Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg (born
Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. on
October 20,
1971, in
Long Beach, California), is an
American rapper,
record producer, and
actor. Snoop is best known as an
MC in the
West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of producer
Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. His mother nicknamed him "
Snoopy" as a child because of the way his eyes looked, and he took the stage name
Snoop Doggy Dogg when he began recording. He changed his name to
Snoop Dogg in
1996, when he left his original record label
Death Row Records and signed with
No Limit Records. Several of his cousins also became hip hop artists and
Aftermath collaborators, including
RBX,
Nate Dogg, and
Daz Dillinger. As a rapper, he is best known for his "lazy drawl"â€"a slurred, distinctively calm, laid-back, and rhythmically-complex
lyrical delivery[
1]. According to Soundscan he has sold over 17.6 million albums in the US from the establishment of Soundscan (1991) to January 2006. His catch phrase is widely known as "Fo' shizzle, my nizzle", meaning for sure, my nigga.
Early years
|
Snoop Dogg's high school photo |
He attended
Long Beach Polytechnic High School[
2], where he began participating in schoolyard
freestyle MCing competitions.
As a member of a local
Crips gang in Long Beach called ES
Rollin' 20's Crips, Snoop Dogg was in and out of
jail for the three years after he graduated from
high school. Pushed by older inmates to make something of himself, he began making homemade rap tapes with his cousin
Nate Dogg and best friend
Warren G (stepbrother of
Dr. Dre of
N.W.A.). Originally, Nate's cousin
Lil' 1/2 Dead was also part of the group, called
213, named after the Long Beach
area code at the time. This was largely in homage to
Richie Rich's group
415, named for the (then) area code of
Oakland, California.
Success with Death Row Records
|
Snoop Dogg's mugshot at the L.A.P.D. |
Dr. Dre began collaborating with the young rapper, first on the theme song of the
feature 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. Early success with mastering the "Doggystyle" finally justified his role in the naming of his debut-solo-album,
Doggystyle.Snoop Dogg's contribution to
The Chronic was considerable; the rapper's rhymes were as present as Dre's. The huge success of Snoop's debut
Doggystyle is largely due to this intense exposure.
While recording
Doggystyle with Dre in August
1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in the shooting death of
Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was later revealed to have had a
secret obsession with Snoop. Snoop was defended by
Johnnie Cochran and was eventually acquitted on both grounds of self-defense and because he allegedly drove the car while his bodyguard
McKinley Lee fired the fatal shots (Lee was also acquitted on grounds of self-defense). Snoop remained entangled in the legal battles around the case for three years.
|
Death Row times
2Pac (left), Snoop (center), Suge Knight (right), Dr. Dre(not pictured) |
The
Doggystyle album was released in November 1993 on
Death Row Records and became the first
debut album ever to enter the charts at #1, helping to fuel the ascendance of
West Coast "
G-funk" rap. The singles "
What's My Name" and "
Gin and Juice" were able to reach the top ten played songs in the counrty, and the album remained in the charts for several months, even as controversy raged over the murder trial and his allegedly violent and sexist lyrics.
Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for
censorship and labeling, with Snoop often used as an example of violent and
misogynistic musicians.
The album, much like
Dr. Dre's album
The Chronic featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the label including
Daz,
Kurupt,
Nate Dogg and others. Many fans consider
Doggystyle to be his finest album and it is usually given the same praise given to other successful Death Row albums such as
2pac's
All Eyes On Me,
Dr. Dre's
The Chronic and
Tha Dogg Pound's
Dogg Food.
A short film about the trial called
Murder Was the Case, and an accompanying soundtrack, were released in
1994. It is said that a lot of the hype surrounding his debut was generated by his well-publicized trial. Others argue that the Death Row crew knew that any publicity is good publicity, as this film was directed by Dr. Dre himself.
