Snoop Dogg

With a hypnotic, laidback voice and charisma to match, Snoop Dogg emerged as one of gangsta rap’s most compelling characters, evolved into one of music’s most versatile artists, and wound up a pop culture icon. Born Calvin Broadus (1971) in Long Beach, CA, the rapper known as Snoop Doggy Dogg was discovered by freshly solo N.W.A. star Dr. Dre. An iconic partnership was born when the MC featured on the G-funk pioneer’s “Deep Cover” single, and it bloomed quickly: Snoop costarred on Dre’s genre-shifting 1992 debut, The Chronic, riding over the deep grooves and high synths of classics like “Nuthin’ but a G thang”. His silky flow conveyed gun-toting menace and weed-smoking euphoria with equal candor, and demanded its own platform. Snoop’s Doggystyle (1993) was yet another timeless album pairing gleefully narcissistic and lewd lyricism with Dre’s dense soundbeds—“Gin & Juice” and “Who Am I? (What’s My Name)” broke sales records and permeated barbecues and family reunions for decades. After leaving Death Row Records and signing with No Limit for three albums, Snoop C-walked into the mainstream with the Pharrell-featuring “Beautiful” (2002) and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (2004), swapping in an easygoing, pimpish persona for the violent, charge-dodging image that frightened and fascinated suburban listeners a decade earlier. As he transitioned into reality TV as a family man, pee wee football coach and Martha Stewart cohost, he experimented with other genres. In 2013 he released reggae album Reincarnated, and the 7 Days of Funk EP with keytar hero Dâm-Funk; then came 2018’s gospel double-LP Bible of Love. Snoop celebrated his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with his 17th album, I Wanna Thank Me, in 2019. The following year he began hosting Uncle Snoop's Army Radio on Apple Music Hits.