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Snoop Dogg 1972(?)– (C. Broadus, Calvin Broadus, Big Snoop Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Doggfather)
SNOOP DOGG 1972(?)–
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Cite this article
"Snoop Dogg 1972(?)– (C. Broadus, Calvin Broadus, Big Snoop Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Doggfather)." Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Snoop Dogg 1972(?)– (C. Broadus, Calvin Broadus, Big Snoop Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Doggfather)." Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3428100184.html "Snoop Dogg 1972(?)– (C. Broadus, Calvin Broadus, Big Snoop Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Doggfather)." Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3428100184.html |
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Snoop Doggy Dogg
Snoop Doggy DoggRap artist Rolling Stone’s Jonathan Gold claimed in 1993 that Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “lazy, vicious drawl has become one of the most familiar voices in rap.” To have reached this level of recognition in such a hotly competitive field is remarkable; to have done so before releasing one’s debut album is extremely rare. Yet Snoop exploded on the scene as a guest rapper on the smash 1992 release The Chronic by his friend and mentor Dr. Dre. After another successful single for afilm soundtrack, Snoop at last released Doggystyle and proceeded to rule the hip-hop world. Derided for his “gangsta” style— particularly images of violence against women in his raps—and implicated in a homicide investigation, he nonetheless revolutionized the scene with wordplay that managed to be relaxed and intense at the same time. Born Calvin Broadus—or, according to one source, Cordavar Varnado—to unwed parents in Long Beach, California, he was given the nickname Snoopy by his mother, Beverly. As his father, Vernell Varnado, told Spin’s Charles Aaron, the boy “had a lot of hair on his head as a baby and looked like a little dog.” Vernell saw musical talent in his son from a young age. “I thought he was [a] genius,” he recollected. “Even when he was like six or seven, if music came on, he’d jump up and dance and perform all the hand movements.” The rapper’s parents split up when he was a boy. “I can’t hold [my father] for that,” Snoop recalled in a Details memoir, “it was something between him and my mama that wasn’t clicking. He always stayed in contact; he’d call if he couldn’t come by.” But it was his mother, Snoop revealed to Aaron, who had the responsibility of raising him and his two half-brothers. The boy became interested in rap early on and pursued this interest with his friend Warren Griffin, who would later achieve fame under the moniker Warren G. “I used to have a drum machine when I waslittle,” Warren told Spin. “Oneofthose with the four drum sounds, and I used to make beats. Snoopy would just freestyle over the beats.” An early hero of Snoop’s was rapper Slick Rick. “You could feel the characters in the story,” Snoop enthused to Aaron; “he played all the roles, you could feel the whole story.” Fell in with the CripsSnoop Doggy Dogg stayed on the straight and narrow for atime, playing piano in church and showing promise in sports. His talent as a basketball player, in fact, was such that he was recruited by several college programs. Eventually, however, he fell in with the Crips gang and began selling drugs. When Snoop’s mother found out about his activities, she got “angry, and we grew apart,” he admitted to Aaron. Snoop moved out of For the Record …Born Calvin Broadus (or possibly Cordavar Varnado) c. 1972 in Los Angeles, CA; son of Vernell Varnado (a singer and postal worker) and Beverly Tate. Rap singer. Debuted on Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic, Death Row, 1992; released solo debut Doggystyle, Death Row, 1993; appeared in short film Murder Was the Case, 1994; contributed to film soundtracks. Awards: Platinum record for Doggystyle, 1994; MTV Video Music Award for best rap video, 1994, for “Doggy Dogg World” ; voted best rapper in Rolling Stone readers’ and critics’ polls, 1994. Addresses: Record company —Death Row Records, 10900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1240, Los Angeles, CA 90024. his mother’s house at 16. “My mama was struggling, divorced, looking for a job when she hadn’t gone to college,” he wrote in his Details memoir. “You see your mama struggling to get better things, and you just can’t take that s—. So I did what I thought was right. I went out and made my own money, let my mama enjoy her own money and me keep my own, instead of having to depend on her.” Snoop Doggy Dogg lived with various relatives, including Warren, who was by then an aspiring disc jockey. The two formed a rap group with Nate Dogg called 213; the name came from their telephone area code. However, shortly after graduating from high school with above average grades, Snoop found himself in jail for selling drugs. “I learned a lot,” he said of the experience in his interview with Aaron, “but then again, that’s not the place to be learnin’ it. It wasn’t no substitute for college.” Vernell felt that jail made his son “grow up and be a stronger person.” Starts Rappin’ Full TimeIn any event, the stories of other inmates provided plenty of material for Snoop’s raps. He was also quoted in Death Row Records promotional materials as saying that his fellow prisoners told him, “Snoopy, why don’t you get your life together? You need to get out and do somethin’ with yourself cuz you talented.” The consequences of a criminal life became clear only later. “The hard-ass gangbanger life ain’t the bomb at all, period,” Snoop professed to Rolling Stone’s Gold. “The other day I was looking at an old picture from back when I used to play Pop Warner football, and like of 28 homies on the team, 12 are dead, seven are in the penitentiary, three of them are smoked out, and only me and Warren G are successful. I love my homies, but damn, I don’t want to stay down there with y’all.” After three