About Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg [b. 1971; real name, Calvin Broadus, Jr.], from Long Beach, California, started out as a rapper but has since expanded his marketability by becoming a music producer and film actor. He began his professional music career as a protégé of the co-founder of Death Row Records—Dr. Dre (Andre Romelle Young), who also helped launch the careers of Eminem and 50 Cent—and saw his first album (Doggystyle) released on that label in 1993. Snoop had previously been a member of the Rollin’ 20 Crips, a Los Angeles-based gang, and served a six-month sentence for drug possession before his first album hit the streets. Snoop’s limited time behind bars has continued to be a recurring theme in his music, even after all these years. He was one of the 1990s proponents of “gangsta rap” alongside such artists as Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur. However, the lifestyle often associated with this form of hip-hop—assaults, racketeering indictments, and even murder—caused Snoop to rethink his role in the music business.
Although he would enjoy another huge success with his 1996 album, Tha Doggfather, Snoop had by that time built his own label—Doggy Style Records—and entertained a more mainstream musical livelihood. For example, he was a headliner for a portion of the 1997 Lollapalooza concert tour, and he published an autobiography in 2001.
In addition to his solo efforts, Snoop has collaborated with a wide range of musicians. These have included R. Kelly, Justin Timberlake, Warren G, Katy Perry and, most recently, Australian pop singer Jessica Mauboy. As previously noted, Snoop has been onscreen in a number of feature films, both as a stage character and by playing himself. Included on this list are Training Day [2001], Old School [2003], Starsky & Hutch [2004], and Brüno [2009], plus television appearances on shows as diverse as King of the Hill [2001], Futurama [2009], and 90210 [2011]. In 2007 he even had his own reality show on the E! Network, titled Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood.
