Nate Dogg’s son Nathaniel Hale Jr. has publicly accused Snoop Dogg of retrieving his father’s master recordings without the full family’s knowledge or consent.
Inside the Accusations
More than a decade after Nate Dogg’s passing, questions over control and preservation of his musical legacy remain unresolved.
The late Nate Dogg, the unmistakable hook king of West Coast hip-hop, left behind a catalog that remains at the center of ongoing family conflict since his passing in 2011.
According to The Source Magazine, Nathaniel Hale Jr. said the controversy began when the masters were stored at his grandmother’s home during his father’s declining health.
He alleged that Snoop Dogg received permission only from his grandmother to retrieve the recordings, without his uncle’s awareness.
Hale Jr. said his account comes from family retellings, as The Source Magazine cited, “Supposedly, Snoop got the OK from my grandma to go to her house and get my Pop’s masters. She pretty much showed him where the masters were, or however this occurred, and he left with the masters. When my Daddy got sick, my uncle placed the masters at my grandma’s house. He wasn’t aware that Snoop went to my grandma’s house and got the masters.”
The accusation has exposed deep internal rifts, including a public confrontation between Hale Jr. and his uncle at a recent Warren G show. “There is something going on that’s a feud right now. I’ll be the one to say it because it’s my family,” Hale Jr. said, The Source Magazine reported. “And some sh*t went down at a show recently, so I feel comfortable sharing and speaking on it.”
He added, “And I’m only repeating what my uncle is riding on. Me and him just got into a big feud at Warren G’s show recently in front of a lot of people and it was embarrassing almost, and we haven’t talked since.”
Hale Jr. said Snoop Dogg has denied possessing the masters, stating, “What Snoop has always told me is he don’t got it, and he would never do something like that. I at least want to know that he did get them and they are safe.”
The dispute places strain on the partnership between Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg, longtime collaborators whose work helped shape West Coast hip-hop.
Family tensions extend beyond the masters.
Complex, published on Mar. 13, 2025, reported that another son, Nhale (full name Naijiel D. Hale) criticized a proposed $4 million sale of his father’s catalog and spoke out against Nate Dogg’s widow, Latoya Calvin.
Nhale opposed delaying the estate settlement and questioned Calvin’s effort to appoint music manager Brian Shafton to oversee the music rights, according to Complex.
InTouch Weekly reported that estate administrator Alex Borden filed a final accounting while beneficiaries debated catalog management.
Nhale, through his attorney, said the catalog has generated revenue since 2011 and urged against prolonging closure.
A January 2024 report said Nate Dogg’s $2.7 million estate was set to be divided equally among his wife and nine children.
Nhale vented his frustration on social media, posting, according to Complex: “They want us to sale my Dad catalog for a lil 4 million because he decided to marry a b*tch who was never there for him from the jump. Pray for what I been really dealing with for the past 14 years because I’ll blow this whole sh-t up. This ain’t even the half…”