years in and out of prison, Snoop dedicated himself to rapping. He worked at a grocery store, but he and his friend Griffin had dreams of musical success. V.I.P. Records, a little shop in their “hood” , became a refuge and the birthplace of this dream. Its owner, Kelvin Anderson, gave Snoop and Griffin—who went by the hip-hop handle Warren G—access to his back room and the use of a drum machine. “At first, I thought it was a good recreational outlet, something positive to keep the kids out of trouble,” Anderson told Request. He soon realized, however, that these kids had “remarkable talent. As long as I’ve been in retail, you can bring me a record and I know right off if I can sell that song to someone else. I knew people would buy this stuff.” Meets Dr. DreAnderson was impressed enough to try to have Snoop signed to a record label. Although he received no offers, Warren G played a tape of “Super Duper Snooper” for his brother, hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. The force behind N.W.A., one of the most successful groups in rap history, Dre was arguably the inventor of “gangsta” rap, and he was stunned by Snoop’s tape. He insisted that Warren and Snoop come to his studio immediately; Snoop ended up rapping on the title track to the Deep Coveri ilm soundtrack. His chilling refrain “187 [murder] on an undercover cop” —as Gold of Rolling Stone observed, “rapped with perhaps a bit more gusto than one might expect”—was soon blasting out of car radios everywhere. Snoop was featured prominently on Dre’s 1992 album, The Chronic, which was ultimately certified triple-platinum and became the highest-selling hardcore rap album in history. It established the laid-back, funky Long Beach sound as the reigning rap style. On smash cuts like the Grammy-nominated “Nuthin’ But a ’G’ Thang,” Snoop’s languorous rhymes held listeners spellbound. That song’s refrain— “bow wow wow yippee-yo yippee-yay” —came from funk visionary George Clinton’s 1982 hit “Atomic Dog,” which was a natural frame of reference for Snoop Doggy Dogg. The song ruled the rap and R&B charts and even crossed over to the pop charts, peaking at Number Two. Yet in videos, despite his distinctive cornrows and lanky frame, Snoop intentionally held himself aloof, not wanting to reveal too much while he was merely Dre’s sidekick. “I wanted to be a mystery,” he admitted to Aaron. “Like, ’Why doesn’t he look at the camera?’ Then when I finally do, it’ll be, ‘All right, he’s rockin’ now.’ It won’t be Dr. Dre, and you don’t see my name on the TV. It’ll be my name, my TV, then I’ll give you all of me.” This mystery was balanced by an obvious mainstream appeal. “Snoop is this year’s version of the teenage B-boy Everyman,” Rolling Stone’s Gold asserted, “not a suave fellow insinuating his prowess with the ladies, but a G just like you.” Snoop’s profile, however, was already very high. Though he hadn’t yet put out a solo record, he was arguably the hottest rapper around. He went to work with Dre on Doggystyle, which Aaron called “one of the most anticipated albums in hip-hop history.” Gold elaborated on Doggystyle’s pre-release buzz: “Compton bootleggers have been stymied in their quest to pry loose more than a few rhymes, but every hip-hop fan you can talk to already knows the names of the album tracks by heart.” When the album did arrive—on Dre’s Death Row Records—it delivered on its promise. The first single, “Who Am I (What’s My Name),” was an immediate hit, as were “Gin and Juice,” “Doggy Dogg World,” and “G’s Up, Hos Down.” Snoop, though, became the object of considerable criticism—if not downright condemnation—for his casual use of “bitches” and “hos” as synonyms for women, and for his seeming lack of concern about the violent attitude expressed toward women in his raps. He no doubt only fanned the fire when he claimed in his Details piece that “if there were more women like my mother, there wouldn’t be no need for me to rap about hos.” This, combined with the gun-toting gangsta image he worked so successfully, made him an easy target for critics. He was also derided for flaunting marijuana use; some commented that he glorified drug use and thus presented a destructive message to his young listeners. Snoop defended himself by declaring that he only rapped about “reality,” as he claimed in an interview in Request. “People listen to what I say about my life and they hear their lives.” In September of 1993, he was charged along with two associates for the murder of Phillip Woldemariam. Pondering the case, Request writer Claudia Perry worried that “these days, being a hard brother (and, increasingly, sister) with an impressive list of skirmishes with the law seems to have replaced mike skills as the key requirement for a successful hardcore rap career.” On February 21, 1996, the rapper was aquitted of murder. The judge declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked on charges of voluntary manslaughter. Yet even as he waited for the case to go to trial, Snoop became an evermore massive figure on the musical landscape. He was declared best rapper in both readers’ and critics’ polls in Rolling Stone, snagged an MTV award for Best Rap Video for “Doggy Dogg World,” and appeared on the hit soundtrack to the 1994 film Above the Rim. But perhaps the greatest irony was the simultaneous creation of the short film Murder Was the Case— an 18-minute film directed by Dre and inspired by the Doggystyle track of the same name, which Snoop performed at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Dre also produced a soundtrack album for the film, featuring Snoop, Dre, and Ice Cube, and a bevy of other artists, including Snoop’s musical entourage, the Dogg Pound. Released as a commercial video with performance tracks and documentary footage, it received mixed reviews. