Guess who's back in the mutha f***in house with a big fat d*** for your motha f***ing mouth

Part 5 of the 90s thread series is here Last one about DOC wasn't as poppin as the previous 3 so Ima have to come back with another big name for yo asses Today we will look into the meteoric rise and quick fall of Snoop Doggy Dogg. So follow me follow me follow me follow me, but don't lose your grip

So its 1992, Calvin Cordozar Boadus Jr...better known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, had been in and out of jail the last 3 years of his life, following graduating from high school in 89. He's been working on a series of home tapes with his cousins, Nate Dogg and Lil 1/2 Dead; along with their friend Warren G. The group called themselves 213, after the Long Beach area code where they grew up in. One of the tapes they were sharing around LA at the time wound up in the hands of Dr. Dre. Dre was impressed with a freestyle Snoop had over "Hold On" by En Vogue and invited Snoop to the studio to audition for him. Once there, Dre liked what he heard..and the D.O.C took Snoop under his wing and taught him how to structure his lyrics to the modern day song format. Dre loved what he was hearing from the young rapper, and put him on a song for the soundtrack for an upcoming Hollywood film: Deep Cover. The result was one of the best debut singles in rap history. The song is arguably the most prototypical West Coast gangsta rap song; with an iconic beat(hardest rap beat ever, to this day imo) and Snoop's incredibly unique delivery.. the song was a hit.

After the success of the song, Dre brought Snoop to the studio to help finish his first solo album--'The Chronic'. Snoop and The Dogg Pound played a huge role on the album. From writing lyrics, to recording ad libs, to influencing the vibe in the studio--Snoop and his crew were vital for 'The Chronic'. Dre wanted to feel street, so he'd have Snoop's crew hanging around the studio at all times during the recording sessions. Snoop even gave him the name of the album--The Chronic--after explaining to Dre the name of the hottest strand of weed around Cali at the time; telling Dre "thats your album, the hottest s*** on the streets." The album was a massive hit, one of the greatest rap albums ever. Snoop appeared all over the album, including the albums biggest single: "Nothin' But A G Thang". The massive exposure of this project led to even bigger hype for Snoop's debut: 'Doggystyle'. 'Doggystyle' would also be produced entirely by Dr. Dre. And the G-funk sound was even more polished on this project. Another one of the greatest debut records of all time. With massive singles like "Who Am I?" and "Gin & Juice", the album went #1. Beating out Pearl Jam and Frank Sinatra, among others. It was the highest selling first week ever for a rap record. Snoop was on top of the world..or was he?...

Just before the release of 'Doggystyle', Snoop got himself in big trouble. Some rival gangbangers were looking for trouble outside of Snoop's apartment one day. When Snoop came back later that day and they were still there, he pulled up on them with his bodyguard. One of the gangsters pulled out a gun, Snoop ducked and his bodyguard fired shots. They fled the scene, but the damage had been done. One of the rival bangers got hit and died at the scene. This would be the turning point of Snoops life and career. While 'Doggystyle' was blowing up and he should've been celebrating the incredible accomplishment, he was confined to staying in his house on house arrest while Dr. Dre and Suge Knight were hosting legendary Death Row parties every week. Snoop was on house arrest for two years until the trial eventually started in 1995. In the meantime, he did record another project: A short film and accompanying soundtrack by the name of 'Murder Was The Case'. Inspired by the events of his trial. The short film chronicled the fictional death of Snoop and his resurrection after making a deal with the devil. It was big on MTV at the time. The sound track debuted at #1 and featured a few classic songs, like "Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube and Dre. It got good reviews as well. Little did we know, this project would be the last Dre produced Snoop album..and arguably the end of prime Snoop.

The Snoop murder trial doesn't get talked about enough imo. S*** was wild. OJ case happened a year earlier, that may have taken away some of its notoriety. Hard to top the OJ case, especially just a year later. Snoop literally turned himself into the cops after performing at the MTV awards in 93. Interscope wanted nothing to do with Snoop. They left him for dead. Suge Knight had to pay for Snoop's lawyers himself, and he didn't go cheap. He got David Kenner and Johnny MF'n Cochran as his defense team. Cochran had just gotten OJ off a year earlier. It was a wild case, with police apparently destroying evidence and many big names testifying--including Tupac Shakur. Eventually, Snoop and his bodyguard were found not guilty. It was a very emotional court room when the verdict was announced, with Snoop putting his hands together in prayer after hearing it. In 1996, 3 whole years after he was first charged, Snoop was finally free. But had the damage already been done?

