Snoop Dogg participated alongside other celebrities such as Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx in the protest held on November 19, 2005, at San Quentin against the death sentence of former Crip leader Stanley Williams. Their hopes were to change the death penalty into a life sentence on the claim that Williams had converted in prison and published many children books speaking against entering into street gangs. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had agreed to meet with the death row inmate's lawyers, but was not convinced, and so the execution took place on December 13, 2005.
Music video
The video was directed by Anthony Mandler and shot on November 9, and was aired on the 5th of December. It is a short, black and white video about Snoop, Daz and Kurupt visiting Tookie — played by Nate Dogg — in jail. In the correction facility scenes, Snoop and the DPGC wear black and white checked shirts as crip members do to show respect for their former leader. In the studio scenes, Snoop is seen wearing a "Save Tookie.Org" T-shirt, the site of an internet foundation dedicated to gather online signatures for a petition, which was to be addressed to the governor. The video was the 37th on the LAUNCH Music Videos Top 100 chart, debuting on December 10, and stayed for two weeks.
A remix version of the song features Jamie Foxx joining Nate Dogg on the vocals and sending a short message to the listeners. It is called the "save tookie" version and is 4½ minutes long (if the introduction is excluded; it is a commercial from Snoop for the album Da Chuuch).
There's an extended remix with the speech of Snoop at San Quentin while the beat is still going. It is 6:43 minutes long.
A video remix also exists with an intro by Jamie Foxx who's encouraging the audience to stand against the execution, and comperes the song. It is 5:03 minutes long. [2]
Snoop visited Tookie in the jail, but he was refused when asked for another visit just prior to the protest at San Quentin.
The aftermath of the events was another internet released single called "Real Talk", in which Snoop disses Arnold Schwarzenegger for allowing the execution (official sample).