Snoop Dogg at 49: The Hip-Hop Icon

 

   Born October 20, 1971, Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. going by the stage aliases -
Snoop Dogg, previously Snoop Doggy Dogg, and briefly Snoop Lion , is an American rapper and media personality, from Long Beach, Caalifornia. In 1992, Snoop was featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "187" also titled 'Deep Cover' for the movie soundtrack of the same name. The track peaked at No.4 on Bollboard's Hot Rap Songs chart. 

   Dr. Dre produced Snoop's debut studio album titled Doggystyle release in November 1993, via Dre's Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album continued the then novel West coast hip-hop style also called the G-funk. Doggystyle debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 806,858 copies in its first week alone in the United States, which was the record for a debuting artist and the fastest-selling hip-hop album ever. It is still ranked as one of the Best Rap Albums of all time to this date. The album peaked at No.10 in Canada, and Billboard ranked it at No.3 on its year-end album chart in '94. "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)" marked Snoop's solo debut single, and from the album, and it became his first U.S. top-ten entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead act, while it peaked at No.8, and led the US Hot Rap Songs for three weeks. In Australia the track peaked at No.13, No.20 in the UK and No.8 in the Netherlands. The follow-up single, "Gin and Juice", was released in Jan. 1994, reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, peaking at number eight and nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. It also topped the equivalent Hot Rap Songs. 

  
   In 1994, he released a soundtrack for the short film Murder Was The Case, starring himself. It debuted at number one the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The single "What Would You Do" was included on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in the 38th Annual Grammy Awards in 1996. 

   Snoop's second studio album Tha Doggfather, released in 1996, also debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Snoop was charged with murder and in 1995, spent time preparing for the case that went to trial. In February 1996, he was cleared of all charges and began working on his second album without Dr. Dre providing work as a record producer. This was Snoop's final album on Death Row Records under his name of Snoop Doggy Dogg. To date, the album sold two million copies in the United States and sold better internationally than its predecessor, "Doggystyle" (1993). The album peaked at No.12 in Australia and No.15 in the UK. The single "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" reached No.12 on the UK Singles Chart  and No.5 on the U.S Rap Songs list. The third and final single off the album, "Doggfather"peaked at No.20 on the UK SIngles run. 

   Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told the third studio album by the rapper, was released in Aug. 1998, credited under the stage name Snoop Dogg and his first record away from Death Row Records as it was released via No Limit Records debuted at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart marking Snoop Dogg's third consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album peaked at a No.4 high in Canada. The lead single, "Still a G Thang"peaked at No.19 on the Hot 100 chart and No.3 on the Hot Rap Songs list.
His fourth studio album, No Limit Top Dogg, was released on May 11, 1999. The album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, becoming his first album not to top the chart. The album reached No.10 in Canada. 

  He released three other albums throughout the early-2000s, including Tha Last Meal [US. No.4] in 2000, Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss [U.S. #12] in 2002, and R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece [US #6] in 2004, which included the single "Drop It Like It's Hot" featuring Pharrell. The track peaked at No.10 in the UK. The song was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Snoop's first US number one single. The album's third single, "Signs" featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, was released on April 25, 2005. In May 2005, the single reached at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number 46 on the US Billboard's Hot 100. However, it was more popular in Australia staying at number one on the Australian Singles Chart for two weeks. Internationally, the song reached the top-ten in 11 countries. In 2006, the song "I Wanna Love You", a collaboration with Akon, became Snoop's second number one on the Hot 100. 

   Tha Blue Carpet Treatment Snoop's eighth studio album, was also released in 2006 and peaked at No.5 on the US. His ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' was released by Geffen Records on March 11, 2008 and reached a No.3 peak in the U.S. The album featured the awesome track "Sensual Seduction" which peaked at No.7 on the US Hot 100 chart. His tenth studio album Malice n Wonderland was released in December 2009.
He released two albums in 2011: Doggumentary [US #8] and a soundtrack album titled Mac & Devin Go to High School with Wiz Khalifa, which included the hit song "Young, Wild & Free" featuring Bruno Mars. The single peaked at No.7 in the U.S. and No.4 in Australia. 

In 2012, he changed his stage name to "Snoop Lion." Under the new moniker, he released a reggae album, Reincarnated. The album topped Billboard Top Reggae Albums for 34 non-consecutive weeks. He went on to release five more albums: Bush in 2015. Coolaid in 2016, Neva Left in 2017, a gospel album, Bible of Love in 2018, and his most recent album, I Wanna Thank Me in 2019. 

In 2010, Snoop was featured on Katy Perry's international hit, "California Gurls" which peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the rapper's third number-one therein. The single also hit the number-one spot in the UK, making it Snoop's best rank there. 

The discography of American rapper Snoop Dogg comprises 17 studio albums, four collaborative albums, 16 compilation albums, three extended plays, 25 mixtapes, 175 singles (including 112 as a featured artist), and 14 promotional singles. He has sold over 12.5 million albums in the United States and 37 million albums worldwide. He has garnered 14 top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (including eight as a featured artist). 

Courtesy: Wikipedia