Snoop Dogg Trivia: 55 interesting facts about the rapper!

Snoop Dogg is an American rapper and actor from Long Beach, California. His music career began in 1992 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre of N.W.A, and as a result was prominently featured throughout Dr. Dre’s solo debut album, The Chronic (1992).

He has since sold over twenty-three million albums in the United States and thirty-five million albums worldwide.

Find out more amazing facts about him, here!

1. Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. was born October 20, 1971 in Long Beach, California.

2. He is the second of three sons.

3. He was named after his stepfather, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr.

4. His mother is Beverly Broadus.

5. His father, Vernell Varnado,was a Vietnam veteran, singer, and mail carrier who was said to be frequently absent from his life.

6. As a boy, his parents nicknamed him “Snoopy” because of his appearance, but they usually addressed him as Calvin at home.

7. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975.

8. When he was very young, Broadus began singing and playing piano at the Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church.

9. In sixth grade, he began rapping.

10. As a teenager, Snoop Dogg frequently ran into trouble with the law.

11. He was a member of the Rollin’ 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang.

12. Shortly after graduating from high school, he was arrested for possession of cocaine, and for the following three years, was frequently in and out of prison (including Wayside Jail).

13. Snoop, along with his cousins Nate Dogg and Lil’ ½ Dead, and friend Warren G, recorded homemade tapes as a group called 213, named after the Long Beach area code at the time.

14. One of his early solo freestyles over En Vogue’s “Hold On” had made it to a mixtape which was heard by influential producer Dr. Dre, who called to invite him to an audition.

15. Former N.W.A associate The D.O.C. taught him how to structure his lyrics and separate the thematics into verses, hooks, and chorus.

16. When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre’s debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound.

17. The huge success of Snoop Dogg’s debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure.

18. Snoop Dogg has worked extensively with Tha Dogg Pound over the course of his career.

19. To fuel the ascendance of West Coast G-funk hip hop, the singles “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” and “Gin and Juice” reached of the top ten most-played songs in the United States, and the album stayed on the Billboard charts for several months.

20. Gangsta rap became the center of arguments for censorship and labeling, with Snoop Dogg often used as an example of violent and misogynistic musicians.

21. Unlike much of the harder-edged gangsta rap artists, Snoop Dogg seemed to show his softer side, said music journalist Chuck Philips.

22. In fact, the artist’s favorite track on his 1993 album was a gospel-inspired tribute to his mother called Gangsta Life.

23. “It’s about how my mama raised me and my brothers on her own and how we got caught up on the streets…In the song I give my mama her respect and yet I try to show just what the wages are for kids not paying attention.
I ain’t no gospel rap musician, man, but I got faith in what I believe in,” the artist told Philips.

24. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: “Snoop’s vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly.”

25. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and others.

26. A short film about Snoop Dogg’s murder trial called Murder Was The Case, was released in 1994, along with an accompanying soundtrack.

27. On July 6, 1995, Doggy Style Records, Inc., a record label founded by Snoop Dogg, was registered with the California Secretary of State as business entity number C1923139.

28. After Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder charges on February 20, 1996, he and the mother of his son and their kennel of twenty pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed The Gap Band’s Charlie Wilson as one of the record label’s first artists.

29. He collaborated with fellow rap artist Tupac Shakur in the 1996 single 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted. This would turn out to be one of Shakur’s last songs while alive, he was shot on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas, dying 6 days later.

30. However, by the time Snoop Dogg’s second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living the gangsta life had become very evident.

31. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg’s friend and labelmate Tupac Shakur and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight.

32. Dr. Dre had left Death Row earlier in 1996 because of a contract dispute, so Snoop Dogg co-produced Tha Doggfather with Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh.

33. This album featured a distinct change of style as compared to Doggystyle, and the leadoff single, “Snoop’s Upside Ya Head”, featured a collaboration with Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson. While the album sold reasonably well, it was not as successful as its predecessor.

34. However, Tha Doggfather had a somewhat softer approach to the G-funk style.

35. The immediate aftermath of Dr. Dre’s withdrawal from Death Row Records, realizing that he was subject to an iron-clad time-based contract, Snoop Dogg refused to produce any more tracks for Suge Knight, other than the insulting “Fuck Death Row”, until his contract expired.

35. In an interview with Neil Strauss in 1998, Snoop Dogg stated that though he had been given lavish gifts by his formerthey had withheld royalty payments to the artist.

36. Broadus’ father left the family when he was three months old. A DNA test read by George Lopez on Lopez Tonight revealed Snoop Dogg to be of 71% African, 23% Native American, and 6% European descent.

37. Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Taylor, citing irreconcilable differences.

38. The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008.

39. The couple have three children together: sons Cordé (born 1994) and Cordell (born 1997), and daughter Cori (born 1999).

40. He is a first cousin of R&B singers Brandy and Ray J, and WWE professional wrestler Sasha Banks

41. Since the start of his career, Snoop has been an avowed cannabis smoker, making it one of the trademarks of his image.

42. In 2002, he announced he was giving up cannabis for good, however, that would not last long and in 2013, he claimed to be smoking approximately 80 cannabis blunts a day.

43. He has been certified for medical cannabis in California to treat migraines since at least 2007.

44. Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who had superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying “That shit was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin’ layups for me. I was makin’ ’em every time”. He went on to say that upon the advice of some of the other pimps he knew, he eventually gave up pimping to spend more time with his family.

45. In 2009, it was reported that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. That March 1, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours’ Day holiday, where he praised minister Louis Farrakhan.

46. Snoop stated he was a member of the Nation, but declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.

47. Claiming to be “born again” in 2012, the gangster rapper converted to the Rastafari movement, switched the focus of his music to reggae and changed his name to “Snoop Lion” following a trip to Jamaica. He released a reggae album Reincarnated, stating “I have always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated”, referring to the Jamaican reggae legend who died in 1981.

48. In January 2013, he received criticism from members of the Rastafarian community in Jamaica, including reggae artist Bunny Wailer, for an alleged failure to meet his commitments to the culture.

49. Snoop later dismissed the claims, stating his beliefs were personal and not up for outside judgment.

50. Wailer is credited for giving Snoop the name “Lion”.

51. Snoop tried his hand at acting with little success beyond cameos. His appearances include stints on Entourage, One Life to Live, Weeds, King of the Hill, and Monk.

52. After Dr. Dre started working with Eminem, Snoop used his “2 Minute Warning” song to dis the newcomer. During a recent feud with Iggy Azalea, Snoop took to Instagram to toss insults her way. He apologized to Iggy after rapper T.I. told him to chill.

53. Snoop’s arrest record is extensive. He’s been arrested in several different countries for possession of various drugs (including cannabis and cocaine) with intent to sell.

54. Snoop Dogg is rumored to have an IQ of 147, which would qualify him as a genius.

55. In 2014, Gan Gam Style’s Psy tried to create another global smash with a song called “Hangover.” To add a different flavor to the single, he recruited Snoop Dogg to appear on the song. The single made a decent splash on the music scene, and if you haven’t seen the video, you certainly need to check it out.