However, by the time Snoop's second album
Tha Doggfather was released in November 1996, both the furor and the popularity of gangsta rap had begun to fade, dragged down by the death of Snoop's friend
Tupac Shakur and the
racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder
Suge Knight. Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier that year, and so Snoop co-produced the album himself with
Daz Dillinger and
DJ Pooh.
The album saw a distinct change of style compared to Snoop Doggy Dogg's previous album,
Doggystyle. The album had a somewhat softer approach to the
G-Funk style which
Dr. Dre had made popular years earlier and
Snoop Doggy Dogg used a somewhat less energetic and more charismatic type of rhyming style which would be more widely incorporated and exercised later on in his career.
Recent years
Snoop Dogg's artistic output has since drawn back a bit from hardcore
gangsta rap, with him performing on the
alternative rock Lollapalooza tour in
1997, and making several film appearances, in addition to producing and directing music videos for himself and other artists. He released an autobiography in
2001.
Upon leaving
Death Row Records Snoop was approached by a number of record labels but eventually settled on a deal with
Master P's
No Limit Records. The record label was quite popular at the time as Southern Hip Hop was going through a revival and beginning to dominate the charts in a way which hadn't been seen since the bass influenced music of Florida rap in the early 90's by such groups as
2 Live Crew and
Luke. Shoterning his name to Snoop Dogg, rather than Snoop Doggy Dogg, he initially received a great deal of critcism for signing to the label.
Da Game Is to Be Sold Not to Be Told was his first album he released on the record company and it was met with a with negative reviews although it did well in terms of recod sales. Similar to the group focus of Death Row Records, a great deal of
No Limit Records artists appeared on the album and it was produced mostly by in-house producers Beats By The Pound. Snoop's next effort,
No Limit Top Dogg would see a return to the
G Funk style of his Death Row days and it proved to be a success in terms of ratings and record sales as the album embraced both old and new styles of
West Coast hip hop along with assorted guests from the
No Limit Records rooster. Snoop Dogg followed this up with his last album on
No Limit Records titled
Tha Last Meal, which evolved upon the mixture of old and new styles of West Coast Hip Hop that
No Limit Top Dogg began.
Snoop produced a
pornographic film called
Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle with
Hustler magazine in
2001, where he combines hip hop music with X-rated material. From then on, many films of the genre followed, and finally ended up with founding the
Snoopadelic Films company in 2005, Snoop's own movie production company debuting with
Boss'n Up, a film inspired by
R&G starring
Lil Jon and
Trina. [
3]
In
2002, he announced that he was giving up
drinking and
drugs. Later that year he released the album
Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, which featured the hit singles and videos "From Da Chuuuch to Da Palace" and "Beautiful," featuring guest vocals by the
Neptunes'
Pharrell Williams.
On
May 21,
2004, Snoop Dogg filed for divorce from his wife Shante Broadus, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking joint custody of their three children, Corde, Cordell, and Cori; they have since reconciled. Later that year, he collaborated again with his old friends Nate Dogg and Warren G, as part of their rap group 213. They released an album
The Hard Way, which featured the single "Groupie Luv", and reached #4 in the
U.S. Billboard 200 album charts.
In 2004, Snoop signed to the
Star Trak record label, headed by the Neptunes, who produced several tracks for his 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 his first single to reach number one. His third release was "
Signs", featuring
Justin Timberlake &
Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at #2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart.
He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the
'70s TV-series of the same name,
Starsky & Hutch.
Snoop and his associates were the center of a controversial civil rape case stemming from a January, 2003 guest-hosting appearance on
Jimmy Kimmel Live. The plantiff was a 36-year-old makeup artist named Kylie Bell, who had previously won an
Emmy Award for her work on the HBO series
Six Feet Under. Bell claimed that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Snoop and four others. Snoop had sued for extortion a month previously, alleging that he paid $5 million in exchange for Bell's silence. Both suits were subsequently dropped in an out-of-court settlement.
Snoop Dogg recently announced to British radio that his next album,
The Blue Carpet Treatment, will feature production by long-time partner Dr. Dre, dispelling rumors of a rift between the two in recent times. In addition, Snoop will be featured on Dre's proclaimed (and much delayed)
Detox.
