. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Snoop is mentoring the next generation as a Coach on The Voice

It’s gong to be a season to remember. When the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper gets back from Paris, where he is delivering hysterical Summer Olympics commentary and meeting horses with Martha Stewart, he’ll take a seat on his own spinning red chair as a Coach on Season 26 of The Voice.

Joined by fellow newcomer Michael Bublé, most recent winning Coach Reba McEntire and veteran Gwen Stefani, Snoop performed the Motown classic ‘I’ll Be There” by The Four Tops. Should we call them The Four Coaches?