Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. was born in Long Beach, California on October 20, 1971. 1)
According to rumors, Snoop has an IQ of 147, making him a genius. 2)
His parents nicknamed him “Snoopy” when he was a child because of the way he appeared and because every good parent knows to refer to their son as a cartoon dog. 3)
Snoop was a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips on Long Beach's East Side. 4)
One of his early solo freestyles over En Vogue's “Hold On” made it into a mixtape that Dr. Dre heard, who encouraged him to audition and helped launch his career. 5)
Snoop Dogg originally worked with Dr. Dre on the theme song for the 1992 film Deep Cover, and later with other members of Dr. Dre's previous beginning group, Tha Dogg Pound, on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic. 6)
Snoop was famously on trial for murder and was acquitted when the case was declared a mistrial. The attention surrounding the lawsuit helped boost sales of Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle, to over five million copies, which, while successful, is not an entrepreneurial strategy that Wharton recommends. 7)
Murder Was the Case, a short film about Snoop's murder trial, and its accompanying soundtrack was released in 1994. The song of the same name debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.8)
Snoop's lawyer was the well-known Johnnie Cochran, who also helped OJ get acquitted. 9)
“Gangsta Life,” a gospel-inspired ode to his mother, was Snoop's favorite single from his 1993 album. 10)
Daz Dillinger and DJ Pooh co-produced Snoop's second album, The Doggfather. Dr. Dre had already left Death Row due to a bitter contract disagreement, and the ensuing album had a completely different sound.11)
Following Dr. Dre's departure, Snoop's relationship with Suge Knight quickly deteriorated, and Snoop was one of the first to start firing shots, with a subtle diss single cryptically titled “F Death Row.” 12)
There was a Change.org petition in 2016 that asked Snoop to narrate the entire Planet Earth series, which would be totally incredible and, honestly, shut up, take all our money, and make this happen.13)
Snoop Doggy Dogg was his stage name when he initially began performing. When he signed with a new label, Master P's “No Limit,” a label with the muscle needed to get Snoop out from under Suge Knight's thumb, he had to change his name to Snoop Dogg. 14)
Snoop also had to give up his rights to the catalog he had created with Death Row, which meant he didn't see any of the revenues from some of his best songs, like “Gin and Juice,” “What's My Name,” and “Murder Was the Case.” 15)