On
26 April 2006, Snoop Dogg and members of his entourage were arrested at
Heathrow Airport for "violent disorder and
affray" â€" or creating a brawl or disturbance â€" after being turned away from
British Airways' first class lounge. Snoop and his party were not allowed to enter the lounge because although some of the entourage were flying first class, other members of the party were flying economy class. After the group was escorted outside, they vandalized a duty-free shop by throwing
whisky bottles. Seven
police officers were injured in the fracas. After a night in the prison, Snoop Dogg and the other men were released on bail on the
27 April but he was unable to perform at the Premier Foods People's Concert in Johannesburg on the same day. As part of his bail conditions, he has to return to the police station in May. The group has been banned by
British Airways for "the foreseeable future."[
4][
5]
On
11 May, when he presented himself at a London police station, he was
cautioned for affray under
Section 4 of the
Public Order Act for use of threatening words or behaviour [
6].
On
15 May, the
Home Office decided that Snoop Dogg should be denied entry to the
UK for the foreseeable future, most likely forever, due to the fracas at
Heathrow, along with his previous convictions in the
U.S. for drugs and firearms offences [
7] [
8]. Because of these offenses he has been banned from flying with
British Airways ever again.
As of June 2006, Snoop is doing an ad for
Orbit Gum. In this
ad, the Orbit Girl,
Vanessa Branch, comes and cleans up Snoops dirty mouth.
Snoop Dogg's latest music is being featured on West Coast rap albums, such as "
Laugh Now, Cry Later" by
Ice Cube and "
Cali Iz Active" by Tha Dogg Pound. He is featured on 2 tracks from Cube's album including the single "
Go to Church", and several tracks on "Cali Iz Active." Also, his latest song, "Real Talk", was leaked over the internet in the summer of 2006 and a video has been released on the internet. "Real Talk" is a dedication to Tookie Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Currently Snoop Dogg is working with producer
JT the Bigga Figga on a documentary DVD entitled
Mandatory Business, that will feature the likes of
Russell Simmons,
Spike Lee,
Xzibit,
Young Buck and
50 Cent. There will also be a soundtrack released for the album.
*
Snoop Dogg plans to publish his first novel in Autumn 2006
*Snoop Dogg is famous for using
slang invented by Frankie Smith and
The Gap Band in the early eighties, and popularized in part by fellow rapper
E-40,[
9] much of which is simply derived by adding an "izz" or "
-izzle" sound to the word.
*Snoop is a fan of many professional and college sports teams such as the
Los Angeles Lakers,
Pittsburgh Steelers, and the
USC Trojans.
*Snoop was a member of the
Rollin' 20 Crips gang in Long Beach, and still has affiliations with the group.
Goldie Loc of Tha Eastsidaz is also a former member of this gang, as are Warren G and Nate Dogg.
*Snoop Dogg has his own show on
XM Satellite Radio called
Welcome to Da Chuuch with Big Snoop Dogg. On
December 8,
2005, he was named executive producer for XM's classic hip hop channel, The Rhyme, and will provide the creative direction for the channel and assist in the development of new exclusive programming for The Rhyme as well as other channels. Also in that month, Snoop appeared in a comical TV commercial for
XM with fellow XM celebrity DJs
Ellen DeGeneres and
David Bowie which finds the rapper attempting to find one of his misplaced vanity necklaces; the punchline of the commercial reveals that Bowie had been wearing the jewelry, unbeknownst to Snoop.
*Snoop Dogg is the most "well-connected" rapper of all time based on a study by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology [
10]. This is counted from the unusually high album sales and the collaborations made.
[http://www.music-map.com/snoop+doggy+dog.html - Snoop Dogg's sociographic map, URL accessed on July 3, 2006 (UTC)]*Snoop Dogg was requested by EA Games together with the surviving members of
The Doors to produce and perform a song for the soundtrack of EA Games'
Need For Speed Underground 2 in 2004. On the track, Snoop raps over a sample of
The Doors' "
Riders on the Storm."