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly disliked the direction and story but noted, “You can’t take your eyes off Snoop. With his droopy lids and no-one-home coldness, he exudes a lackadaisical arrogance, yet he can also flash a genuinely warm smile.” Even so, Browne argued, Snoop came off in some of the production footage as “a whiny, pampered actor.” Snoop holds a paradoxical position seen more and more in 1990s celebrities: music superstar charged with homicide. Despite his tenuous position with respect to the law, he has attempted to maintain a high tone in interviews. “The best thing about being successful,” he claimed in his Details essay, “is that I’m able to make little kids happy. I love kids.” He has also balanced the dire situation of his friends with his own good fortune. “I get respect out there,” he mused to Spin’s Aaron, “but my streets arestill tore up, my brothers are still killing each other. I’msmilin’ about the success I’m havin’, but there’s still killin’ going on out there, and I’m not happy.” Selected discography(Contributor) Dr. Dre, The Chronic (includes “Nuthin’ But a ’G’ Thang”), Death Row, 1992. Doggystyle (includes “Who Am I [What’s My Name],” “Doggy Dogg World,” and “Gin and Juice”), Death Row, 1993. Film soundtrack contributorDeep Cover, 1992. Above the Rim, Death Row, 1994. Murder Was the Case, Death Row, 1994. SourcesDetails, My 1994, p. 50. Entertainment Weekly, February 18, 1994, p. 34; February 3, 1995, p. 62. Request, January 1994, p. 20; August 1994, pp. 36-39, 74-78. Rolling Stone, September 30, 1993, pp. 40-42, 109, 124; January 26, 1995, pp. 50-52. Spin, October 1993, pp. 50-56; October 1994, pp. 79-80. Additional information for this profile was provided by Death Row promotional materials, 1993-94. —Simon Glickman |
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Cite this article
Glickman, Simon. "Snoop Doggy Dogg." Contemporary Musicians. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Glickman, Simon. "Snoop Doggy Dogg." Contemporary Musicians. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3493500072.html Glickman, Simon. "Snoop Doggy Dogg." Contemporary Musicians. 1997. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3493500072.html |
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Dogg, Snoop
Snoop DoggRap musician His 1993 album Doggystyle was one of the defining musical moments of the 1990s, a runaway bestseller that exemplified the violent themes of West Coast rap music. But rapper Snoop Dogg, then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, did much more than ride the wave of a musical trend. With an instantly recognizable personal style often described as relaxed or languid, Snoop told of murder and mayhem in rhymes that projected a cool charisma only intensified by the rapper’s elegant six-foot-four-inch frame. “He must have had to work hard to sound this laid-back,” noted the British Guardian newspaper. By the turn of the millennium new musical trends had dented Snoop’s popularity, but his talent and energy helped him avoid the flameout suffered by many of his contemporaries. With continuing musical activity, a burgeoning movie career, and a new role as a mentor to younger artists, Snoop had become, in the Guardian’s words, “a pillar of the hip-hop aristocracy.” His early career had been fueled in part by notoriety stemming from serious brushes with the law, and he remained a controversial figure. Few musicians of the age, however, could be reckoned equally influential. Named After Comic-Strip DogSnoop Dogg was born Calvin Broadus on October 20, 1972, in Long Beach, California; his postal-worker father was named Vernell Varnado, and he seems also to have been known as Cordovar Varnado. His mother, noting his thick head of hair as a baby, thought he resembled a puppy and nicknamed him Snoop after the “Peanuts” comic-strip dog Snoopy. Snoop’s parents separated while he was still a child, but his father kept in contact with the family and encouraged his son’s obvious musical talent. As a teenager Snoop played the piano in church, and it seemed for a time that sports might help to keep him off the streets—he was a gifted basketball player who attracted the attention of college scouts. In cooperation with friend Warren Griffin, later known as Warren G., and the stepbrother of N.W.A. frontman and “gangsta” rap pioneer Dr. Ore, Snoop also explored hip-hop music during his high school years. The two owned a simple drum machine, and Snoop, especially influenced by rapper Slick Rick, would try his hand at original rhymes. Snoop, his cousin, Nate Dogg, and Griffin formed a trio called 213, named for their Southern California area code. But, partly due to family financial pressures brought on by his parents’ divorce, Snoop was drawn into the notorious Los Angeles street gang the Crips. After leaving high school in Long Beach he was arrested on drug-dealing charges and spent parts of the next three years in prison. Even the career criminals whom Snoop encountered in prison (and who provided inspiration for some of his For the Record…Born Calvin Broadus (or Cordovar Varnado) on October 20, 1972, in Long Beach, CA; son of Beverly and Vernell Varnado; married Shante, c. 1996; children: Corde, Cordell, Cori. Contributed raps to Deep Cover soundtrack recording by Dr. Dre, 1991; featured performer on Dr. Dre, The Chronic, 1992; signed to Death Row label; released debut album Doggysty/e, 1993; released Tha Doggfather, 1996; signed to No Limit label; recorded for No Limit, 1996-00; launched career of teen rapper Lil’ Bow Wow; launched own clothing line, Snoop Dogg Clothing Co, and own record label, Doggy Style Records; designed special-edition Cadillac, the Snoop de Ville; published autobiography, Tha Doggfather: The Times, Trials, and Hardcore Truths of Snoop Dogg, 2000; numerous film appearances, 2000–; released Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, 2002; debuted series on MTV called Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, 2003. Awards: Voted Best Rapper in Rolling Stone readers’ and critics’ polls, 1994; Soul Train Music Award, Best Rap Album, 1995. Addresses: Record company—Priority Records, 6430 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028-7913, website: http://www.priorityrecords.com. Management—Firstars Management, 14724 Ventura