Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg performing live in Hawaii.
Background information
Birth name	Cordozar Calvin Broadus
Also known as	Snoop Doggy Dogg, Uncle Snoop, Tha Boss Dogg
Born	October 20, 1971 (1971-10-20) (age 38)
Origin	Long Beach, California, United States
Genres	G-funk Hip hop West Coast hip hop Gangsta Rap
Occupations	Rapper, actor, producer
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Death Row, No Limit, Capitol, Doggystyle, Geffen, EMI, Priority
Associated acts	Dr. Dre, B-Real, R. Kelly Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, Nate Dogg, Pharrell, Tha Dogg Pound, Tha Eastsidaz, 213, Nine Inch Dix, Xzibit
Website	www.snoopdogg.com

Cordozar Calvin Broadus (born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor. Snoop is best known as an MC in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school. Shortly after graduation, he was arrested for cocaine possession and spent six months in Wayside County Jail. His music career began in 1992 after his release when he was discovered by Dr. Dre. He collaborated on several tracks on Dre's solo debut, The Chronic and on the titular theme song to the film Deep Cover.

Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records. Doggystyle went quadruple platinum and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name" and "Gin & Juice". In 1996, Snoop Dogg was cleared of charges over his bodyguard's 1993 murder of Philip Woldemariam. His second album, 1996's Tha Doggfather, was his last release for Death Row before he signed with No Limit Records, where he recorded three albums from 1998 to 2001. Snoop then signed with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records in 2002, which released his album Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss, and then he signed with Geffen Records in 2004 for his next three albums.

In addition to music, Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows: Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood and Dogg After Dark. He also coaches a youth football league and high school football team. He has run into many legal troubles, some of which caused him to be legally banned from the UK and Australia, the UK ban was later reversed after a long legal battle.^[1] He is the cousin of emcees Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, RBX and Lil' ½ Dead and the cousin of R&B singers Brandy and Ray J. Starting September 2009, Snoop was hired by EMI as the chairman of a reactivated Priority Records.^[2] His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland was released December 8, 2009.

Early life

Named after his step-father, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. (December 10, 1948 - November 9, 1985, Los Angeles, California),^[3] Calvin Broadus was born October 20, 1971 at the Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California, the second of three sons of Beverly Broadus (née Tate; born April 27, 1951, McComb, Mississippi).^[4][5][6] His father, Vernall Varnado (born December 13, 1949, Magnolia, Mississippi),^[7] was a Vietnam veteran, singer, and mail carrier who was said to be frequently absent from his life.^[8] Broadus' parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" as a child because of his appearance, but usually addressed him as Calvin at home.^[9][10] His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975. At an early age, Broadus began singing in Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church and playing piano; when he was in sixth grade, he began rapping.^[11][12] He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and was convicted for cocaine trafficking and served six months at the Wayside County Jail.^[11][13]

Snoop Dogg is a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach,^[14][15] although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang.^[11] Snoop Dogg's conviction caused him to be in and out of prison for the first three years after he graduated from high school. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil' ½ Dead and friend Warren G, recorded home made tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time. One of his early solo freestyles over En Vogue's "Hold On" had made it to a mixtape which was heard by influential producer Dr. Dre, who phoned to invite him to an audition. Former N.W.A member The D.O.C. taught him how to structure his lyrics and separate the thematics into verses, hooks and chorus.^[16]

Death Row Records years (1992–1997)

When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.^[9]

To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" and "Gin and Juice" reached the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months.^[9] Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians.^[17] Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others. His video "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" with 2Pac chronicled the difficulties each rapper was dealing with as a result of their unrelated but concurrent criminal prosecutions.^{[citation needed]} Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."^[11]

A short film about Snoop Dogg's murder trial called Murder Was The Case, was released in 1994, along with an accompanying soundtrack. However, by the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living (or sometimes just imitating) the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate 2Pac and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight.^[9] Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier in 1996 because of a contract dispute, so Snoop Dogg co-produced Tha Doggfather with Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh.

This album featured a distinct change of style as compared to Doggystyle, and the leadoff single, "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", featured a collaboration with Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson. While the album sold reasonably well, it was not as successful as its predecessor. However, Tha Doggfather had a somewhat softer approach to the G-funk style. The immediate aftermath of Dr. Dre's withdrawal from Death Row Records, realizing that he was subject to an iron-clad time-based contract (i.e., that Death Row practically owned anything he produced for a number of years), Snoop Dogg refused to produce any more tracks for Suge Knight, other than the insulting "Fuck Death Row", until his contract expired.^[14]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that after Tha Doggfather, Snoop Dogg began "moving away from his gangsta roots toward a calmer lyrical aesthetic":^[9] for instance, Snoop participated in the 1997 Lollapalooza concert tour, which featured mainly alternative rock music. Troy J. Augusto of Variety noticed that Snoop's set at Lollapalooza attracted "much dancing, and, strangely, even a small mosh pit" in the audience.^[18]

No Limit, Capitol and Geffen years (1998–2009)

Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told that year. His other albums from No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,503,865 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 1,000,000).^[9] In 2001, his autobiography, Tha Doggfather, was published.