*Snoop Dogg collaborated with several international musicians, including Aki-La (Japan),
Jamel Debbouze (France) and
Mira Craig (Norway).
*Snoop Dogg and
Willie McGinest of the
Cleveland Browns are childhood friends and are founders and co-owners of Icon Sports+Entertainment, which is geared toward helping athletes realize their potential in the entertainment industry.
*Snoop Dogg will soon be named a C.E.O. at
Koch West.[
11]
For a full listing of music and film projects, see Snoop Dogg discography and filmography.Solo albums
*1993:
Doggystyle (
Death Row/
Interscope) #1 US (3 weeks) (5x Platinum
RIAA)
*1996: Tha Doggfather (Death Row) #1 US (1 week) (2x Platinum)
*1998: Da Game Is to Be Sold Not to Be Told (No Limit/Priority) #1 US (2 weeks) (2x Platinum)
*1999: No Limit Top Dogg (No Limit/Priority) #2 US (Platinum),
*2000: Tha Last Meal (No Limit/Priority) #4 US (PlatinumRIAA)
*2002: Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ (Doggystyle/Priority/Capitol) #12 US (PlatinumRIAA)
*2004: R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta) The Masterpiece (Doggystyle/Star Trak/Geffen) #6 US (PlatinumRIAA)
*2006: The Blue Carpet Treatment (due to October 17, 2006)Singles
Selected filmography
I Got the Hook Up (1998)
Half Baked (1998) (cameo appearance)
Hot Boyz (1999)
Urban Menace (1999)
The Eastsidaz (2000) (also executive producer)
Crime Partners 2000 (2001)
Baby Boy (2001)
Training Day (2001)
Bones (2001)
The Wash (2001)
Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)
Old School (2003)
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Soul Plane (2004)
Racing Stripes(2005)
Boss'n Up (2005)
The Tenants (2006)
Hood of Horror (2006)Grammy Award nominations
Snoop Dogg has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards but has not yet won an award as of 2006.
| Category | Genre | Song | Year | Result |
Best Rap Song songwriter
(with Pharrell Williams) | Rap | "Drop It Like It's Hot" | 2005 | Nominated |
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
(with Pharrell Williams) | Rap | "Drop It Like It's Hot" | 2005 | Nominated |
Best Rap Song songwriter
(with Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams) | Rap | "Beautiful" | 2004 | Nominated |
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
(with Pharrell Williams and Charlie Wilson) | Rap | "Beautiful" | 2004 | Nominated |
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
(with Dr. Dre) | Rap | "The Next Episode" | 2001 | Nominated |
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
(with Dr. Dre) | Rap | "Still D.R.E." | 2000 | Nominated |
Best Rap Solo
Performance | Rap | "Gin and Juice" | 1995 | Nominated |
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
(with Dr. Dre) | Rap | "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" | 1994 | Nominated |