Blvd., Penthouse, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. Website—;Snoop Dogg Official Website: http://www.snoop-dogg.com. later recordings) noticed his musical talents and advised him to stay clear of the streets and develop them. Taking the advice to heart, Snoop began spending time at a neighborhood store, V.I.P. Records, whose owner allowed Snoop and Griffin to use the shop’s array of audio equipment. Soon they had recorded a demonstration single, “Super Duper Snooper,” and were shopping it to music labels. Their break came when Griffin played the recording for his brother, Dr. Dre, who suddenly realized how talented his brother’s friend had become. Dr. Dre, about to make his solo debut with a recording called “Deep Cover” (featured in a 1992 film of the same name), invited Snoop to contribute a rap to the piece. Featured on The Chronic“Deep Cover” was a hit in itself, and it landed Snoop a featured slot on Dr. Ore’s 1992 recording The Chronic. That album marked the beginning of gangsta rap’s long success in crossing over to the mainstream pop charts; its two singles, “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’Thang” and “Dre Day,” both featuring Snoop, made the pop top 10 in 1993. The Chronic also established the stylistic basis for Snoop’s music—Dr. Dre provided Snoop with bass lines influenced by the classic funk styles of George Clinton’s Funkadelic and Parliament ensembles. Everything came together with the release of Snoop Doggy Dogg’s own solo debut, Doggystyle, in 1993. Snoop proved to have the perfect rhymes to complement the “P-Funk”-inspired beats laid down by Dr. Dre, now acting as producer. In contrast to the powerful dance rhythms of hip-hop music up to that point, Snoop and Dre offered a deliberately paced, sonically varied, and vaguely druggy sound that allowed Snoop to rap convincingly of sensual pleasures and to recount his tales of violence with a particularly detached, chilling effect. In addition to these purely musical attractions, Snoop proved that there is no such thing as bad publicity when he was charged with involvement in a drive-by shooting in August of 1993; he drove a car from which his bodyguard shot and killed a man whom Snoop claimed was stalking him. Snoop landed on the covers of three magazines; Doggystyle sold 800,000 copies in its first week of release on its way to multiplatinum status; and Snoop Doggy Dogg became a bona fide star. In addition to its numerous drug references, the album stirred controversy with its unrelenting vilification of women. Snoop defended himself with the now-standard gangsta-rap rejoinder that he was only representing reality as he knew it. Sometimes condemned as a terrible example for youth in the United States, Snoop ran into even stronger criticism during a 1994 tour of Great Britain during which newspapers called for his expulsion from the country. But all these events boosted sales of Doggystyle and its everywhere-heard singles “What’s My Name?” and “Gin & Juice,” and Snoop got even more mileage from his predicament by releasing a short film about it, “Murder was the Case,” whose soundtrack sold two million copies on its own. The rapper employed famed defense attorney Johnnie Co-chran and was cleared of all charges in 1996. By the following year, much in the musical world had changed. The appeal of gangsta rap had been diluted by the slayings of several of the genre’s major stars, including Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., and the Death Row label was suffering from the indictment of its founder, Suge Knight, for violating on assault charges that would send him to prison for a five-year term. Dr. Dre produced Snoop’s second solo album, Tha Doggfather, but Dre, too, was beginning to turn his attention to new projects such as the music of the phenomenally successful white rapper Eminem. Sales of Tha Doggfather stalled at approximately two million copies, half of what Doggystyle had recorded. Snoop left Death Row, incurring the enmity of Knight, and signed on with the successful rap label No Limit. Recorded for No LimitTruncating his name to Snoop Dogg, Snoop recorded a series of albums for No Limit and its impresario Master P. Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told, 1998, Top Dogg, 1999, and Tha Last Meal in 2000. The albums sold well, but to some observers seemed less distinctive in style than Snoop’s earlier efforts. Snoop, opined Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide, was “now merely a general in the No Limit army.” Unlike some other hip-hop artists, Snoop remained a formidable draw in concert. A brief reprise of his earlier troubles with the law arose in 2002 when he was arrested for marijuana possession in Ohio during his “Puff, Puff, Pass” tour. For the most part, however, the early 2000s witnessed the emergence of a kinder, gentler Snoop Dogg. At the height of his fame in the mid-1990s he had written in Details magazine that “The best thing about being successful is that I’m able to make little kids happy. I love kids.” He backed up his words with his support of the youthful rapper Lil’ Bow Wow (whom he had also given that name), and made appearances on Bow Wow’s squeaky-clean recordings. On tour after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Snoop called from the stage for peace—surely an unfamiliar role for him. His career branched out into film as he appeared in Caught Up in 1998, and in 1999’s Hot Boyz, The Wrecking Crew, and Urban Menace; the latter two featured fellow rapper Ice-T. In 2000 and 2001 Snoop was even busier. He co-starred with Dr. Dre in The Wash, a well-regarded throwback to the 1970s hit Car Wash, appeared in director John Singleton’s Baby Boy, and played a small role in the award-winning Denzel Washington vehicle Training Day. He also published his autobiography, Tha Doggfather: The Times, Trials, and Hardcore Truths of Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg received positive reviews for his first starring role in the 2001 horror film Bones. “You kind of feel for the villain,” Snoop commented to New York’s Newsday, “because I’m a villain and a hero.” Additionally, Snoop designed a special-edition luxury car (the Snoop de Ville), started his own clothing line, Snoop Dogg Clothing Co., and his own record label, Doggy Style Records, distributed by MCA. In 2002 Snoop released Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, which debuted at number three on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and featured the songs “Beautiful,” a love song for his wife and manager, Shante, and “I Miss That Bi***,” whose subject was the substance Snoop kicked a longtime addiction to during the recording of the album—marijuana. “I had to do it . I was getting careless and reckless,” he told Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly about getting clean. “In 1993 I was restless. I had no cares, no kids, and I was enjoying the limelight. 