SNOOP DOGG - DIDDY + SNOOP PROMOTE PEACE + FRIENDSHIP ON RAP TOUR

Former rap rivals SNOOP DOGG and SEAN `DIDDY' COMBS staged a peace summit in Finland on Friday (09MAR07) as they joined forces to launch a European tour. The rappers, who were once bitter rivals in a feud between East and West Coast hip hop, have come together for a 22-date tour. Diddy says, "We want to entertain, we want to make music, we want to make people feel good. We ain't no gangsters. We are men first, we are fathers. "Everybody has a past; everybody grows up, matures and moves on. And right now our mission is to make people dance and feel good." The battle the rappers found themselves a part of throughout the 1990s ended in tragedy when NOTORIOUS B.I.G and TUPAC SHAKUR both lost their lives in related shootings. Snoop Dogg, real name CALVIN BROADUS, admits his one-time rival Notorious B.I.G. would be amused to see the two musicians touring together. He explains, "He is going to be smiling when he sees me and Puff on the stage... That is all that matters, that the spirit of hip-hop lives on. Everything that was not right, we are getting right." The press conference was held just before the first show of the tour, which ends in Britain next month (APR07).