In 2002 he released the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, on Priority/Capitol/EMI Records, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The album featured the hit singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", featuring guest vocals by Pharrell. By this stage in his career, Snoop Dogg had left behind his "gangster" image and embraced a "pimp" image.

In 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment both of which are distributed through Interscope Records; Star Trak is headed by producer duo The Neptunes, which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one. His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at #2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,724,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released album The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included single "Groupie Luv". Together with fellow rappers Lil' Jon, Xzibit and David Banner, Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor".

Snoop Dogg's appeared on two tracks from Ice Cube's 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, including the single "Go to Church", and on several tracks on Tha Dogg Pound's Cali Iz Active the same year. Also, his latest song, "Real Talk", was leaked over the Internet in the summer of 2006 and a video was later released on the Internet. "Real Talk" was a dedication to former Crips leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California. Two other singles on which Snoop made a guest performance were "Keep Bouncing" by Too $hort (also with will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas) and "Gangsta Walk" by Coolio.

Snoop's 2006 album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #5 and has sold over 850,000 copies. The album and the second single "That's That Shit" featuring R. Kelly were well received by critics. In the album, he collaborated in a video with E-40 and other West Coast rappers for his single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)".

In July 2007, Snoop Dogg also made history by becoming the first artist to release a track as a ringtone prior to its release as a single, which was "It's the D.O.G." On July 7, 2007, Snoop Dogg performed at the Live Earth concert, Hamburg.^[19]

Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie Singh Is Kinng; the title of the song is also "Singh is Kinng". The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008 on Junglee Music Records.^[20]

He released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy).

Media appearances

Snoop Dogg has appeared on television and in films throughout his career. In 1998, Snoop had a cameo appearance in the film Half Baked as the "Scavenger Smoker".^[21] In 2000, Snoop (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN Awards.^[22] Snoop then directed Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").^[23]

In 2001, Snoop lent his voice to the animated show King of the Hill, in which he played a white pimp named Alabaster Jones.^[24] He played a lead character in the movie The Wash with Dr. Dre. He portrayed a drug dealer in a wheelchair in the film Training Day, featuring Denzel Washington.^[25] In 2001, Snoop starred in the horror film Bones, with him playing a murdered mobster who returns from the dead to exact his revenge against those who murdered him.

In 2002, Snoop hosted, starred in, and produced his own MTV sketch comedy show entitled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Snoop was filmed for a brief cameo appearance in the television movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), but his performance was omitted from the final cut of the movie.^[26] On November 8, 2004, Snoop Dogg was starred in the episode "Two of a Kind" of NBC's series Las Vegas ^[27].

In 2004, Snoop appeared on the Showtime series The L Word as the character "Slim Daddy". He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the 1970s TV-series of the same name, Starsky & Hutch. He appeared as himself in the episode "MILF Money" of Weeds,^[28] and made an appearance on the TV shows Entourage ^[29] and Monk,^[30] for which he recorded a version of the theme, in July 2007.

Snoop founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. Their debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G, starring Lil Jon and Trina.^[31]

In December 2007, his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood premiered on the E! channel.^[32] Snoop Dogg joined the NBA's Entertainment League.^[33] On March 30, 2008 he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.^[34]

On May 8 and May 9, 2008, Snoop appeared as himself on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, with a new opening theme recorded by the artist presented for both episodes. In the episodes, Snoop performs at the bachelorette party for character Adriana Cramer, and credits Bo Buchanan with helping him get his start in show business.^[35][36] On February 24, 2010, Snoop Dogg reprised his role, performing his song "I Wanna Rock" from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, as well as once again performing a special remixed, vocal rendition of the show's opening theme.^[37] In recent interviews he has explained that, as a child, One Life to Live was one of his favorite shows, and he still regards the show fondly. He has also stated that he has always been a particular fan of Robert S. Woods, who has portrayed the character of Bo Buchanan since 1979.

In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno as himself performing a rap addition to the song "Dove Of Peace".^[38] On October 19, 2009, Snoop Dogg was the guest host of WWE Raw.

