The evolution of Snoop Dogg: how keeping it real and being a family man remains a balancing act for rapper

Jet, March 17, 2008 by Margena A. Christian

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Snoop Dogg used to pretend to be a pimp as he acted out a lifelong dream. Today, trying to become a grown-up, a father and a husband is taking all the skills he has. At 36, Snoop Dogg is turning over a new leaf.

After the threat of nearly losing his wife to divorce several years ago and losing touch with his kids, rap music's controversial canine is emerging more mature and has gotten his act together.

"As you get older, you have to put what matters most to you first," said Snoop. "When my kids were younger, I didn't know I needed them. Now I realize they need me. In the beginning it was all about me. I would always be at a party, a show or concert so it looked like I was ripping and running. Now you don't see me too much and when you do see me, more than likely you're going to see me with my wife or kids."

Snoop has been in the hip-hop industry 16 years. He's been criticized for misogynistic lyrics. He's boasted about marijuana use, and most recently he's transformed his persona into a pimp.

Born Cordozar Calvin Broadus on Oct. 20, 1971, Snoop grew up during a time when the blaxploitation film period was born. He said he found a hero in actor Max Julien, who played a drug dealer-turned-pimp in the 1973 classic film The Mack.

"That was what I was seeing on TV and in movies," said Snoop. "And my uncles sort of did it too. They had women, big cars, dressed nice, talked slick and listened to old-school music. Once I got to the stage where I made it as a rapper, it was always a dream of mine to actually venture into that world and to see what that world felt like because I felt like that world was a part of me creating the Snoop Dogg image as a part of my persona. I'm hands on. Experience is the best teacher. Even as distasteful as it was to some women and some people, I'm not going to apologize. That was my dream, not yours."

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During that period, Snoop kept company with legendary pimps, including Bishop Don Juan, surrounded himself with a bevy of scantily clad women and was frequently seen with his diamond-encrusted goblet.

"That was part of his persona," said his wife of l0 years, Shante. "I never understood that and never wanted to understand that. He kind of lost me with that."

Snoop said, "My wife didn't complain even though I knew she had a problem with it, so I kept it away from her. At the same time, it was an infatuation that I lived with. Once she let me know she wasn't feeling this pimp [stuff] and 'you have to cut that out,' I let it go for the sake of my wife."

Though Snoop has power in the rap world, at home, the woman he calls "Boss Lady" is in charge.

"I think that's how we keep it rolling," said Shante, who is creating her own clothing line, CoCoRi, named after their children. "I'm the outspoken one at home and he's laid back. When he's on the red carpet, that's his world. When we're at home, that's my world ... People hear his music and see his whole image and they think his house is in an uproar. Shante won't let it get there."

The pair were high school sweethearts. And they've been through quite a bit in their 15 years as a couple. Snoop fathered another child, a 9-year-old son, in a previous relationship. Then, several years ago, Snoop and Shante, now 32, made headlines when they nearly divorced.

"Shante was packed and crying in a room," recalled close family friend, R&B singer Charlie Wilson, about one of their marital squabbles. "My wife talked her into not leaving and to stand by her man. I was upstairs talking to him about his weed-smoking and staying out all night. He said no one ever came to him like that. His eyes bucked...When Snoop used to get out of line and get kicked out the house, he was calling me to get him back in the house. When Shante said 'you aren't coming in here.' That's what she meant."

Shante said he finally got his act together at home. Professionally he's even letting her get in on the act. When he recently appeared on BET's "Rip the Runway," he brought her on stage while he performed on national television. That was a first.

"I was just telling him like it is," she said. "It is what it is. Either he was going to be about it or he's not and he chose to be about it."

Snoop recently wrapped up the first season of his E! channel reality TV show "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood."

The show, which he created and executive produced, invites viewers into his personal life. In addition to meeting his wife, you meet their three children.

Corde, 13, has dreams of becoming a football player and goes by his childhood nickname "Spanky." Then there's Cordell, 11, called "Rook" or "Lil Snoop" because his father says that he's his little carbon copy. Daughter Cori, 8, he calls "chocolate" because of her rich complexion, but calls her by the nickname "Choc."

In the season finale, Snoop surprised his spouse by renewing their vows at the 20-acre California ranch of Snoop's longtime mentor Charlie Wilson.

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"Anytime you're with somebody, you become a reflection of that person," said Snoop. "I believe the first five years of our relationship was me grooming her, getting her tough and getting her ready for all of this and how to deal with it. The last was just her being a strong Black woman who has her man's back."