Snoop Dogg keen to be the Hip Hop Simon Cowell

Snoop Dogg wants Jay-Z to be a judge on his proposed TV talent show.

The rapper wants to launch an American Idol-style series to find a new hip-hop star and is keen to have the Young Forever hitmaker involved in the project.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "He wants to bring in an old-school legend, and he wants to get Jay-Z."

Snoop is also reportedly keen to get rap sensation Wiz Khalifa on the judging panel.

The Sweat rapper has been pitching his idea to several TV networks, including Oxygen, Bravo, NBC, E! and MTV but none are yet to commit to the project.

A representative for Jay-Z has denied he currently has any involvement in the show.

Snoop previously revealed he wants his show to find the hottest talent from "the hood" and look for artists who wouldn't succeed on programmes like American Idol.

He said: "The American Idol and X Factor shows, they're great shows. But I think I need to make a show like that, that's directed straight to the hood. To the artists that don't get the attention, that don't have the money to make themselves representable. This raw talent and ability.

"I'm looking for a deal from one of you TV networks to give Snoop Dogg his own hood TV show where I can find America's hottest hood artists. Holla at me."

Snoop is from a poor area of Long Beach in California and got mixed up in a gang while in high school before being jailed before he graduated.

Soon after he was released he found fame as a hip-hop star, and he has also become one of the biggest reality TV stars in the US with his show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood.

-BANG! Showbiz