Snoop Dogg fans are just discovering 'savage' story behind his rap name

Over 30 years after exploding onto the hip-hop scene, fans are uncovering how rapper and music maestro Snoop Dogg landed his famous moniker.

Despite being born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, he's known universally as Snoop Dogg (formerly Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), with over 37 million album sales to his name, making him one of the biggest names in rap history.

Not to mention, he's racked up 17 Grammy nods but never a win - the most for any artist without taking home the gold. The rap world got its introduction to the D-O-double-G back in early '92 when Dr. Dre brought him on for ‘Deep Cover’.

His first record, Doggystyle, dropped in '93 via Death Row Records and charged straight to number one, pushing more than 11 million global sales and gifting us bangers like ‘Who Am I? (What's My Name?)’ and ‘Gin and Juice’.

Yet it's only now that the backstory to Snoop's iconic nickname is coming out. Speaking with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, the 52 year old heavyweight shared: "My mother'd say, 'You watch [Snoopy the dog] so much, you startin' to look like him.' So she started calling me Snoopy. That's the only name my mother called me my whole life."

"My mother never called me by my real name, my whole life. She just ever called me was Snoopy. And I owned the name in every space I entered from the playground to the classroom to the chapel, I was known universally as Snoopy."

The interview gained traction on Reddit, and the caption read: "Today I learned American rapper, Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, got his 'Snoop Dogg' nickname from his mother because she thought he looked like Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoon."

This revelation led to a host of comments. An amused fan said: "Savage! Literally roasted by his own mother haha." Another exclaimed in surprise: "Today I learned Snoop Dogg's birth name! " Someone else pointed out: "He totally does look like Snoopy! Especially before the facial hair."

In disbelief, another person commented: "I can't believe this is the first time I've ever considered that Snoop Dog had a name before Snoop Dog."

Another commenter humorously proposed an alternate name: "Just think, he could have been Cordy B! " In his earlier years, in 1993, Snoop faced first-degree murder charges for the death of a rival gang member but was acquitted of all charges on February 20, 1996, with the case wrapping up definitively in 2024.

One of his standout collaborations was with hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur on the song '2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted', released in 1996, which became one of the last hits before Shakur met his tragic end in a shooting incident on September 7, 1996.

On July 31, 2012, Snoop underwent a significant change when he revealed his new moniker, Snoop Lion. He told reporters that a Rastafari priest in Jamaica had given him the name Snoop Lion.

However, the star reverted to his original name, Snoop Dogg, in 2015 when he launched his LP, Bush.

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