2003 is about my kids, my wife, my bettering myself, and trying to be more of a role model,” Snoop told Baz Dreisinger of Salon. Though Snoop had seemingly left his gangsta rapper lifestyle behind, he was still involved in its violence in April of 2003 when a convoy of vehicles Snoop was traveling in was fired upon in Los Angeles. A bodyguard was hurt, but Snoop was uninjured. The intended target of the shooting and its perpetrators were unknown. In addition to extending his creativity to music and film, Snoop debuted the comedy sketch show Doggy Fizzle Televizzle on MTV in 2003. A Doggyland theme park in Mississippi was also planned. Selected discographyDoggystyle, Death Row, 1993. Murder Was the Case (short film soundtrack), Death Row, 1994. Tha Doggfather, Death Row, 1996. Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told, Priority/No Limit, 1998. Top Dogg, Priority/No Limit, 1999. Tha Last Meal, Priority, 2000. Dead Man Walkin’, No Limit, 2000. Death Row’s Snoop Doggy Dogg Greatest Hits, Death Row, 2001. Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, Priority, 2002. SourcesBooksSt. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press, 2000. PeriodicalsBillboard, July 12, 2003, p. 17. Daily News (New York), July 3, 2002, p. 22. Details, July 1994, p. 50. Entertainment Weekly, December 6, 2002, p. 53; March 7, 2003, p. 80. Europe Intelligence Wire, April 12, 2003. Guardian (London, England), December 14, 2001, p. 20. Jet, August 27, 2001. Newsday, October 10, 2001, p. B2; October 21, 2001, p. D10. Newsweek, July 7, 2003, p. 54. San Diego Union-Tribune, December 26, 2001, p. E9. Times (London, England), December 2, 2001, Features section. Toronto Star, November 30, 2001, p. D3. Online“Bigg Snoop Dogg,” Doggy Style Records, http://www.doggystylerecords.com/site/index.html (October 6, 2003). “Snoop Dogg,” All Music Guide,http://www.allmusic.com (August 22, 2003). “Top Dogg,” Salon,http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/08/22/snoop (August 22, 2003). —James M. Manheim |
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Cite this article
"Dogg, Snoop." Contemporary Musicians. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Dogg, Snoop." Contemporary Musicians. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3496200069.html "Dogg, Snoop." Contemporary Musicians. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3496200069.html |
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Snoop Dogg 1972–
Snoop Dogg 1972–Rap artist and actor His 1993 album Doggystyle was one of the defining musical moments of the 1990s, a runaway bestseller that exemplified the violent themes of West Coast rap music. But rapper Snoop Dogg, then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, did much more than ride the wave of a musical trend. With an instantly recognizable personal style often described as relaxed or languid, Snoop told of murder and mayhem in rhymes that projected a cool charisma only intensified by the rapper’s elegant six-foot-four-inch frame. “He must have had to work hard to sound this laid-back,” noted the British Guardian newspaper. By the turn of the millennium new musical trends had dented Snoop’s popularity, but his talent and energy helped him avoid the flameout suffered by many of his contemporaries. With continuing musical activity, a burgeoning movie career, and a new role as a mentor to younger artists, Snoop had become, in the Guardian’s words, “a pillar of the hip-hop aristocracy.” His early career had been fueled in part by notoriety stemming from serious brushes with the law, and he remained a controversial figure. Few musicians of the age, however, could be reckoned equally influential. Named After Comic-Strip DogSnoop Dogg was born Calvin Broadus on October 20th, 1972, in Long Beach, California; his postal-worker father was named Vernell Varnado, and he seems also to have been known as Cordovar Varnado. His mother, noting his thick head of hair as a baby, thought he resembled a puppy and nicknamed him Snoop after the “Peanuts” comic-strip dog Snoopy. Snoop’s parents separated while he was’ still a child, but his father kept in contact with the family and encouraged his son’s obvious musical talent. As a teenager Snoop played the piano in church, and it seemed for a time that sports might help to keep him off the streets—he was a gifted basketball player who attracted the attention of college scouts. In cooperation with friend Warren Griffin, later known as Warren G., and the brother of N.W.A. frontman and “gangsta” rap pioneer Dr. Dre, Snoop also explored hip-hop music during his high school years. The two owned a simple drum machine, and Snoop, especially influenced by rapper Slick Rick, would try his hand at original rhymes. Snoop, his brother, Nate Dogg, and Griffin formed a trio called 213, named for their At a Glance…Born Calvin Broadus (or Cordovar Varnado) in Long Beach, CA, on October 20th, 1972; son of Beverly and Vernell Varnado; married Chante; children: three. Career: Contributed raps to “Deep Cover” soundtrack recording by Dr. Dre, 1991; featured performer on Dr. Dre, The Chronic, 1992; signed to Death Row label; released debut album Doggystyle, 1993; released Tha Doggfather, 1996; signed to No Limit label; recorded for