Snoop Dogg

西岸说唱巨星snoop 的出道专辑 一发售就空降Billboard专辑排行榜冠军 他是第1位第1张专辑就夺冠的歌手。当Dr. Dre找到Snoop Dogg让他在唱片《The Chronic》里展露头脚，并使其迅速成为明星的时候，Snoop Dogg不过还是个混迹于犹太人聚集区的一个泼皮，所以说机会造就人才这话一点不错，这两个人的第一次合作就是帮匪说唱乐的坐标圆点。流畅的Funk节奏加上帮派色彩强烈的歌词给当时的主流音乐界带来了不小的冲击，于是人们都被吓着了，他们跳起来大声地叫着“我们找到新音乐了”，谁想到这种音乐最后却带来了无休止的仇杀。Snoop Dogg用他特有淫荡的西海岸鼻音吹嘘着自己放荡的生活方式，为涉世不深的孩子描绘着新的美利坚之梦。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
As the embodiment of 90s gangsta rap, Snoop Dogg blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Introduced to the world through Dr. Dres The Chronic, Snoop quickly became the most famous star in rap, partially because of his drawled, laconic rhyming and partially because the violence that his lyrics implied seemed real, especially after he was arrested on charges of being a murder accomplice. The arrest certainly strengthened his myth, and it helped his debut album, 1993s Doggystyle, become the first debut album to enter the charts at number one, but in the long run, it hurt his career. Snoop had to fight charges throughout 1994 and 1995, and while he was eventually cleared, it hurt his momentum. The Doggfather, his second album, wasnt released until November 1996, and by that time, pop and hip-hop had burned itself out on gangsta rap. The Doggfather sold half as well as its predecessor, which meant that Snoop remained a star, but he no longer had the influence he had just two years before.
Nicknamed Snoop by his mother because of his appearance, Calvin Broadus (born October 20, 1972) was raised in Long Beach, CA, where he frequently ran into trouble with the law. Not long after his high school graduation, he was arrested for possession of cocaine, beginning a period of three years where he was often imprisoned. He found escape from a life of crime through music. Snoop began recording homemade tapes with his friend Warren G, who happened to be the stepbrother of N.W.As Dr. Dre. Warren G gave a tape to Dre, who was considerably impressed with Snoops style and began collaborating with the rapper.
When Dre decided to make his tentative first stab at a solo career in 1992 with the theme song for the film Deep Cover, he had Snoop rap with him. Deep Cover started a buzz about Snoop that escalated into full-fledged mania when Dre released his own debut album, The Chronic, on Death Row Records late in 1992. Snoop rapped on The Chronic as much as Dre, and his drawled vocals were as important to the records success as its P-Funk bass grooves. Dres singles Nuthin But a G Thang and Dre Day, which prominently featured Snoop, became Top Ten pop crossover hits in the spring of 1993, setting the stage for Snoops much-anticipated debut album, Doggystyle. While he was recording the album with Dre in August, Snoop was arrested in connection with the drive-by shooting death of Phillip Woldermarian. According to the charges, the rappers bodyguard, McKinley Lee, shot Woldermarian as Snoop drove the vehicle; the rapper claimed it was self-defense, alleging that the victim was stalking Snoop. Following a performance at the MTV Music Awards in September 1993, he turned himself over to authorities.
After many delays, Doggystyle was finally released on Death Row in November of 1993, and it became the first debut album to enter the charts at number one. Despite reviews that claimed the album was a carbon copy of The Chronic, the Top Ten singles Whats My Name? and Gin & Juice kept Doggystyle at the top of the charts during early 1994, as did the considerable controversy over Snoops arrest and his lyrics, which were accused of being exceedingly violent and sexist. During an English tour in the spring of 1994, tabloids and a Tory minister pleaded for the government to kick the rapper out of the country, largely based on his arrest. Snoop exploited his impending trial by shooting a short film based on the Doggystyle song Murder Was the Case and releasing an accompanying soundtrack, which debuted at number one in 1994. By that time, Doggystyle had gone quadruple platinum.
Snoop spent much of 1995 preparing for the case, which finally went to trial in late 1995. In February of 1996, he was cleared of all charges and began working on his second album, this time without Dre as producer. Nevertheless, when The Doggfather was finally released in November 1996, it bore all the evidence of a Dre-produced G-funk record. The album was greeted with mixed reviews, and it initially sold well, but it failed to produce a hit along the lines of Whats My Name? and Gin & Juice. Part of the reason of the moderate success of The Doggfather was the decline of gangsta rap. 2Pac, who had become a friend of Snoop during 1996, died weeks before the release of The Doggfather, and Dre had left Death Row to his partner Suge Knight, who was indicted on racketeering charges by the end of 1996. Consequently, Snoops second album got lost in the shuffle, stalling at sales of two million, which was disappointing for a superstar.