Snoop Dogg is an entertainment giant in the world of American pop culture. He is one of the greatest rappers of all time, but the difference with him is that his fame far transcends the world of rap music. He has appeared in movies, major commercials and has toured all over the globe.
In his music career, he has worked with some of the biggest acts around: Dr. Dre, Pharrell, Katy Perry, Psy and the list goes on and on. These days, West Coast rap is bigger than ever and we thought it would be a great time to tell you some lesser known facts about Mr. Snoop Dogg.
1. SNOOP TRAVELS WITH A TON OF CASH
This may seem a little random, but it’s very true. This past August, Snoop was touring in Europe to support his recently released album, Bush. The 43-yr-old rapper was stopped in Italy as he was about to board a private plan to London. The authorities found $422,000 in cash in his Louis Vuitton luggage.
2. HE SMOKED IN THE WHITE HOUSE
In July of last year, late night television host Jimmy Kimmel appeared on Snoop’s YouTube show, The GG Network. During their conversation, Snoop nonchalantly confessed that he sparked up a joint during a visit to the White House.
3. SNOOP OWES HIS CAREER TO EN VOGUE
You might be asking yourself what the connection is between Snoop Dogg and the top-selling R&B group, En Vogue. You see, En Vogue was one of the biggest groups in the '90s around the time Snoop was starting out in the Hip-Hop game. He jacked one of the beats from the En Vogue song “Hold On” for one of his freestyles.
4. BRANDY AND SNOOP ARE COUSINS
There is definitely some truth to the saying “It runs in the family.” What are the odds that the Long Beach rapper Snoop Dogg and the popular R&B singer Brandy would happen to be related?
5. SNOOP’S FIRST MAINSTREAM HIT WAS IN 1992
The year was 1992 and the movie was Deep Cover. It was directed by Bill Duke and it starred Jeff Goldblum and Laurence Fishburne. The movie had a pretty decent soundtrack and one of the songs featured on it was by West Coast rapper and producer Dr. Dre.
6. HE ONCE MADE A SONG WITH PSY
So we all know about the Korean superstar Psy. He broke into the scene with the 2012 hit “Gangnam Style” that became a massive hit all over the world. Since then, Psy hasn’t really been able to match the phenomenon of his first breakthrough.
7. HIS COUSIN IS DAZ FROM THE DOGG POUND
These days, the West Coast is enjoying a really great run in the Hip-Hop game. The coast on the left is bubbling with talent like Kendrick Lamar, The Game, Schoolboy Q and more. But back in the early '90s, it was a totally different scene all together. Snoop Dogg and a few others were the only rappers making noise and selling records.
8. YOU CAN CALL HIM THE CAMEO KING
Apart from being a global Hip-Hop star and a lifelong marijuana smoker, Snoop Dogg also manages to be a certified cameo king. He has appeared on several television shows and movies. Some of the shows he has appeared in to date include Family Guy, Empire, The League & Sanjay and Craig.
9. HIS SON IS AN ASPIRING FILM MAKER
You know the Hip-Hop culture is getting older when you start hearing about the kids of your favorite rappers getting into college. Snoop’s second son, Cordell Broadus, was a student athlete at UCLA until about a week ago. He was a well-respected wide receiver with the UCLA Bruins until he recently announced that he was quitting the game to pursue other interests in life.
10. HE QUIT THE RAP GAME AND CHANGED HIS NAME TO SNOOP LION
This is one of the more interesting chapters in Snoop’s past. In 2012, after visiting Jamaica in February of that year, he said he had been reincarnated and been transformed into a Rastafarian. He ended up changing his name to Snoop Lion and even held a press conference saying that he was tired of rap music.
He also mentioned that he was tired of doing gangster rap and wanted to make music that both grandparents and kids could listen to. This new awakening by Snoop was crowned by a reggae album he later released called Reincarnated. That phase lasted for a while, but he’s now back to being called Snoop Dogg yet again.
