Snoop Dogg Biography

Snoop Dogg certainly was “ready to make an entrance” when he first appeared on Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic in 1992. The California rapper was an instant success and had fans across the country bobbing their heads thanks to his rhythm, rhyming ability and the violent tone of his lyrics. The intrigue only increased when Snoop was arrested and charged as an accomplice to murder, as he’d later rap about saying, “Murder was the case that they gave me.” Snoop was eventually cleared of those charges and resumed his already budding career.Being nicknamed Snoop by your mother after the cartoon character Snoopy may not make someone sound like gangster, but Snoop was headed for a life of crime before he found music. Snoop had already spent three years in prison before Dr. Dre featured Snoop on The Chronic as if it were a joint release, no pun intended. Snoop was featured never more prominently than on the record’s biggest hit “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang.” Snoop eventually released his first solo album in 1993 entitled Doggystyle, which became the first debut album to enter the charts at number one. Doggystyle featured two Top 10 hits in “What’s My Name” and “Gin and Juice”, two rap staples from that era, and eventually went quadruple platinum.After his second album, The Doggfather, didn’t sell as he’d hoped and friend and fellow Death Row Records artist 2pac was killed in a drive-by shooting, Snoop seemed to sense that gangsta rap was dying and began to sculpt a new image. Snoop distanced himself from the violent nature of his previous work, as well as conflict between rival rappers, and began expanding his horizons as an artist. He eventually would come to host a West Coast peace summit in 2004 in an effort to put an end to artist-on-artist violence, a far cry from the young man featured on The Chronic.Snoop Dogg has kept making records and has had his fair share of hits that would serve as great ringtones and remains one of the biggest rap icons in the world. He’s still got a passion for music and released an album as recently as 2008 when he dropped Ego Trippin’. He’s now a family man with a wife and children and has slowed down considerably in certain aspects of life. But no fan of hip-hop will ever forget the skinny kid with pent-up rage that exploded onto the scene in the early ‘90s.