Name	Crips
Caption	Crip gang member with tattoos.
Founding location	Los Angeles, California, United States
Founded by	Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams
Years active	1969–present
Territory	United States Gangster Disciples, La Raza,
Rivals	Bloods, Sureños

The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. What was once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another.

The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members. The gang is known to be involved in murders, robberies, and drug dealing, among many other criminal pursuits. The gang is known for its gang members' use of the color blue in their clothing. However, this practice has waned due to police crackdowns on gang members.

Crips are publicly known to have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Bloods and lesser feuds with some Chicano gangs. Crips have been documented in the U.S. military, found in bases in the United States and abroad.

History

Stanley Tookie Williams met Raymond Lee Washington in 1969, and the two decided to unite their local gang members from the west and east sides of South Central Los Angeles in order to battle neighboring street gangs. Most of the members were 17 years old. Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating back to the 1950s and '60s, including post-World War II economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty, racial segregation leading to the formation of black "street clubs" by young African American men who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.

The original name for the alliance was "Cribs," a name narrowed down from a list of many options, and chosen unanimously from three final choices, which included the Black Overlords, and the Assassins. Cribs was chosen to reflect the young age of the majority of the gang members. The name "Cribs" generated into the name "Crips" when gang members began carrying around canes to display their "pimp" status. People in the neighborhood then began calling them cripples, or "Crips" for short. A Los Angeles Sentinel article in February 1972 referred to some members as "Crips" (for cripples). Some of these Crips sets began to produce and distribute PCP (phencyclidine) within the city. They also began to distribute marijuana and amphetamine in Los Angeles. In the early 1980s Crips sets began distributing crack cocaine in Los Angeles. The huge profits resulting from crack cocaine distribution induced many Crips members to establish new markets in other cities and states. In addition, many young men in other states adopted the Crips name and lifestyle. As a result of these two factors, Crips membership increased throughout the 1980s, making it one of the largest street gang associations in the country. a street gang infamous for its rivalry with the Crips.

Since then, other conflicts and feuds were started between many of the remaining sets of the Crips gang. It is a popular misconception that Crips sets feud only with Bloods. In reality, they fight each other — for example, the Rollin' 60s and 83rd Street Gangster Crips have been rivals since 1979. In Watts, Los Angeles, the Grape Street Watts Crips and the P Jay Crips have feuded so much that the P Jay Crips even teamed up with the local Bloods set, the Bounty Hunter Bloods, to fight against the Grape Street Crips.

Practices

The literacy practices of Crip's gang life generally include rapping, graffiti and substitutions and deletions of particular letters of the alphabet. The letter "b" in the word "blood" will be "disrespected" among certain sets and written with a cross inside it because of its association with the enemy. The letters "CK", which stand for "Crip killer", will be avoided and substituted with a double "cc", and the letter "b" will be replaced. The words "kick back" will instead be written as "kicc bkacc". Many other letters are also altered due to symbolic associations.

See also

Crip Walk

Crime in Los Angeles

*

References

Reference publications

Product no. 2002-M0465-001.

External links

History of Crip Gangs in LA early formation of Los Angeles Crips

PBS Independent Lens program on South Los Angeles gangs

Snopes Urban Legend – The origin of the name Crips

L.A.-based gangs – An overview of LA-based gangs

2008 interview with Raymond Washington's mother

Category:African American gangs Category:Gangs in New York City Category:History of Los Angeles, California Category:Modern street gangs Category:Gangs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Gangs in New Jersey Category:Gangs in Canada Category:Gangs in Los Angeles, California Category:Gangs in Detroit, Michigan Category:Gangs in Vancouver Category:Gangs in Toronto Category:Gangs in Arkansas Category:Gangs in Little Rock

Name	Snoop Dogg
|img	Snoop Dogg Hawaii.jpg
Born	October 20, 1971Long Beach, California, United States
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Cordozar Calvin Broadus
Alias	Snoop Doggy Dogg
Occupation	Rapper, actor, producer
Genre	Gangsta rapG-funkHip hopWest Coast hip hop
Years active	1991–present
Label	Death Row, No Limit, Capitol, Doggystyle, Geffen, EMI, Priority
Associated acts	Dr. Dre, B-Real, R. Kelly Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Nate Dogg, Pharrell, Tha Dogg Pound, Tha Eastsidaz, 213, Xzibit, Wiz Khalifa
Url

Cordozar Calvin Broadus (born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor. Snoop is best known as an MC in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school. Shortly after graduation, he was arrested for cocaine possession and spent six months in Wayside County Jail. His music career began in 1992 after his release when he was discovered by Dr. Dre. He collaborated on several tracks on Dre's solo debut, The Chronic and on the titular theme song to the film Deep Cover.

