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Snoop Dogg’s Doggy style

10 years into his career, rapper embodies longevity
/ Source: Billboard

Hip-hop has worn many faces, spoken with different voices and has taken lots of twists and turns in style and content since its beginnings more than 30 years ago. And only a chosen few boast careers that last long enough for them to be considered working veterans.

One artist that embodies longevity in hip-hop and who has reinvented himself, remaining fresh and current and standing fast against the rapidly changing winds, is Snoop Dogg.

Born Calvin Broadus in Long Beach, Calif., Snoop Dogg came into the rap game as a proud representative of the West Coast. In 1992, when he first emerged, the West Coast was known for giving birth to the careers of such rappers as Eazy E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Ice T. These artists had a clever, albeit hardcore, approach to rap and spewed lyrics that painted an often disturbing but very realistic picture of their lives.

Snoop Dogg began his rap career as a member of the group 213, which also included Warren G and Nate Dogg. But all three are better-known for their individual careers than they are as a group.

The hip-hop heads first heard Snoop Dogg when he introduced his mellifluous rap style on Dr. Dre’s “Deep Cover” from the movie of the same name. He later appeared on Dre’s classic double-platinum album, “The Chronic,” which featured his most notable performance on the No. 1 hit “Nuthin But a G Thang.” Dre, who met Snoop through Warren G (Dre’s step-brother), was taken by Snoop’s style, and the two formed what would become a lasting musical bond.

His own release, “Doggy Style” (1993), was met with a great deal of anticipation. The statistics were staggering: It was the first debut album to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 1, and it received advance orders in excess of 1.5 million units.

Snoop Dogg’s appeal was broad and contagious, thanks in large part to his affiliation with Dre and a string of hits like “Murder Was the Case,” “What’s My Name,” “Gin and Juice” and “Doggy Dogg World.” But the Snoop Dogg phenomenon has been as much about him and his life as it has been about his music.

Soaring popularity
Plagued by controversy and a well-documented criminal past, Snoop Dogg embodies rap’s philosophical staple of “keepin’ it real.” For him, the gangsta lyrics were not just fabricated hype churned out to sell records — they were the product of a life of drama.

Snoop Dogg was arrested for drug possession shortly after leaving high school and spent subsequent years in and out of jail. He was a member of the notorious Crips gang and in 1993 was charged with murder in connection with a drive-by shooting. In 1995, Snoop Dogg, leaning on the legal arm of renowned O.J. Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran, stood trial for accessory to manslaughter in the case of a rival gang member who was allegedly shot by Snoop’s bodyguard, McKinley Lee. A year later, Snoop Dogg and Lee were acquitted.

Snoop Dogg’s success was tempered by more controversy, mostly courtesy of critics who opposed his depiction of women and what appeared to be his glorification of street life. But the criticism hardly blunted sales: “Doggy Style” has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. Its successor, “Tha Doggfather,” also debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 but did not fare as well as “Doggy Style.” This was perhaps because of its inopportune timing: It was released only weeks after the shooting death of Tupac Shakur — during a time when there was a clear and adamant backlash against gangsta rap.

Yet in spite of these obstacles, Snoop Dogg’s popularity continued to soar.

From surfers to the streets
In the years that followed, Snoop Dogg continued to experiment both musically and professionally.

He parted company with Dr. Dre’s Death Row Records and moved to Master P’s No Limit Records, where he released “The Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told” in 1998. “No Limit Top Dogg” arrived the following year. Snoop Dogg ended his stint with No Limit last year with the release of “Tha Last Meal.” Also in 2002, “Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Bo$$” came out on Priority/Capitol, and Snoop Dogg has now moved on to MCA.

Not one to be boxed in, Snoop Dogg has extended his reach beyond recording and performing. He has tested his acting skills in such movies as “Training Day” with Denzel Washington, “Bones” with Pam Grier and “The Wash” with Dr. Dre. As a testament to his entrepreneurial skills, Snoop is also running a full-fledged record label, Doggystyle Records, which is distributed by MCA.

Frank Cooper, president/GM of Doggystyle, says the label “shows the breadth of Snoop’s own creative energy and fills a void in the marketplace. He felt that no one had truly established a presence in the past few years” in terms of rap, hip-hop, and R&B music.

Describing Snoop Dogg as an astute businessman with a great deal of vision, Cooper says the rapper “relies on his instincts as to which way to go. He usually makes the right decision. Vision is simply having the confidence to rely on your own intuition.”

Projects slated for release by Doggystyle include a 213 reunion project, as well as albums by Soopafly, R&B singer LaToiya Williams, and R&B vocalist Delano.

Cooper says Snoop Dogg’s mission with Doggystyle is to “really establish and extend the brand that he has made for himself into other areas” and find new ways to appeal to his vast audience. According to Cooper, those listeners consist of everyone from “the streets” to “skaters and surfers.”

Just as he has managed to artistically reinvent himself through the years and stay on the creative cutting edge, as a businessman, Snoop Dogg continues to be versatile.

“He’s juggling a lot of different balls,” Cooper says. “Music, film, business.” He also has a clothing line, Snoop Dogg Clothing.