After the trial, the game was totally different from the one before the trial in 93. Earlier that year Dre had left Death Row. Suge Knight was hit with racketeering charges. Death Row was in free fall. Pac and Snoop were recording their next projects side by side in adjacent rooms at Death Row studios. Pac was working on 'Makaveli' while Snoop was working on the follow up to the classic debut: 'Doggystyle'. There was some real bad blood between the two at the time, stemming from the fact that Snoop didn't want to take any sides in the BIG vs Pac beef. Even though they were working in the same studio, just a room apart..they rarely ever crossed paths. Pac was killed that same year and his album was released just a few months after his death on November 5th. Just 7 days later, Death Row released Snoop's sophomore album: 'Tha Doggfather'. 1996 was one of the most loaded years in rap history. Tupac released 2 albums, Nas released 'It Was Written', Outkast released 'ATLiens' and Jay released 'Reasonable Doubt'. Among other classics that dropped that year. Despite all of this.. Snoop sold more than anybody, other than Pac, his first week.

That said, the album was a failure both critically and commercially. The more time passes, the more the album gets buried under the other super albums that dropped that year. Dre was nowhere to be found on the album and Snoop suffered because of this. The production is just nowhere near his previous efforts. Snoop seemed confused on the project, trying to blend the gangsta rap he was known for with a more mature Calvin. In one skit he tells a kid not to idolize him and not to grow up to be like him, but instead to become "a lawyer, doctor or a Laker". Yet he was still rapping about hoes and the same stuff he used to, just in a tamer manner. Dr. Dre himself had some criticism for the album in a Spin magazine article: "But to be perfectly honest, I don't like Snoop's new album. And it has nothing to do with me not working him, because I'm just like everybody else: I like it, or I don't. The first time I heard the single, I was grooving to it, but then I really started to get into the production and how it was sounding, you know? The first time you hear some s***, you just listen to it to get your groove on, but after that, I start breaking songs down. There's really nothing that was said on there that hasn't been said 50 times before." The album sold well, but still only half of what Doggystyle sold and no singles really made their mark. Although the title track has become a cult classic to true Snoop fans, you can see even in the comment section how polarizing the album still is to this day.

After Doggfather, Snoop left Death Row and signed with No Limit in 98. He dropped a few albums on this label and participated in Dre's 2001 project, reuniting with Dre once again. His most successful album on No Limit was 'Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told', still his 2nd most successful album ever to 'Doggystyle'. He signed to Priority Records in 2002 and released 'Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$', which featured the highly successful single with Pharell; "Beautiful." By this stage, Snoop had left behind his gangster image and embraced a new pimp persona. In 2004 he signed with Star Trak Entertainment and released 'R&G: The Masterpiece' featuring the huge single "Drop It Like Its Hot". After this, he would make a few more albums and make a countless guest appearances, but never had the juice he had at the beginning ever again. Really, the turning point was the murder trial. He entered into a game of gangsta rap and when the trial ended and he finally got back in the studio to work on his second album, the game was already moving towards the jiggy era. So what went wrong? How do you explain Snoop's career? Is he an underachiever, after once being the greatest phenom rap had ever seen? Is he an overachiever, surviving a murder trial and the gangsta rap era to become one of the most recognizable faces in the world and a money printing machine? Or was he simply a product of Dr. Dre's magic? Without Dre, Snoop never got the juice back. Even when he was releasing decent albums with big singles in the late 90s and early 2000s, the game had passed him by. Eminem, 50 Cent, Jay Z, and more were on top and Snoop kind of eased into becoming rap's crazy uncle. A role he still plays to this day. What does KTT think of Snoop's career? Let's discuss