Snoop's debut album, Over the Counter, was released in 1991 and his second Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records. Doggystyle went quadruple platinum and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name" and "Gin & Juice". In 1996, Snoop Dogg was cleared of charges over his bodyguard's 1993 murder of Philip Woldemariam. His third album, 1996's Tha Doggfather, was his last release for Death Row before he signed with No Limit Records, where he recorded three albums from 1998 to 2001. Snoop then signed with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records in 2002, which released his album Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss, and then he signed with Geffen Records in 2004 for his next three albums.

In addition to music, Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows: Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood and Dogg After Dark. He also coaches a youth football league and high school football team. He has run into many legal troubles, some of which caused him to be legally banned from the UK and Australia, the UK ban was later reversed after a long legal battle. He is the cousin of emcees Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, RBX and Lil' ½ Dead and the cousin of R&B; singers Brandy and Ray J. Starting September 2009, Snoop was hired by EMI as the chairman of a reactivated Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland was released December 8, 2009.

Snoop Dogg collaborated with Rap Artist Mr. Capone-E in 2009 to produce the song 'Light My Fire'.

Life and career

Early life

Named after his step-father, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. (December 10, 1948 - November 9, 1985, Los Angeles, California), Calvin Broadus was born October 20, 1971 at the Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California, the second of three sons of Beverly Broadus (née Tate; born April 27, 1951, McComb, Mississippi). His father, Vernall Varnado (born December 13, 1949, Magnolia, Mississippi), Broadus' parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" as a child because of his appearance, but usually addressed him as Calvin at home. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975. At an early age, Broadus began singing in Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church and playing piano; when he was in sixth grade, he began rapping. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and was convicted for cocaine trafficking and served six months at the Wayside County Jail.

Snoop Dogg is a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang.

Doggystyle (1992–1995)

When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."

Tha Doggfather (1996-1997)

After Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder charges on February 20, 1996, he and the mother of his son and their kennel of 20 pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson as one of the record label's first artists.

However, by the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living (or sometimes just imitating) the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate 2Pac and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight.

Tha Doggfather, No Limit Top Dogg and Tha Last Meal (1998-2000)

Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told that year. His other albums from No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,503,865 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 1,000,000).

Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie Singh Is Kinng; the title of the song is also "Singh is Kinng". The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008 on Junglee Music Records.

He released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy).

filming the music video for "Mr. Romeo" (2010).]]

Malice n Wonderland and More Malice (2009-2010)

Snoop was appointed an executive position at Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland, was released on December 8, 2009. The first single from the album, "Gangsta Luv", featuring The-Dream, peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies its first week, making it his lowest charting album. His third single, "I Wanna Rock", peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Snoop features on the latest Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. The fourth single from Malice n Wonderland, titled "Pronto", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, was released on iTunes on December 1, 2009. Snoop re-released the album under the name More Malice.

Doggumentary Music (2010-present)

Snoop collaborated with Katy Perry on the first single from her second mainstream album, "California Gurls", which was released on May 11, 2010. Snoop can also be heard on the track "Flashing" by Dr. Dre and on Curren$y's song Seat Change. He was also featured on a new single from Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, titled "Get 'em Girls" (released September 2010). Snoop's latest effort was backing American recording artist, Emii, on her second single entitled "Mr. Romeo" (released October 26, 2010 as a follow-up to "Magic").