No Limit, 1996-00; launched career of teen rapper Lil’ Bow Wow; launched own clothing line; designed special-edition Cadillac, the Snoop de Ville; numerous film appearances, 2000-02. Awards: Grammy nomination for Doggystyle, 1994; quadruple platinum album (sales of four million copies), Doggystyle; other platinum albums. Addresses: Management —Firstars Management, 14724 Ventura Blvd., Penthouse, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. Website —http://www.snoop-dogg.com. Southern California area code. But, partly due to family financial pressures brought on by his parents’ divorce, Snoop was drawn into the notorious Los Angeles street gang the Crips. After leaving high school in Long Beach he was arrested on drug-dealing charges and spent parts of the next three years in prison. Even the career criminals whom Snoop encountered in prison (and who provided inspiration for some of his later recordings) noticed his musical talents and advised him to stay clear of the streets and develop them. Taking the advice to heart, Snoop began spending time at a neighborhood store, V.l.P. Records, whose owner allowed Snoop and Griffin to use the shop’s array of audio equipment. Soon they had recorded a demonstration single, “Super Duper Snooper,” and were shopping it to music labels. Their break came when Griffin played the recording for his brother, Dr. Dre, who suddenly realized how talented his brother’s friend had become. Dr. Dre, about to make his solo debut with a recording called “Deep Cover” (featured in a 1992 film of the same name), invited Snoop to contribute a rap to the piece. Featured on The Chronic“Deep Cover” was a hit in itself, and it landed Snoop a featured slot on Dr. Dre’s 1992 recording The Chronic. That album marked the beginning of gangsta rap’s long success in crossing over to the mainstream pop charts; its two singles, “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” and “Dre Day,” both featuring Snoop, made the pop top 10 in 1993. The Chronic also established the stylistic basis for Snoop’s music—Dr. Dre provided Snoop with bass lines influenced by the classic funk styles of George Clinton’s Funkadelic and Parliament ensembles. Everything came together with the release of Snoop Doggy Dogg’s own solo debut, Doggystyle, in 1993. Snoop proved to have the perfect rhymes to complement the “P-Funk”-inspired beats laid down by Dr. Dre, now acting as producer. In contrast to the powerful dance rhythms of hip-hop music up to that point, Snoop and Dre offered a deliberately paced, sonically varied, and vaguely druggy sound that allowed Snoop to rap convincingly of sensual pleasures and to recount his tales of violence with a particularly detached, chilling effect. In addition to these purely musical attractions, Snoop proved that there is no such thing as bad publicity when he was charged with involvement in a drive-by shooting in August of 1993; he drove a car from which his bodyguard shot and killed a man whom Snoop claimed was stalking him. Snoop landed on the covers of three magazines; Doggystyle sold 800, 000 copies in its first week of release on its way to multiplatinum status; and Snoop Doggy Dogg became a bona fide star. In addition to its numerous drug references, the album stirred controversy with its unrelenting vilification of women as “bitches” and “ho’s.” Snoop defended himself with the now-standard gangsta-rap rejoinder that he was only representing reality as he knew it. Sometimes condemned as a terrible example for youth in the United States, Snoop ran into even stronger criticism during a 1994 tour of Great Britain during which newspapers called for his expulsion from the country. But all these events boosted sales of Doggystyle and its everywhere-heard singles “What’s My Name?” and “Gin & Juice,” and Snoop got even more mileage from his predicament by releasing a short film about it, “Murder was the Case,” whose soundtrack sold two million copies on its own. The rapper employed famed defense attorney Johnnie Cochran and was cleared of all charges in 1996. By the following year, much in the musical world had changed. The appeal of gangsta rap had been diluted by the slayings of several of the genre’s major stars, and the Death Row label was suffering from the indictment of its founder, Suge Knight, for violating on assault charges that would send him to prison for a five-year term. Dr. Dre produced Snoop’s second solo album, Tha Doggfather, but Dre, too, was beginning to turn his attention to new projects such as the music of the phenomenally successful white rapper Eminem. Sales of Tha Doggfather stalled at approximately two million copies, half of what Doggystyle had recorded. Snoop left Death Row, incurring the enmity of Knight, and signed on with the successful rap label No Limit. Recorded for No LimitTruncating his name to Snoop Dogg, Snoop recorded a series of albums for No Limit and its impresario Master P. Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told (1998), Top Dogg (1999), and 2000’s Dead Man Walkin’ and Tha Last Meal sold well, but to some observers seemed less distinctive in style than Snoop’s earlier efforts. Snoop, opined Stephen Thomas Er-lewine of the All Music Guide, was “now merely a general in the No Limit army.” Unlike some other hip-hop artists, Snoop remained a formidable draw in concert. A brief reprise of his earlier troubles with the law arose in 2002 when he was arrested for marijuana possession in Ohio during his “Puff, Puff, Pass” tour. For the most part, however, the early 2000s witnessed the emergence of a kinder, gentler Snoop Dogg. At the height of his fame in the mid-1990s he had written in Details magazine that “The best thing about being successful is that I’m able to make little kids happy. I love kids.” He backed up his words with his support of the youthful rapper Lil’ Bow Wow (whom he also had also given that name), and made appearances on Bow Wow’s squeaky-clean recordings. On tour after the terrorist bombings of September 11, 2001, Snoop called from the stage for peace—surely an unfamiliar role for him. His career branched