Here are a few of the articles I used for this, including a 1996 article right after the trial.
thefader.com/2019/02/27/the-complex-factors-around-snoops-sophomore-album-tha-doggfather
blog.a3cfestival.com/murder-was-the-case-what-happened-during-snoop-doggs-murder-trial
latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-21-mn-38322-story.html

Check out the previous 90s threads if you haven't yet

1995 Source Awards-- ktt2.com/the-1995-source-awardsthe-most-electrifying-night-in-rap-history-119187
Vaulted Dre Projects-- ktt2.com/lost-classicsvaulted-dre-projects-of-the-90s-119644
Underrated Beefs-- ktt2.com/beefunderrated-forgotten-rap-feuds-of-the-90s-120606
The Great D.O.C-- ktt2.com/the-forgotten-legendary-mcthe-doc-121339

Enjoy

great read op

personally i think snoop is one of the greatest rappers oat and an icon but he’s not a great ARTIST and he was dependent on ppl like Dre. he just couldn’t keep his solo career going as well as he could have

You really opened the thread with that sentence. Amazing

will you write for my blog

Snoop Dogg was the OG blueprint for Eminem, 50, Game, and even Kendrick to reach the commercial levels they did under Dre.

He was Dre's 1st protege and to do damn near a mill first week in an era where rap was still sort of niche was super impressive, especially for a controversial gangsta rapper who didn't do pop music like Hammer or Vanilla Ice.

Doggystyle is one of those universal classics that's timeless and can be played for generations. Snoop didn't match the quality after but he still had solid hits for more than a decade past his debut, especially with the Neptunes.

Snoop gets underrated because of his persona(being the chill/funny stoner) and his lack of consistency in music but his charisma, flow, delivery, and ability to dabble in other genres of music like funk makes him a legend and maybe even a top 25 contender.

His longevity gets overlooked too because, when you count his verses on the Chronic in 92 to how big Sensual Seduction was in 07/08, that's damn near 15 years of relevancy right there which most rappers have not achieved.

All in all, Snoop to the general public is sort of a meme now. He's a celebrity who's barely even associated with music anymore. But real heads know he's a legend in rap.

The chronic wouldn’t be what it is without him

i think snoop is a chemistry kind of guy

you put him with the right team and it's magic

feel like he's one of those actors who great directors look forward to working with because they can see his true gifts

Yup. That album he did with Dam-Funk under Stones Throw is a personal classic for me.

His ability to flow effortlessly over any type of production and make it work is unique and a great skill many rappers don't have.

I haven't paid too much attention to his acting career though.

He had great chemistry with Pharrell on Bush

Thank you for all of these incredible threads

Real was gonna include Sensual Seduction in OP. Thats the last Snoop single I remember being played by young people like that. He's f***ing everywhere right now with the Corona commercials and a s*** load of other random s***. S*** I seen him on a commercial for some singing competition the other day lol he's a get-the-bag Hall Of Famer :dezel: Final sentence says it all.

lmk lol Complex, XXL, P4k etc... I work remotely and am available

This, too. Dre and him just hit different than anything else. though he is still good with several others.

Also, 1996 best year ever in rap?

I could see you starting a Youtube channel doing this like that guy from HipHopDX that always says "Awwwwwww........riiight."

Edit: His channel his called Hip Hop Universe. I could see you doing a similar channel with this content.

Snoop is the greatest rapper of all time. Every single rapper worth anything to gain traction after The Chronic is directly influenced and would probably admit to it. Pac went Death Row because Snoop had built the house. Biggie was tryna sell records like Snoop. Hov’s career defining song is directly Snoop influence.

Also the most recognizable face. It’s f***ed up he’s just now starting to build his mogul s*** up tho.

Wayne will be here in 10 years God willing

It is impressive how influential Chronic and Doggystyle were. Had NYC in shambles lol

Makes sense tbh. Everything I learn from back in those days just makes me appreciated Dre that much more. Truly the GOAT

beautiful

snoop was most def. a star and ushered in a new sound & aesthetic then eazy brought bone thugs to add to this and expanded this era to new levels

Most iconic rapper of all time

good thread, nice job OP

In, loving these threads