These Rare Pics of 21-Year-Old Snoop Dogg Prove Just How Iconic He Is
Happy birthday to one of the most influential hip-hop artists ever.
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Snoop Dogg is celebrating his 54th birthday today, October 20 — and we’ve uncovered a few rare photos of the Voice Coach that remind fans everywhere just how much of a living legend the star is.
In 1992, the D-O-double-G broke into the music industry thanks to multiple appearances on Dr. Dre’s debut solo album, The Chronic, making a pioneering album even more memorable. By 1993, Snoop became an even bigger household name thanks to the release of his first studio album, Doggystyle, in November.
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These photos, from 1993 and early 1994, give fans a glimpse at the young, fresh-faced star that would one day become one of the most influential artists in music history — and a de facto American cultural icon in his own right.
This first picture, taken in January of 1993 backstage at the Regal Theater in Chicago, shows just how stoic and cool Snoop was at this stage in his career.
How did Snoop Dogg get his stage name?
Born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., after his stepfather, Snoop once told the story of how he got his famous stage name during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt.
(Spoiler: It has to do with his love of the Peanuts cartoons growing up.)
"My mother’d say, 'You watch [Snoopy the dog] so much, you startin’ to look like him.' So she started calling me Snoopy,” he explained. “That’s the only name my mother called me my whole life. My mother never called me by my real name, my whole life. All she ever called me was Snoopy. That became my name, that became who I was when I went outside to play, when I went to school, when I went to church, Snoopy."
Another classic photo of Snoop, one of him attending the 1993 MTV Movie Awards, shows just how cool he was. There’s a certain aura about the then 21-year-old that is hard to put into words.
By January of 1994, Snoop had settled into one of his trademark looks — marked by his iconic braids and defiant attitude.
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We don’t think even Snoop Dogg himself knew the heights he would reach in the years after this picture was taken.
