His real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. In public life, he was known as Snoop Doggy Dogg or the "Dogg Father," but in later years he shortened it to simply Snoop Dogg.
His mother is the one who nicknamed him Snoop. As a kid, he loved the Peanuts cartoons - especially the character Snoopy. "I watched so much, I started to look like him," says Snoop.
Snoop got his start in rap making tapes along with his cousin Nate Dogg and his good friend Warren G (the trio is known as 213). Warren G, is the step-brother of N.W.A. co-founder Dr. Dre, and he brought the two together. After Snoop worked on the soundtrack to the movie Deep Cover, Dre put him to work on his album The Chronic, which showcased Snoop's laid-back style.
Snoop often found himself at odds with the law as a child. After graduating high school, he spent time in and out of jail. Music became his escape from a criminal lifestyle, but he didn't escape it completely: While recording his album Doggystyle, Snoop was charged with being a murder accomplice in the death of Phillip Woldermarian. Snoop was allegedly in the vehicle when his bodyguard, McKinley Lee, shot and killed Woldermarian for stalking the rapper. Both Snoop and his bodyguard were acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
Snoop's film credits include Bones, Malibu's Most Wanted and Soul Plane. He also performed in the 2003 Will Ferrell movie Old School.
In a 1999 interview with Dimitri Erlich, Snoop said: "I don't regret anything I've ever said or done. Everything is done for a reason - I'm just a child of God doing what He wants me to do. I say what I say, but before I was here it was being said, and when I leave it is going to continue to be said, so don't blame me, don't hate me, hate the game."
He sings the praises (often literally) of marijuana, and in 2002 he was named "Stoner Of The Year" by High Times magazine.
Snoop married his high school girlfriend, Shante, in 1997 - there's a
photo of them at the prom together in 1990. They have three children: sons Cordé (born 1994) and Cordell (born 1997), and daughter Cori (born 1999). Snoop and Shante hit a rough patch in 2004 when they split up, but they ended up getting back together, and in 2007 they
chronic-led their adventures on the E! reality show
Snoop Dogg's Father Hood.
Snoop is very popular with white audiences. He attributes this appeal to his elementary school experience; it was a white school that accepted black kids if they had athletic talent.
On July 31, 2012, Snoop introduced a new stage name, Snoop Lion, telling reporters that he was given the moniker by a Rastafarian priest in Jamaica.
Snoop Dogg's attempt to rebrand himself as Rastafarian "Snoop Lion" got him excommunicated from the Rastafari Council, which accused him of appropriating their religion for commercial purposes.
He released his first album under his new Snoop Lion moniker, Reincarnated, in 2013. The record saw him depart from hip hop and was his debut in the reggae genre. He explained to UK newspaper The Guardian: "I wanted to make songs about the life I'm living now as a father and as a 41-year-old man, as opposed to always talking about my childhood and my upbringing."
Snoop attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School with Cameron Diaz. "We went to high school together," the actress recalled on Lopez Tonight. "He was a year older than me.... I remember him, he was very tall and skinny. He wore lots of ponytails."
The singer Brandy Norwood and her entertainer brother Ray J are first cousin's of Snoop.
Snoop Dogg has a reputed IQ level of 147 (145 and above is considered “genius”).
Snoop Dogg is a certified football coach and the rapper has served as head coach for both of his sons' youth football teams.
Snoop Dogg once tried to rent the entire country of Liechtenstein for a video shoot for an unknown song. The West Coast legend sought the tiny Alpine nation out because he needed tons of outdoor space to shoot the clip. The main reason the Liechtenstein authorities declined is because the rapper didn't give them enough notice.
Snoop Dogg officially announced in 2002 that he was done with marijuana. However, his abstinence did not last long and in 2013 the rapper admitted to smoking around 80 blunts every day.
Inspired by his
Doggystyle song "
Gin And Juice," Snoop Dogg broke the world record for "the largest paradise cocktail" at California's BottleRock Napa Valley music festival on May 27, 2018. He created the gigantic cup of gin and juice with the help of Top Chef's Michael Voltaggio and fellow rapper Warren G. The drink contained 180 bottles of gin, 154 bottles of apricot brandy and 38 jugs of orange juice.
Snoop Dogg had a sketch comedy show titled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle that aired on MTV for eight episodes in 2002 and 2003. MTV canceled the second season after the rapper asked for $1 million for his role.
In the early days of his career, Snoop typed his lyrics instead of writing them in a notebook, using a typewriter he borrowed from 2Scoops of the G-funk group The Dove Shack.
Snoop learned to type at school. "I took a wood class, a metal class, I took typing, I took home economics," he recalled on
The 85 South Comedy Show. "I didn't just want to be in the class with the homies and s--t and then go home and get a whopping and get in trouble for f---ing up."
Snoop was a special correspondent for NBC at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where he got to carry the torch before the opening ceremony. He brought his trademark enthusiasm to the games, especially when he was cheering on the medal-winning gymnastics teams, and did a lot of segments on the more obscure sports, taking a crack at fencing and judo, and even feeding a carrot to a horse at dressage, where his friend Martha Stewart gave him some help.
Despite being a California native, Snoop Dogg has been a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan since the 1970s. His allegiance was cemented as a child watching the team's legendary players, particularly when the team was winning Super Bowls in those early years. He fondly recalls a
Coca-Cola commercial featuring "Mean Joe" Greene that left a lasting impression on him. Snoop's loyalty runs deep, and like most Steelers fans, he's a fan for life.