Snoop Dogg's next studio album will be a sequel to his 1993 classic Doggystyle, and producer Swizz Beatz is already giving him "sounds" for the project. "I'm in the studio with Swizzle, and he just laced my boots up on my new record," Snoop Dogg said while sitting next to Swizz. "Motherfucker gave me some gangsta shit, some crip shit, some R&B; shit, some hip hop shit, some hard shit, some mean shit. And the name of the album is Doggystyle 2: The Doggumentary, be on the look out for it." The album was renamed to Doggumentary Music and will be released during March 2011.

Other ventures

Media appearances

Snoop Dogg has appeared on television and in films throughout his career. In 1998, Snoop had a cameo appearance in the film Half Baked as the "Scavenger Smoker". In 2000, Snoop (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN Awards. Snoop then directed in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").

In 2001, Snoop lent his voice to the animated show King of the Hill, in which he played a white pimp named Alabaster Jones. He played a lead character in the movie The Wash with Dr. Dre. He portrayed a drug dealer in a wheelchair in the film Training Day, featuring Denzel Washington. In 2001, Snoop starred in the horror film Bones, with him playing a murdered mobster who returns from the dead to exact his revenge against those who murdered him.

In 2002, Snoop hosted, starred in, and produced his own MTV sketch comedy show entitled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Snoop was filmed for a brief cameo appearance in the television movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), but his performance was omitted from the final cut of the movie. On November 8, 2004, Snoop Dogg was starred in the episode "Two of a Kind" of NBC's series Las Vegas.

In 2004, Snoop appeared on the Showtime series The L Word as the character "Slim Daddy". He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the 1970s TV-series of the same name, Starsky & Hutch. He appeared as himself in the episode "MILF Money" of Weeds, and made an appearance on the TV shows Entourage and Monk, for which he recorded a version of the theme, in July 2007. with Ashley Massaro and tag team partner Maria]]

Snoop founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. Their debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G;, starring Lil Jon and Trina.

In December 2007, his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood premiered on the E! channel. Snoop Dogg joined the NBA's Entertainment League. On March 30, 2008 he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.

On May 8 and May 9, 2008, Snoop appeared as himself on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, with a new opening theme recorded by the artist presented for both episodes. In the episodes, Snoop performs at the bachelorette party for character Adriana Cramer, and credits Bo Buchanan with helping him get his start in show business. On February 24, 2010, Snoop Dogg reprised his role, performing his song "I Wanna Rock" from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, as well as once again performing a special remixed, vocal rendition of the show's opening theme. In recent interviews he has explained that, as a child, One Life to Live was one of his favorite shows, and he still regards the show fondly. He has also stated that he has always been a particular fan of Robert S. Woods, who has portrayed the character of Bo Buchanan since 1979.

In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno as himself performing a rap addition to the song "Dove Of Peace". On October 19, 2009, Snoop Dogg was the guest host of WWE Raw.

In July 2009, Snoop revealed his desire to appear in the popular soap opera Coronation Street whilst touring in the UK. However ITV bosses were said to be less keen.

In 2010, Snoop Dogg appeared in an episode of I Get That a Lot on CBS as a parking-lot attendant.

In June 2010, Snoop created a music video for True Blood accompanying a song he wrote for one of the main characters of the show entitled "Oh Sookie."

Endorsements

.]]

St. Ides

Snoop Dogg 40 Oz Malt liquor

Boost Mobile cell phone

Chrysler 300

Orbit Gum

Cal Worthington's Ford dealership in Long Beach, California

"Snoop Doggs" – foot-long hot dogs manufactured in Massachusetts, a joint venture with Platinum One Media

"Snoop Dogg Board Company (SDBC)" – skateboards and Luggage fabrication company (with Pentagon Distribution)

"Snooperbowl" and "Snoop Youth Football league"

"Chronic Candy" – candy that tastes like marijuana (from Switzerland and is currently banned in some cities of US)

Love Don't Live Here No More, Doggy Tales Vol.1 – love novel (co-written by David E. Talbert, published by Atria and Snoopadelic Films) ISBN 0-7432-7363-X Tha Doggfather : The Times, Trials, And Hardcore Truths Of Snoop Dogg – autobiography (published by William Morrow) Hardcover ISBN 0-688-17158-3, Paperback ISBN 0-06-107607-4