Awards won
*2006 The Recording Academy Honors
**Recipient (Snoop Dogg)
*2006 MTV Australia Video Music Awards
**Best hip hop video ("Drop it Like It's Hot")
*2005 The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Conference Awards
**Hot Rap Track ("Drop it Like It's Hot")
*2005 MTV European Music Awards
**Best Hip-Hop Artist
*2005 MOBO Awards
**Best video ("Drop it Like It's Hot")
*2004 Adult Video News awards
**Top Selling Tape of 2003 ("Snoop Dogg's Hustlaz: Diary Of a Pimp")
*2003 BET Awards
**Best Collaboration (with Pharrell)
*2002 MTV Movie Awards
**Best Cameo ("Training Day" - 2001)
*2002 Urban Fashion Awards
**Best Celebrity Clothing Line ("Snoop Dogg Clothing")
*2002 Adult Video News awards
**Best Music soundtrack ("Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle")
**Top Selling Tape of 2001 ("Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle")
*1995 American Music Awards
**Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist
*1994 MTV Video Music Award
**Best Rap Video. ("Doggy Dogg World")
*1994 Source Awards
**New Artist of the Year (Solo)
**Lyricist of the YearOther nominations
*2005 Radio Music Awards
**Song of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
*2005 Billboard Music Awards
**Rap song of the year ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
*2005 MTV European Music Awards
**Best Male artist
**Best song ("Signs")
*2005 BET Awards
**Video of the Year ( "Drop It Like It's Hot")
**Best Collaboration ( "Drop It Like It's Hot")
**Best Rap Artist
*2005 World Music Awards
** Best-Selling Male R&B Award
*2005 MTV Video Music Awards
**Video of the Year ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
**Best Hip-Hop Video ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
**Viewer's Choice ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
*2005 MOBO Awards
**Best Single ("Drop It Like It's Hot" with Pharrell).
*2005 Soul Train Awards
** ("Drop It Like It's Hot")
*2004 MTV Video Music Awards
**Best Hip-Hop Video. ("Holidae Inn" with Chingy and Ludacris)
*2004 MVPA Video Awards
**Best Hip-Hop Video (Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams "Beautiful" / Prod Co: Partizan; Chris Robinson, dir.)
*2003 BET Awards
**Best Male Hip-Hop Artist
*2003 California Music Awards
**Outstanding hip-hop album ("Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss")
*2003 MTV Video Music Awards
**Best Hip-Hop Video ("Beautiful")
*2003 Vibe Awards
**Reelest video:"Beautiful"
**Hottest hook:"Beautiful"
**Coolest collaboration:"Beautiful"
*2003 MVPA Video Awards
**Soundtrack Video of the year (Snoop Dogg feat. Bootsy Collins - "Undercova Funk (Give Up the Funk)" from "Undercover Brother." Director: Gregory Dark. Production company: Atlas)
*2001 1st Annual BET Awards (June 19, 2001):
** Video of the Year ("The Next Episode" - Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg)
*2001 MTV Video Music Awards
**Best Rap Video ("Lay Low")*"Snoop Doggs" - foot-long hot dogs manufactured in Massachusetts a joint venture with Platinum One Media [12]
*"Snoop Dogg Board Company (SDBC)" - skateboards and Luggage fabrication company (with Pentagon Distribution)
*"Snooperbowl" and "Snoop Youth Football league"
*"Chronic Candy" - candy that tastes like marijuana (from Switzerland and is currently banned in some cities of US)
Dogg Dayz - fiction book (published by Atria) ISBN 074327363X [13]
Tha Doggfather : The Times, Trials, And Hardcore Truths Of Snoop Dogg - autobiography (published by William Morrow) Hardcover ISBN 0688171583, Paperback ISBN 0061076074 [14]
Fear & Respect (project cancelled as of March 1 2006) - PlayStation 2 video game (developed by Midway Games)
*"Doggy Biscuitz" - shoe brand (in partnership with Pony International) [15]
*"Snoop Dogg Clothing" - streetwear (distributed at Macy's)
*"WRFF" - unique design scooters (in cooperation with Salton, Inc.) [16]
*"Hip Hop Gaming League" - a celebrity online gaming competition (hosted by Global Gaming League) [17]
*"Snoop Dogg figures" (Vital Toys, Sota Toys) [18]Solo
Writer/Composer
Production
Cameo/Collab
*Dr. Dre
*G-funk
*West Coast hip hop
*Nate Dogg
*Official website
*Official website RSS Feed
*Snoop Dogg at Geffen Records
*Snoop Dogg fansite
*Snoop Dogg Lyrics
*Snoop Dogg Google Search Engine
*Lyrics Translated By Snoop Dogg
*Online ad for Wrigley's Orbit gum featuring Snoop Dogg
*Snoop Dog Translator (translates sites into Snoop Dogg slang)
*UGO Interview
*BBC Article
