Snoop Dogg consists of Calvin Broadus.
Snoop Dogg (real name: Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., born on October 20, 1972 in Long Beach, California) is a rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a famous MC in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of producer Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. His mother nicknamed him " Snoopy" as a child because of the way his eyes looked, and he took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg when he began recording. He changed his name to Snoop Dogg in 1996, when he left his original record label, Death Row Records, and signed with No Limit Records. Several of his cousins, including RBX, Nate Dogg, and Daz Dillinger, are also hip hop artists and often collaborate with Snoop. As a rapper, he is perhaps best known for his “lazy drawl” — a slurred, distinctively calm, laid-back, and rhythmically-complex lyrical delivery .
Calvin Broadus was active in music from a young age, singing in his church choir. Outside of church, Broadus often found himself in trouble, both in school and with the law for selling and doing drugs. He later attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School , where he began participating in schoolyard freestyle MCing competitions.
As a member of a local Crips gang in Long Beach, Snoop Dogg was in and out of jail for the three years after he graduated from high school. Pushed by older inmates to make something of himself, he began making homemade rap tapes with his cousin Nate Dogg, and best friend Warren G (stepbrother of Dr. Dre of N.W.A.). Originally, Nate's cousin Lil' 1/2 Dead was also part of the group, called 213, named after the Long Beach area code. This was largely in homage to Richie Rich's group 415, named for the (then) area code of Oakland, California. Dr. Dre began collaborating with the young rapper, first on the theme song of the film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound.