Fear & Respect (project cancelled as of March 1, 2006) – PlayStation 2 video game (developed by Midway Games)

"Doggy Biscuitz" – shoe brand (in partnership with Pony International)

"Snoop Dogg Clothing" – streetwear (distributed at Macy's)

"WRFF" – unique design scooters (in cooperation with Salton, Inc.) "Hip Hop Gaming League" – a celebrity online gaming competition (hosted by Global Gaming League) "Snoop Dogg figures" (Vital Toys, SOTA Toys)

"Snoop Dogg Boxing" – mobile phone game (Sony Pictures Mobile)

"Snoop Dogg Pet Accessory Line" (in conjunction with Jakks Pacific) Snoop Dogg is a celebrity voice of a Tom Tom GPS navigation system. He stated on George Lopez's talk show Lopez Tonight that he is tired of hearing directions from the same woman. In August 2008, Snoop Dogg announced the launch of a new streetwear line called Rich & Infamous, via a partnership with Robert Thorne Co. The line was unveiled during the Magic Tradeshow in Las Vegas. "Hack is Wack" - Promoting Norton AntiVirus. "Coffee Cup With A Cause" with 7 Eleven. "Serious Pimp" clothing line. "iFizzle" iPhone Application. "Vybe Mobile" "Pepsi Max" - Zero Calories

Style and rap skills

Kool Moe Dee ranks Snoop at #33 in his book There's a God on the Mic, and says he has "an ultra-smooth, laidback delivery", and "flavor-filled melodic rhyming". Peter Shapiro describes Snoop's delivery as a "molasses drawl" and Allmusic notes his "drawled, laconic rhyming" style.

Snoop is known to freestyle some of his lyrics on the spot for some songs - in the book How to Rap, Lady of Rage says, "Snoop Dogg, when I worked with him earlier in his career, that's how created his stuff... he would freestyle, he wasn't a writer then, he was a freestyler," and D.O.C. states, "Snoop's [rap] was a one take willy, but his shit was all freestyle. He hadn't written nothing down. He just came in and started busting. The song was "The Shiznit" - [that was all freestyle]. He started busting and when we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus and told Snoop to come back in. He did that throughout the record. That's when Snoop was in the zone then."

Peter Shapiro says that Snoop debuted on "Deep Cover" with a "shockingly original flow - which sounded like a Slick Rick born in South Carolina instead of South London" and adds that he "showed where his style came from by covering Slick Rick's 'La Di Da Di'". as well as 'linking with rhythm' in his compound rhymes, using alliteration, and employing a "sparse" flow with good use of pauses.

Legal issues

While recording Doggystyle in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed by Snoop's bodyguard, McKinley Lee; Snoop was charged with murder along with Lee as he was driving the vehicle from which the shooting had commenced. Snoop and Lee were defended by Johnnie Cochran. Both Snoop and Lee were acquitted; Lee was acquitted on grounds of self-defense, but Snoop Dogg remained entangled in the legal battles around the case for three years. In July 1993, Snoop was stopped for a traffic violation and a firearm was found by police while conducting a search of his car. In February 1997, he pled guilty to one count of being an ex-felon in possession of a handgun and was ordered to record three public service announcements, pay a $1,000 fine, and serve three years' probation. Twice, in May 1998 and October 2001, Snoop Dogg was fined and arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession. In 2002 he pleaded no contest to the charge from 2001 and was fined a total of $398.30 and received a suspended 30-day jail sentence.

Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and The Game were sued for assaulting a fan on stage at a May 2005 concert at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington. The accuser, Richard Monroe, Jr., claimed he was beaten by the artists' entourage while mounting the stage. He alleged that he reacted to an "open invite" to come on stage. Before he could, Snoop’s bodyguards grabbed him and he was beaten unconscious by crewmembers, including the rapper and producer Soopafly; Snoop and The Game were included in the suit for not intervening. The lawsuit focuses on a pecuniary claim of $22 million in punitive and compensatory damages, battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The concerned parties appeared in court in April 2009.

