Snoop Dogg - July 5

Snoop Dogg, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus, came to prominence as one of the most distinctive voices on the early '90s West Coast hip hop scene. A former Crip who was arrrested for cocaine possession and sentenced to three years in prison, he turned his life around with show-stealing cameos on Dre’s classic The Chronic.

His own debut Doggystyle was released in 1993 on Death Row Records and went quadruple platinum, spawning astonishingly potent hits like 'What's My Name' and 'Gin & Juice'. Conventional he is not and as a result, Snoop's career has been littered with legal tangles. Tellingly, however, in 1996, he was cleared of charges relating to his bodyguard's 1993 murder of Philip Woldemariam.

Snoop Dogg's second album, 1996’s Tha Doggfather, and specifically the single 'Murder Was The Case', played up his outlaw status, although he controversially left the Death Row label in the late '90s. Over the past decade Snoop has dabbled in film acting and TV work (Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood and Dogg After Dark), but his chart stock remains high, with latter day albums like Paid Tha Cost to be the Boss and Malice n Wonderland yielding club classics such as 'Beautiful' and 'Drop It Like It's Hot'. Hip hop legends don’t come as big: Cork, get ready to groove!

DID YOU KNOW?
• In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno, rapping to the song 'Dove Of Peace'.
• Although it was in use for decades, Snoop is widely credited with popularising the suffix '-izzle'.
• Snoop has served as head coach for his son's youth football teams and the John A. Rowland High School team.
• In 2000, Snoop directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a porn film produced by Larry Flynt’s Hustler magazine.
• Last year, Snoop made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan.