[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]e grew up together, Calvin. Even through all the really bad times, like when you left Death Row for No Limit, we always knew you’d be a legend.
For those of us that grew up in Los Angeles watching bootleg versions of Murder Was the Case in awe like it was watching your cousin starring in Citizen Kane, the fact that Snoop Doggy, Doggy Dog is getting his star today on the Hollywood Walk of Fame feels a bit like it’s all of us getting enshrined in part of this city’s history that has long been reserved for anyone but us.
Born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. in Long Beach, Snoop Dogg would grow up to embody much of Los Angeles street culture and its evolution through the years to now, when street culture is mainstream culture.
He was an Eastside Long Beach Crip. He was in and out of jail for selling cocaine. He helped create West Coast rap. He helped mainstream marijuana use and made crip walking – essentially meant to throw up a gang sign with your entire body – the new moonwalk. He was once on trial for murder and now he’s on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Sinatra, Brando, Lauren Bacall, and all the other thugs.