page_title: Snoop Dogg
section_title: 1998–2006: Signing with No Limit and continued success
hierarchical_section_title: Snoop Dogg / Musical career / 1998–2006: Signing with No Limit and continued success
caption_attribution_description: 050722-N-9076-008 Waikiki Shell, Honolulu, Hawaii — Hip Hop artist Snoop Dogg pulls out all stops during a special concert for over 8000 military personnel and their dependents during the Bodog Salutes the Troops event. The two-day event honored the men and women of the United States Military Services, and benefited the military charity Fisher House Foundation. The event featured a prize-filled poker tournament and a comedy show and concert with celebrity and military attendance at both events.
context_page_description: Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., best known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, previously Snoop Doggy Dogg, and briefly Snoop Lion, is an American rapper and media personality. His fame dates to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and then on Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic. Snoop has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide.
  Snoop's debut solo album, Doggystyle, produced by Dr. Dre, was released by Death Row Records in November 1993, and debuted at number one on the popular albums chart, the Billboard 200, and on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Selling 800,000 copies in its first week, Doggystyle was certified quadruple-platinum in 1994 and bore several hit singles, including "What's My Name?" and "Gin & Juice". In 1994, Death Row Records released a soundtrack, by Snoop, for the short film Murder Was the Case, starring Snoop. In 1996, his second album, Tha Doggfather, also debuted at number one on both charts, with "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" as the lead single. The next year, the album was certified double-platinum.
context_section_description: Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in March 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told later that year. He said at the time that "Snoop Dogg is universal so he can fit into any camp-especially a camp that knows how to handmake shit[;] [a]nd, No Limit hand makes material. They make material fittin' to the artist and they know what type of shit Snoop Dogg is supposed to be on. That's why it's so tight." [sic] His other albums on No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,510,000 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 2,100,000). In 1999, his autobiography, Tha Doggfather, was published.
  In 2002, he released the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$, on Priority/Capitol/EMI, selling over 1,310,000 copies. The album featured the hit singles "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace" and "Beautiful", featuring guest vocals by Pharrell. By this stage in his career, Snoop Dogg had left behind his "gangster" image and embraced a "pimp" image.
  In June 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment, both distributed by Interscope Records; Star Trak is headed by producer duo the Neptunes, which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one. His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at No. 2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,730,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at No.4 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included the single "Groupie Luv". Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor" along with fellow rappers Lil Jon, Xzibit, and David Banner,
  Snoop Dogg appeared on two tracks from Ice Cube's 2006 album Laugh Now, Cry Later, including "Go to Church", and on several tracks on Tha Dogg Pound's Cali Iz Active the same year. His song "Real Talk" was leaked on the Internet in the summer of 2006 and a video was later released on the Internet. "Real Talk" was dedicated to former Crips leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams and a diss to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California. Two other singles on which Snoop made a guest performance were "Keep Bouncing" by Too $hort (also with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas) and "Gangsta Walk" by Coolio.
  Snoop's 2006 album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment debuted on the Billboard 200 at No.5 and sold over 850,000 copies. The album and the second single "That's That Shit" featuring R. Kelly were well received by critics. In the album, he collaborated in a video with E-40 and other West Coast rappers on the single "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)".
caption: Snoop Dogg performs in Hawaii for U.S. military members in 2005
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "050722-N-9076-008\nWaikiki Shell, Honolulu, Hawaii (July 23, 2005)\u2014Hip Hop artist Snoop Dogg pulls out all stops during a special concert for over 8000 military personnel and their dependents during the Bodog Salutes the Troops event.  The two-day event honored the men and women of the United States Military Services, and benefited the military charity Fisher House Foundation.  The event featured a prize-filled poker tournament and a comedy show and concert with celebrity and military attendance at both events.\nOfficial U.S. Navy Photo by Chief Photographers Mate Donald Bray\n(RELEASED FLTIMAGECENPAC, Hawaii)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D1X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2005:07:25 14:25:29", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "894", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 0, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1374", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1486", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6615", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/90", "EXIF FNumber": "63/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:07:23 20:23:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:07:23 20:23:26", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "11", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "11", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "11", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2100", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1336", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]"}