out into film as he appeared in Caught Up (1998), and in 1999’s Hot Boyz, The Wrecking Crew, and Urban Menace —the last two of which also featured fellow rapper Ice-T. In 2000 and 2001 Snoop was even busier. He co-starred with Dr. Dre in The Wash, a well-regarded throwback to the 1970s hit Car Wash, appeared in director John Singleton’s Baby Boy, and played a small role in the award-winning Denzel Washington vehicle Training Day. On top of all these, Snoop designed a special-edition luxury car (the Snoop de Ville) and started his own clothing line. Snoop Dogg received positive reviews for his first starring role in the 2001 horror film Bones. “You kind of feel for the villian,” Snoop commented to New York’s Newsday, “because I’m a villian and a hero.” It was a line on which Snoop had balanced expertly during his musical career as well. Selected worksAlbumsDoggystyle, Death Row, 1993. Murder Was the Case, Death Row, 1994 (short film soundtrack). Tha Doggfather, Death Row, 1996. Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told, No Limit, 1998. Top Dogg, No Limit, 1999. Tha Last Meal, No Limit, 2000. Dead Man Walkin’, No Limit, 2000. Death Row’s Snoop Doggy Dogg Greatest Hits, Death Row, 2001. FilmsThe Wash, 2000. Baby Boy, 2000. Bones, 2001. Training Day, 2001. SourcesBooksContemporary Musicians, volume 17, Gale, 1996. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James, 2000. PeriodicalsDaily News (New York), July 3, 2002, p. 22. Details, July 1994, p. 50. The Guardian (London, England), December 14, 2001, p. 20. Jet, August 27, 2001. Newsday, October 10, 2001, p. B2; October 21, 2001, p. D1O. San Diego Union-Tribune, December 26, 2001, p. E9. The Times (London, England), December 2, 2001, Features section. Toronto Star, November 30, 2001, p. D3. On-lineAll Movie Guide, http://www.allmovie.com All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.comhttp://music.lycos.com —James M. Manheim |
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Cite this article
Manheim, James. "Snoop Dogg 1972–." Contemporary Black Biography. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Manheim, James. "Snoop Dogg 1972–." Contemporary Black Biography. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2873700057.html Manheim, James. "Snoop Dogg 1972–." Contemporary Black Biography. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2873700057.html |
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Snoop (Doggy) Dogg
SNOOP (DOGGY) DOGGBorn: Calvin Broadus; Long Beach, California, 20 October 1972 Genre: Rap Best-selling album since 1990: Doggystyle (1993) Hit songs since 1990: "What's My Name," "Gin & Juice," "Still a 'G' Thing" Boosted by his distinct, lazy drawl and a history of run-ins with the law, Snoop Dogg became one of the most successful rappers of the 1990s, the epitome of West Coast, gangsta-style rap and the G-funk style. A Thug's LifeRaised in the tough neighborhoods of Long Beach, California, Calvin Broadus was nicknamed Snoop by his mother, Beverly Broadus, because of his resemblance to the cartoon character Snoopy. His father, Vernall Varnado, left the Broadus family not long after Snoop's birth. His absence strongly affected Snoop. Although his mother did what she could to help and to educate Snoop, he drifted in and out of trouble for most of his life. Shortly after his high school graduation, Snoop left school to join the Crips, a prominent Los Angeles gang. He sold crack cocaine and lived for a time in his car. Snoop was arrested several times in the early 1990s for cocaine possession and spent time in jail. He seemed destined to live out his days as a small-time drug dealer. Snoop's life turned around, though, as he began recording raps with Warren G, the brother of producer and rapper Dr. Dre, on homemade cassette tapes. Eventually Warren G asked Dre to listen to Snoop's raps; Dre was so impressed with Snoop's style that the two were soon working together, first on the 1992 single "Deep Cover" for the movie with the same name. Dr. Dre then gave Snoop's raps a prominent place on Dre's The Chronic (1992), an album that established West Coast, gangsta rap as the dominant hip-hop sound of 1990s rap. This style of rap eschewed the overt politics of rap acts such as Public Enemy, depicting instead the grim realities of urban life to a beat that blended 1970s funk with electronic music. Critics have long praised Snoop's laconic drawls as the perfect counter to Dr. Dre's famous tightly wrapped, funk-inspired G-sound. Snoop himself has described his rap style as "an easy loping style of walking and talking and bumping." Snoop has said that when other rappers turn on the accelerator, he likes to let up "and get a little backstroke working." There is no doubt his early laid-back style is also a reflection of his legendary marijuana ("chronic") use, a habit he claims to have given up. What makes his voice most distinctive is its calm irreverence. Whether he is satirizing popular culture or detailing a violent incident in his raps, Snoop always sounds like a detached, sometimes threatening, sometimes affable, stoner. Doggystyle: The Death Row YearsSnoop's solo recording career began with the highly anticipated release of Doggystyle (1992). The album, produced by Dr. Dre, was the first debut album to top Billboard charts the first week of its release. It remains one of the best selling rap records of the 1990s. Doggystyle was released on the Death Row label, then led by Suge Knight, a soon-to-be-infamous CEO credited with bringing gangster-style intimidation tactics to the music business. Two tracks from Doggystyle —"Gin & Juice" and "What's My Name?"