Snoop Proves He’s Back in ‘Da Game’

Goodbye Nasty, hello Snoop.

Dramatically answering serious questions about his future as a power player in the rap world, Snoop Dogg is sitting on top of the national sales charts once again.

His new album, “Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told,” sold an estimated 519,000 copies in its first week of release, the second-highest first-week total of the year, according to SoundScan.

The Beastie Boys’ “Hello Nasty,” which sold nearly 682,000 copies in its first week three weeks ago, fell to No. 3 in the new SoundScan chart after selling 197,000 copies last week. The “Armageddon” soundtrack sold 203,000 for second place.

For Snoop Dogg, a.k.a. Calvin Broadus, “Da Game” represents a career resurrection.

Arrested in connection with a shooting in 1993, then acquitted on first-degree murder charges in 1996, Snoop--one of the decade’s biggest-selling rap artists--was in career limbo.

Not only was his label, Death Row Records, besieged by problems after its co-founder, Marion “Suge” Knight, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1997 for probation violation, but a new wave of performers had also stepped in to fill the commercial void since Snoop’s 1996 release, “Tha Doggfather.”

Enter Master P.

The wildly successful hip-hop entrepreneur beat other labels to the punch and snatched Snoop for his No Limit label last year after Snoop arranged for his release from Death Row Records.

“The fact that Snoop’s record has sold so much doesn’t surprise me at all,” says Gary Arnold, senior vice president of merchandising for the retail chain Best Buy. “Master P’s affiliation with it makes the album a real event.”

How did Master P--whose label has enjoyed a phenomenal sales run over the past two years--nab Snoop?

Despite his troubled past and Death Row Records ties, there was apparently serious interest from other labels, so this wasn’t a case of Master P picking up Snoop at a bargain rate.

According to sources familiar with the deal, several of the majors, including Sony and Def Jam, tried to sign the rapper, but No Limit may have offered him a higher royalty rate and more creative freedom.

“I wanted to make sure he was properly compensated,” said Master P on Wednesday. “Snoop is like Michael Jordan. You’ve got to go out of your way to come up with something special.”

While Master P wouldn’t reveal the nature of Snoop’s deal, he emphasized that Snoop’s royalty rate is high.

According to Master P, however, what ultimately attracted Snoop to his label was that No Limit is the contemporary equivalent of Death Row: a brand name with street credibility and a proven sales record.

“No Limit has built a solid foundation, and we’re still growing,” says Master P. “Snoop was looking long term and thought it would be a good place for him ‘cause he knew we would do things right. This has been a good team effort on the company’s part.”

In an interview with The Times on the eve of the album’s release, Snoop expressed confidence in Master P’s promotional prowess and ability as a producer. “[Master P] wanted to . . . keep me promoted to the fullest and give me the right music,” he said.

The first-week total for “Da Game” is short of the 803,000 copies that Snoop’s debut album, “Doggystyle,” sold in its first week in 1993, but it tops the 479,000 registered by “Tha Doggfather.”

“Not only is Master P a very astute businessperson, but he has been able to bring to bear a tremendous promotional effort,” says Scott Levin, a marketing director for the Musicland Group, the nation’s largest record retailer.

“He’s very good at grass-roots marketing, and he’s not afraid to spend lots of money to get the word out on his product. There was a real buzz on the street level about this record.”

But what’s perhaps most remarkable about “Da Game’s” success is that at a time when today’s superstars can turn into yesterday’s news with astonishing rapidity, Snoop’s fans have remained loyal to him through his two-year hiatus.

“We did an in-store promotion with the Pearl Jam album on the day the Snoop record came out,” says Best Buy’s Arnold. “But the first kid that came into the store ignored the free promotional items, went straight for the Snoop record and pedaled away on his bike. White suburban kids are very passionate about rap, and Snoop remains a bona fide superstar.”