On April 26, 2006, Snoop Dogg and members of his entourage were arrested after being turned away from British Airways' first class lounge at Heathrow Airport. Snoop and his party were not allowed to enter the lounge because some of the entourage were flying first class, other members in economy class. After the group was escorted outside, they vandalized a duty-free shop by throwing whiskey bottles. Seven police officers were injured in the midst of the disturbance. After a night in prison, Snoop and the other men were released on bail on April 27, but he was unable to perform at the Premier Foods People's Concert in Johannesburg on the same day. As part of his bail conditions, he had to return to the police station in May. The group has been banned by British Airways for "the foreseeable future." When Snoop Dogg appeared at a London police station on May 11, he was cautioned for affray under Section 4 of the Public Order Act for use of threatening words or behavior. On May 15, the Home Office decided that Snoop Dogg should be denied entry to the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future due to the incident at Heathrow as well as his previous convictions in the United States for drugs and firearms offenses. Snoop Dogg's visa card was rejected by local authorities on March 24, 2007 because of the Heathrow incident. A concert at London's Wembley Arena on March 27 went ahead with Diddy (with whom he toured Europe) and the rest of the show. However the decision affected four more British performances in Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow and Budapest (due to rescheduling). As of March 2010, Snoop Dogg has been allowed back into the UK.

Snoop Dogg was arrested again on October 26, 2006 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California while parked in a passenger loading zone. Approached by airport security for a traffic infraction, he was found in possession of marijuana and a firearm, according to a police statement. He was transported to Burbank Police Department Jail, booked, and released on $35,000 bond. He faced firearm and drug possession charges on December 12 at Burbank Superior Court. He was again arrested on November 29, 2006, after performing on The Tonight Show, for possession of marijuana and a firearm.

Snoop was arrested again on March 12, 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden after performing in a concert with P. Diddy in Stockholm's Globe Arena after he and a female companion reportedly "reeked" of marijuana. They were released four hours later after providing a urine sample. Pending results on urine will determine whether charges will be pressed. However the rapper denied all charges.

On April 26, 2007, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship banned him from entering the country on character grounds, citing his prior criminal convictions. He had been scheduled to appear at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards on April 29, 2007. Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship lifted the ban in September 2008 and had granted him visa to tour Australia. DIAC said "In making this decision, the department weighed his criminal convictions against his previous behaviour while in Australia, recent conduct – including charity work – and any likely risk to the Australian community ... We took into account all relevant factors and, on balance, the department decided to grant the visa."

Snoop Dogg's many legal issues forced San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to withdraw his plan to issue a proclamation to the rapper.

Snoop Dogg was banned from Parkpop, a festival in the Netherlands on June 27, 2010 which he was scheduled to perform at. The mayor and law enforcement officials asked organizers of the festival to find an artist more “open and friendly” to play the event.

Personal life

Broadus's father left the family when Broadus was three months old. Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Shante, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008. R&B; singers Brandy and Ray J are his first cousins. In 2002, the rapper announced he was giving up marijuana, one of his image trademarks, for good. According to his IMDb biography, Snoop is a fan of the thrash metal band Metallica and performed their song "Sad But True" on the band's 2003 MTV Icon Special which is available on YouTube. A DNA test read by George Lopez on Lopez Tonight revealed Snoop Dogg to be of 0% East Asian, 23% Native American, 6% European, and 71% African descent.

Snoop is an avid fan of hometown teams Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Snoop is also an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. and is often seen wearing Pittsburgh Steelers apparel. Snoop has mentioned that his love for the Steelers began in the 1970s during the team's dynasty years while watching the team with his grandfather growing up in L.A. In the 2005 offseason, Snoop mentioned that he wanted to be an NFL head coach, "probably for the Steelers". The following year, he was in attendance for the Steelers' victory in Super Bowl XL and later in Super Bowl XLIII. He was also a fan of the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, often wearing a #5 jersey, and has been seen in Raiders training camps. He did his own free style rap based on his similarities with Tony Romo. He has also shown affection for the New England Patriots, as he has been seen performing at the Gillette Stadium and picked the Patriots as the favorite to win Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles. On August 6, 2009, Snoop visited the training camp of the Baltimore Ravens at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He was invited by Ray Lewis the day after his concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

A certified football coach, Snoop Dogg has been head coach for his son's youth football teams and the John A. Rowland High School team.

