Corkman teaches Snoop Dogg Chinese
“They say never meet your heroes, but that’s nonsense, particularly if your hero is Snoop Dogg!”
The words of Corkman Ken Browne, who recently went viral for teaching American rapper Snoop Dogg how to say Happy New Year in Mandarin Chinese.
Ken, a Cork-born journalist who works for Chinese TV station CGTN, got the chance for a quick chat with the hip hop superstar at the Winter Olympic Games. In a short video clip, Ken is seen asking Snoop for his message for the Chinese Year of the Horse which started on 17 February. Snoop replied: “Have a beautiful year, celebrate, put love in the air, let’s get cracking.”
Ken then said Happy New Year to Snoop in Mandarin Chinese which Snoop repeated back to him with impressive accuracy on his first attempt.
Snoop has shared the moment to his 88.5 million followers on Instagram.
The ‘Young, Wild, and Free’ singer was one of the biggest stars at the Winter Olympics, working for the US broadcaster NBC next to Martha Stewart. He certainly wasn’t “laying low” at the event in Italy where he tried his hand at skiing, curling, and a few other sports.
“Snoop is just pure charisma in person,” said Ken, who studied Chinese and Spanish in UCC.
“We were in the middle of Milan in an Olympic TV tower and the place was jammed, absolutely full of his entourage, schedulers, NBC people, handlers.
“We asked his team if he had time for just one question with us and they said no. But Snoop is Snoop! We were there, cameraman ready, me with the mic in hand just in case, and when Snoop saw me, he walked straight over to me, shook my hand, answered the question, and just handled himself with real class.
“The second ever album I owned was Snoop's first album, (The first was the Prodigy Experience, but I didn't tell him that!),” added Ken.
Ken, who previously worked for Real Madrid as a translator and on the club’s TV channel, is no stranger to going viral. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he interviewed badminton two-time consecutive gold medallist Viktor Axelsen from Denmark - all in Mandarin Chinese.
He said: “I think it was just a bit of a shock watching two white lads rattle off an interview in Mandarin Chinese. It's not the easiest language for us Westerners to learn.”
Despite Mandarin Chinese having such a distinctive sound, Ken’s Cork accent can still be heard underneath, and he says his accent has actually helped him in learning new languages.
He said: “Cork is one of the most distinctive and musical accents out there.
“I think the Cork accent actually helps, like we do a kind of rolling of our r’s that helps with Spanish rr’s, and there’s a big register in the accent - high and low notes, so I think the musicality of our accent can help with learning other languages. So, to anyone out there wondering if an arts degree or learning languages is worth the time, then my experience is that it absolutely is. It’s the languages that have opened all the doors for me,” said Ken.