—were released as singles, with the latter becoming the song most associated with Snoop's early persona. "What's My Name?" features an irresistible P-funk beat and textured vocals and raps that alternate between hilarious and threatening raps, and the chanting of Snoop (Doggy) Dog's name. Like all of Snoop's best material, the tracks on Doggystyle do not hold up well under careful analysis—they are sexist, violent, and filthy—yet Dre's grinding beats and Snoop's loopy raps somehow disarm many listeners' reservations. Snoop's major contribution to gangsta rap is that he makes it fun. At the moment of his great breakthrough, Snoop found himself in trouble with the law. On August 25, 1993, Snoop's bodyguard Malik shot Philip Woldemariam, a man Snoop claimed had been stalking and trying to kill him. Snoop was arrested and then tried as an accomplice to murder. He and gangsta rap were widely vilified in the popular press. When the film Murder Was the Case (1996), directed by Dre and featuring Snoop rapping in the title song and on two other tracks, was released, Snoop seemed to be capitalizing on his infamy, a charge he later denied. He was acquitted of all charges in 1996. During his trial, Snoop's friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur emerged. "Closer than a brother" is how Snoop described Tupac after the latter's murder in 1996. Although the two rappers grew up on different coasts and had distinct rap styles, their friendship and dual appearance in Tupac's video "2 of Americaz Most Wanted" (1996) fueled the rivalry between East and West Coast rappers and Tupac's feud with rappers Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy (Sean Combs). Snoop and Tupac's cameo at the 1996 MTV Music Awards was one of Tupac's last public appearances. Since the murders of Tupac and, later, Biggie Smalls, Snoop has attempted to steer clear of rap's thug culture, though controversy continues to cling to him. After Death Row; Snoop-a-FliesIn 1996 he released the self-produced album, Tha Doggfather and dropped "Doggy" from his name. Tha Dogg-father is most notable because of the absence of Dr. Dre's production, though it treads ground familiar to fans of Doggystyle. Tha Doggfather was Snoop's last album for the Death Row label. Snoop went on to record two albums for the No Limit label—Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998) and Top Dogg (1999). Both albums were successes and great party albums but lacked the edge and focus of his early works. On Tha Last Meal (2000), Snoop reemerged as a major creative force in rap. He reunites with Dr. Dre, who produced three tracks on the record, returning Snoop to the best of his early sound. The album also features tracks produced by several emerging producers influenced by Dre, including Scott Stroch, Jelly Roll, and Meech Wells. "Set It Off" and "Snoop Dog (What's My Name, Pt. 2)" are among Snoop's best songs. Tha Last Meal also marks the start of a new phase in Snoop's career. His 1999 autobiography, Tha Doggfather, written with Davin Seay, details Snoop's life in Long Beach, discusses his trials and friendships, and records his growing maturity as an artist and father of three young children. The book manages to capture Snoop's personality and gifts with language. Snoop's publication of his memoirs about his early years suggests that he was ready to leave his past behind. Tha Last Meal reveals that he is in control of his artistry and is able to work with an array of both veteran and new producers and rappers. In 2002 and 2003 Snoop achieved mainstream stardom. He appeared regularly on late night television, even co-hosting the first week of ABC's The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Snoop also narrated an episode of the notorious "Girls Gone Wild" video series in 2002, the same year he made a cameo appearance in A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. There are two Snoop Dogg action figure dolls (Snoopafly and Little Junior) and a line of Snoop Dogg-inspired clothing. Snoop has also founded Doggy Style Records, a label whose stable of talent includes Snoopafly, Mr. Kane, Latoiya Williams, E-White, and June Bugg. Despite these seemingly mainstream entrepreneurial moves, Snoop maintains his thug image and appeal. Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Boss (2002) is one of Snoop's strongest recordings, featuring some of his oldest friends such as Warren G and Redman and new collaborators such as Pharrell, Lady of Rage, and RBX. Two of his best singles, "From Tha Chuuuch to Da Palace" and "Beautiful," punctuate a loosely organized collection that satirizes thug culture and The Sopranos television series. "Beautiful," with its sweet riffs and sentimental chorus, is Snoop's closest move to mainstream R&B, although his self-deprecatory raps add the right amount of irony. Other tracks on Paid Tha Cost include "Pimp Slapp'd," a verbal attack on former Death Row executive Suge Hill. The album went platinum within a year of its release. Snoop made headlines again on April 11, 2003, when a gunman in a speeding car opened fire on his five-car motorcade in Los Angeles, injuring one of his eight bodyguards. Snoop, who was riding alone in a Cadillac, escaped unharmed. One of the most prolific and recognizable figures in rap music, Snoop Dogg's Paid Tha Cost signals his ability to adapt his roots in gangsta rap with changing times. Snoop's famous mug, his sense of humor, and his laid-back raps help make him one of the twenty-first century's most important hip-hop artists. SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:Doggystyle (Death Row, 1993); Tha Doggfather (Death Row, 1996); Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (No Limit, 1998); Dead Man Walkin' (2000, D-3); Tha Last Meal (Priority, 2000); Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Boss (Priority/Doggy Style, 2002). Soundtracks: Deep Cover with Dr. Dre (Capitol, 1992); Murder Was the Case (Priority, 1994). BIBLIOGRAPHY:S. Dogg and D. Seay, Tha Doggfather: The Times, Trials, and Hardcore Truths of Snoop Dogg (New York, 1999). WEBSITE:shawn gillen |
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Cite this article
Gillen, Shawn. "Snoop (Doggy) Dogg." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gillen, Shawn. "Snoop (Doggy) Dogg." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3428400494.html Gillen, Shawn. "Snoop (Doggy) Dogg." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3428400494.html |
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