Snoop Doggy Dogg
b. Calvin Broadus, 1971, Long Beach, California, USA. Snoop Doggy Dogg's commercial rise in 1993 was acutely timed, riding a surge in hardcore rap's popularity, and smashing previous records in any genre. DOGGYSTYLE was the most eagerly anticipated album in rap history, and the first debut album to enter the Billboard chart at number 1. With advance orders of over one and a half million, media speculators were predicting its importance long before a release date. As is de rigeur for gangsta rappers such as Snoop , his criminal past casts a long, somewhat romanticised shadow over his current achievements. He was busted for drugs after leaving high school in Long Beach, and spent three years in and out of jail. He first appeared in 1990 when helping out Dr. Dre on a track called Deep Cover, from the film of the same title. Dogg was also ubiquitious on Dr. Dre's breakthrough album, THE CHRONIC, particularly on the hit single Nuthin' But A ‘G’ Thang, which he wrote and co-rapped on. After presenting a gong to En Vogue in September 1993 at the MTV video awards, Dogg surrendered himself to police custody after the show, on murder charges. This was over his alleged involvement in a driveby shooting. Inevitably, as news spread of Dogg's involvement interest in his vinyl product accelerated, and this played no small part in the eventual sales of his debut album. Critics noted how closely this was styled on George Clinton's ATOMIC DOG project. Many also attacked the abusive imagery of women Dogg employed, particularly lurid on Ain't No Fun. His justification: ‘I'm not prejudiced in my rap, I just kick the rhymes’. If the US press were hostile to him they were no match for the sensationalism of the English tabloids. During touring commitments to support the album and single, Gin And Juice, he made the front page of the Daily Star with the headline: ‘Kick This Evil Bastard Out!’. It was vaguely reminiscent of the spleen vented at the Sex Pistols in their heyday, and doubtless a good sign. He was asked to leave his hotel in Milestone, Kensington on arrival, and Terry Dicks, a bastion of Tory good taste, also objected to his presence in the country. A more serious impediment to Snoop's career is his imminent trial on charges of accessory to the murder of Phillip Woldermarian, shot by his bodyguard McKinley Lee.