Music superstar Snoop Dogg treated students at Jackson State University to an unexpected rap session about HIV. The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” hitmaker was a surprise guest at the Mississippi school for the launch of Generation Z & HIV, an educational tour by LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD that will be making stops at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to raise HIV awareness.
Snoop, whose family hails from Mississippi and has ties to the university, joined several local HIV experts October 28 to speak with students about HIV education and history and share his insights about the LGBTQ community. Mobile HIV testing units courtesy of Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center and Open Arms Healthcare Center provided services before and after the program.
Mississippi HIV experts speak at the launch of GLAAD’s “Generation Z & HIV” at Jackson State University.Courtesy of Jackson State University/Aron Smith
Generation Z & HIV: Human Issue, Southern Solution: an HBCU Tour is spearheaded by Darian Aaron, GLAAD’s director of local news for the U.S. South and founder of the annual GLAAD Down South Media Event.
“Generation Z is the most out LGBTQ generation in history—22% are LGBTQ—yet the least knowledgeable about HIV,” noted GLAAD in a press write-up about the HBCU tour. “Only 37% of Gen Z, ages 18 to 26, said they feel knowledgeable about HIV, according to GLAAD research published in the 2024 State of HIV Stigma Study. And, with fewer pieces of film and television media portraying characters living or dealing with HIV, Gen Z is not receiving the HIV information they deserve, including scientific developments such as PrEP” (pre-exposure prophylaxis, the highly effective HIV prevention medication available as daily pills and twice-yearly injections to people at risk of contracting the virus).
Snoop Dogg with Jackson State University students at the launch of GLAAD’s “Generation Z & HIV.”Courtesy of Jackson State University/Aron Smith
This wasn’t Snoop’s first time making headlines regarding LGBTQ stories. Last summer, the rapper was blasted for criticizing Disney’s 2022 movie Lightyear for including a same-sex couple. (Snoop said his grandson was confused by the same-sex kiss and asked how two women could have a baby, a question he didn’t know how to answer.)
Snoop soon changed his tune. “I had no understanding of a situation that was brought before me while I was with my grandson,” the rapper recalled to the Jackson State students. “But through time and experience and love, you learn to live and you get information, you find out how to understand things better. I have friends that are same-sex parents that reached out to me and gave me information on what they say to their kids when things of that nature pop up and how they speak [to their children].”
Snoop then teamed with GLAAD for its anti-bullying Spirit Day initiative, October 16, which urges folks to wear purple as a show of support for queer youth. He also penned a new song, “Love Is Love,” for an episode of his animated children’s series, Doggyland, on YouTube and tapped The Voice contestant Jeremy Beloate, who is queer, to be a guest on the episode—an ode to the love of same-sex parents.
“Our parents are different. No two are the same, but the one thing that’s for certain is the love won’t change,” sang the animated pups. “Families are special. They are so unique. Everybody’s got a purpose more than what you see. We love you parents. We love you so.”
As Snoop stressed to GLAAD’s Aaron at the university launch: “I’ve always advocated peace and love and diversity.”
Snoop also shared his experiences as a Gen X rapper in the 1980s and ’90s, the first decades of the epidemic. His industry lost Easy E in 1995 and Craig Mack in 2018 to HIV-related illnesses, GLAAD noted. Snoop recounted that back in the day, critical lifesaving information about the virus was lacking in the hip-hop community. He also had a special message to straight Black men who feel they’re not likely to contract HIV. “A disease shows no prejudice,” Snoop said. “The best thing you can do is get protected; find more information.”
Music icon Snoop Dogg (right) speaks with GLAAD’s Darian Aaron at the launch of “Generation Z & HIV” at Jackson State University in Mississippi.Courtesy of Jackson State University/Aron Smith
GLAAD’s Aaron expanded on the sentiment: “HIV in Black communities is far from over, and Black people in the South, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status or number of total partners, remain at disproportionate risk,” Aaron said. “The HBCU tour is one way GLAAD is arming those most at risk with the information necessary to safeguard their health.”
Other Mississippi HIV experts involved in the tour launch include Linda Dixon, Cedric Sturdevant, Valencia Robinson, Evonne Kaho, David Malebranche, MD, and Alecia Reed-Owens.
According to GLAAD, the Generation Z & HIV tour will run through 2026 with stops at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
In related news, see “A Look Back: Eazy-E’s Death and a Hip-Hop Concert for HIV Causes,” “Oprah Accepts GLAAD Media Award, Pays Emotional Tribute to Brother Lost to AIDS” and “Watch Grammy GOAT Beyoncé Thank Her Gay Uncle Lost to AIDS.”
