Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. was born in Long beach, California on October 20th 1971. Calvin got involved in music at a young age by singing in the church choir. Calvin naturally joined the local crips gang known as ES Rollin' 20's Crips, he would compete in freestyle MC battles at school. After high school he was going in and out of jail for drug related charges. He finally decided to record music with his cousin Nate Dogg, Lil' 1/2 Dead and friend Warren G and formed a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code.
In 1992 Warren G's stepbrother Dr Dre used Snoop on the theme song of the feature film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic. He also formed a group with his other cousin Daz and Friend Kurupt, called D.P.G. They all got a chance to appear on the Chronic album.
In 1993 Snoop Dogg was arrested in the shooting death of a rival gang member Phillip Woldermarian, he was defended by Johnny Cochran and was eventually acquitted on both grounds of self-defense. Late in 1993 he released his debut album Doggystyle under his new label Death Row, the album has since gone 6x platinum with the help of three singles "Who Am I (What's My Name)", "Gin and Juice" (feat. Daz Dillinger), "Doggy Dogg World" (feat. The Dramatics & Tha Dogg Pound). Calvin solidified his position on the west-coast for bringing the G-Funk sound to the masses.
In 1994 he released a short film and soundtrack called Murder Was The Case. The film was created about the trial he had for murder in which he was acquitted. He released 3 singles from the album "Murder Was The Case", "Natural Born Killaz" and "What Would U Do". The album was co-produced by Suge Knight the CEO of Death Row Records.
In 1995, as collateral member of The Dogg Pound they dropped the album Dogg Food which went 3x platinum. With the help of two hit singles "Let's Play House" and "New York, New York".
In 1996, amidst the death of his friend and labelmate Tupac, and the slow breakup of Death Row. Snoop Dogg released a dismal sophmore album The Doggfather without the help of producer Dr Dre. The album eventually went 2x platinum and had 3 singles "Tha Doggfather"(feat. Charlie Wilson), "Vapors" (feat. Charlie Wilson and Teena Marie) and "Snoop's Upside Ya Head"(feat. Charlie Wilson).
In 1997 snoop dogg left Death Row and signed with Master P's No Limit Records. He signed a three album contract and that inferiorated Death Row boss Suge Knight who was serving a 7 year sentence in jail for racketeering.
In 1998 he released his first album under No Limit, Da Game Is to Be Sold Not to Be Told went 2x platinum with the help of one hit single "Still a G Thang".
He also appeared in his first film, the No-Limit produced film I Got The Hook Up. In 1999 he dropped a second album for no-limit (No-limit top dogg) the album went platinum, which his lowest selling album to date. He also appeared in two movies, Hot Boyz and Urban Menace.
In 2000 he fulfilled his contract with No-limit by dropping his last album with them. He released the platinum selling album The Last Meal. He also released a film that he co-produced called the Eastsidaz. The movie introduced his new group, compromised of Tray Dee and Goldie Loc from Long Beach's East Side.
In 2001 Snoop dogg had a powerful impact in the movie business, he appeared in 4 films: "Baby Boy", "Training Day", "Bones" and "Dj Pooh".
He also produced a pornographic film called Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle with Hustler magazine.
In 2002 Snoop Dogg gave up on his favorite drug "marijuana". He dropped another platinum selling album called "Paid The Cost To Be The Bo$$" it featured two singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" (feat. Pharrell) and the major hit "Beautiful" (feat. Pharrell & Charlie Wilson).
In 2003 he made brief appearances in two different movies, first he appeared in "Pauly Shore Is Dead" and then he made a small appearance in "Old School".
In 2004 he signed a contract with the Neptunes Star Trak record label. He dropped the Pharrell produced album R&G (Rhythm & Gangster) The Masterpiece, the album went platinum with the help of "Drop It Like It's Hot" (feat. Pharrell) He also played the role of Huggy Bear in the movie Starsky and Hutch. In May he filed for divorce from his wife Shante Broadus, citing irreconcilable differences. He also an album with his old group 213, the album was called The Hard Way, two singles were released "So Fly" and "Groupie Love".
In 2005 Snoop released a compilation with various artists called Welcome To Tha Chuuch: Da Album. He also reconciled with his wife Shante. He founded Snoopadelic Films and released his first film Boss'n Up.
In 2006 he appeared in a Drama film called The Tenants and is scheduled to drop another album thats going to be produced by Dr Dre, called The Blue Carpet Treatment.
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