In 2010, Snoop Dogg appeared in an episode of I Get That a Lot on CBS as a parking-lot attendant.

In June 2010, Snoop created a music video for True Blood accompanying a song he wrote for one of the main characters of the show entitled "Oh Sookie." ^{[39] [40]}

Style and rap skills

Kool Moe Dee ranks Snoop at #33 in his book There's a God on the Mic, and says he has "an ultra-smooth, laidback delivery",^[41] and "flavor-filled melodic rhyming".^[42] Peter Shapiro describes Snoop's delivery as a "molasses drawl"^[43] and Allmusic notes his "drawled, laconic rhyming" style.^[9] Kool Moe Dee refers to Snoop's use of vocabulary, saying he "keeps it real simple...he simplifies it and he's effective in his simplicity".^[44]

Snoop is known to freestyle some of his lyrics on the spot for some songs - in the book How to Rap, Lady of Rage says, "Snoop Dogg, when I worked with him earlier in his career, that's how created his stuff... he would freestyle, he wasn't a writer then, he was a freestyler,"^[45] and D.O.C. states, "Snoop's [rap] was a one take willy, but his shit was all freestyle. He hadn't written nothing down. He just came in and started busting. The song was "The Shiznit" - [that was all freestyle]. He started busting and when we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus and told Snoop to come back in. He did that throughout the record. That's when Snoop was in the zone then."^[46]

Peter Shapiro says that Snoop debuted on "Deep Cover" with a "shockingly original flow - which sounded like a Slick Rick born in South Carolina instead of South London"^[47] and adds that he "showed where his style came from by covering Slick Rick's 'La Di Da Di'".^[43] Referring to Snoop's flow, Kool Moe Dee calls him "one of the smoothest, funkiest flow-ers in the game".^[42] How to Rap also notes that Snoop is known to use syncopation in his flow to give it a laidback quality,^[48] as well as 'linking with rhythm' in his compound rhymes,^[49] using alliteration,^[50] and employing a "sparse" flow with good use of pauses.^[51]

Personal life

Broadus's father left the family when Broadus was three months old. Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Shante, citing irreconcilable differences.^[52] The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008.^[53] R&B singers Brandy and Ray J are his first cousins.^[54] In 2002, the rapper announced he was giving up marijuana, one of his image trademarks, for good.^[55] According to his IMDb biography, Snoop is a fan of the thrash metal band Metallica^[56] and performed their song "Sad But True" on the band's 2003 MTV Icon Special which is available on YouTube[6].

Snoop is an avid fan of hometown teams Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Snoop is also an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan, which is mainly due to his affiliation with the Rollin' 20s Crips, which sport the Pittsburgh jersey as its neighborhood emblem,^[57] and is often seen wearing Pittsburgh Steelers apparel. Snoop has mentioned that his love for the Steelers began in the 1970s during the team's dynasty years while watching the team with his grandfather growing up in L.A.^[58] In the 2005 offseason, Snoop mentioned that he wanted to be an NFL head coach, "probably for the Steelers".^[59] The following year, he was in attendance for the Steelers' victory in Super Bowl XL and later in Super Bowl XLIII. He was also a fan of the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, often wearing a #5 jersey, and has been seen in Raiders training camps.^[60] He did his own free style rap based on his similarities with Tony Romo.^[61][62] He has also shown affection for the New England Patriots, as he has been seen performing at the Gillette Stadium and picked the Patriots as the favorite to win Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles.^[63][64] On August 6, 2009, Snoop visited the training camp of the Baltimore Ravens at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.^[65] He was invited by Ray Lewis the day after his concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

A certified football coach, Snoop Dogg has been head coach for his son's youth football teams and the John A. Rowland High School team.^[66][67]

Snoop Dogg is an avid hockey fan by sporting a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey (with the name and number 'GIN AND JUICE' 94 on the back) and a jersey of the now-defunct Springfield (MA) Indians of the American Hockey League in his 1994 music video, "Gin And Juice". On the E! show, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, Snoop Dogg and his family received lessons on playing hockey from the Anaheim Ducks, then returning to the Honda Center to cheer on the Ducks against the Vancouver Canucks in the episode Snow in da Hood.^[68]

In 2009, it was revealed that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, 2009, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day [sic] holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop claimed to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but he declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.^[69][70][71]

He popularized the catch-phrase suffix -izzle, which had been in use for decades, but not nearly to the extent that it is now, particularly in the pop and hip hop music industry.

Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who've superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying "That shit was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin' layups for me. I was makin' 'em every time." He goes on to say that upon the advice on some of the other pimps he knew, he eventually gave up pimping to spend more time with his family.^[72]