Snoop Dogg Essentials

With a hypnotic, laid-back voice and charisma to match, Snoop Dogg emerged as one of gangsta rap’s most compelling characters, evolved into one of music’s most versatile artists and wound up a pop culture icon. Born Calvin Broadus in Long Beach, California, the rapper known as Snoop Dogg was discovered by freshly solo N.W.A star Dr. Dre. He soon appeared on “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” on Dre’s genre-shifting 1992 debut, The Chronic. Snoop’s ’93 debut, Doggystyle, paired lewd, narcissistic lyrics with Dre’s dense soundbeds on “Gin and Juice” and “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”. After leaving Death Row Records, Snoop crept into the mainstream with 2002’s Pharrell-featuring “Beautiful” and 2004’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, swapping his violent, charge-dodging image with an easy-going, pimpish persona. As Snoop transitioned into reality TV as a family man and Martha Stewart cohost, he experimented with other genres, releasing 2013’s reggae album Reincarnated (as Snoop Lion), and the same year’s 7 Days of Funk with keytar hero Dām-Funk. Snoop celebrated his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with his 17th album, I Wanna Thank Me, in 2019, and released another full-length team-up with Dre, Missionary, in 2024.