Snoop Dogg, Warren G, RJMrLA

From the venue:

West Coast rap legend Snoop Dogg has come a long way since being discovered by Dr. Dre in the early 1990. As impressive as he was when guesting on Dre’s The Chronic in 1992, few could have guessed he’d go on to global fame, tens of millions of record sales, and a career in movies and TV. And that’s only part of the story, from battles with the law to reinvention as a reggae artist. Now, he’s just released his 17th studio album, I Wanna Thank Me.

He was born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. in Long Beach, California, on October 20, 1971. His “Snoop Dogg” nickname came from his mother because she thought he looked like Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoon. He played piano and sang at his local Baptist church, before starting rap in sixth grade. After graduating high school, Snoop was arrested several times for drug possession and spent time in prison. He started making music as a way out of his troubles and recorded early demos with his cousin Nate Dogg and friend Warren G as 213. A track on one of these came to the attention of Dr. Dre, who invited Snoop to audition. From there they collaborated on a song called “Deep Cover”; and Snoop became the key rapper on Dre’s hugely successful first solo album, The Chronic.

Snoop’s first album, the Dre-produced Doggystyle (1993), climbed its way to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s hip-hop and Top 200 charts, based in part on the success of the singles “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” and “Gin and Juice.”

Next came a short film called Murder Was the Case, the soundtrack of which went double platinum. Snoop’s next album, Tha Doggfather (1996), also reached the top of the charts. While it didn’t do as well either in sales or with reviewers, it still showed that Snoop was a major-league artist. Snoop then left Death Row, falling out with label mogul Suge Knight and moving to Master P’s No Limit Records.