Snoop Dogg is an avid hockey fan; he sported a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey (with the name and number 'GIN AND JUICE' 94 on the back) and a jersey of the now-defunct Springfield (MA) Indians of the American Hockey League in his 1994 music video, "Gin And Juice". On the E! show, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, Snoop Dogg and his family received lessons on playing hockey from the Anaheim Ducks, then returning to the Honda Center to cheer on the Ducks against the Vancouver Canucks in the episode Snow in da Hood.

In 2009, it was revealed that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, 2009, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop claimed to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but he declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.

He popularized the catch-phrase suffix , which had been in use for decades, but not nearly to the extent that it is now, particularly in the pop and hip hop music industry.

Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who've superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying "That shit was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin' layups for me. I was makin' 'em every time." He goes on to say that upon the advice on some of the other pimps he knew, he eventually gave up pimping to spend more time with his family.

Discography

Doggystyle (1993)

Tha Doggfather (1996)

Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)

No Limit Top Dogg (1999)

Tha Last Meal (2000)

Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)

(2004)

Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)

Ego Trippin' (2008)

Malice n Wonderland (2009)

Doggumentary Music (2011)

Filmography

1994: Murder Was the Case (Platinum)

1998: Caught Up

1998: Half Baked (cameo appearance)

1998: Da Game of Life

1998: Hot Boyz

1998: Ride

1999: Whiteboyz

1999: Urban Menace

2000: Tha Eastsidaz

2000: ''Up in Smoke Tour

2001: Baby Boy

2001: Training Day

2001: King of the Hill (voice)

2001: Bones

2001: The Wash

2003: Malibu's Most Wanted

2003: Old School

2004: Starsky & Hutch

2004: Soul Plane

2004: Volcano High

2005: Boss'n Up

2005: Racing Stripes (voice)

2006: The Tenants

2006: Weeds: Himself

2006: Hood of Horror

2007: Arthur and the Minimoys (voice)

2007: Monk

* During the opening credits, he covered the title song by Randy Newman "It's a Jungle out There".

2007: The Boondocks

2008: Singh Is Kinng (as Himself)

2008: Snoop Dogg's Father Hood (as Himself)

2009: (voice)

2009: Dogg After Dark: Himself

2009: (voice)

2009: Brüno (cameo appearance)

2009: Falling Up

2010: ''Down for Life

2010: ''One Life to Live as Calvin Broadus

2010: Straight Outta L.A. (as Himself)

2010:

2010: Big Time Rush

Awards

Snoop Dogg was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Music samples

{| | | |- | | |}

See also

Izzle

List of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom, a list Snoop Dogg is on

Further reading

References

External links

Official website

Snoop Dogg at Geffen Records

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2010s singers Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:Native American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American film producers Category:American male singers Category:American voice actors Category:Crips Category:Death Row Records artists Category:Geffen Records artists Category:G-funk Category:E1 Music artists Category:Members of the Nation of Islam Category:No Limit Records artists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Priority Records artists Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California * Category:Star Trak Entertainment artists Category:American rappers of European descent Category:People acquitted of murder

Name	Lil Wayne
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Born	September 27, 1982New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Instrument	Vocals, Guitars
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, CEO
Years active	1992–present
Associated acts	Big Tymers, Birdman, Drake, Cash Money Millionaires, Hot Boys, Juelz Santana, Kevin Rudolf, T-Pain, Young Money, Eminem
Label	Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Motown
Url

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.

Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B; singles.

His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 which went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album, Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8 month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in jail he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist.

Early life

Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter was born when his mother, a chef, was 19 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 13, he accidentally shot himself with a .44 caliber gun, with the bullet missing his heart by two inches.

Music career

1997–99: The Hot Boys

In 1997, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 15, Carter was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, Carter was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded. It reached No. 3 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

Carter's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and was certified 2x platinum, climbing to No. 3 on the Billboard album charts. and also became a Top Ten hit. Critics pointed to the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot Boys. The lead single was "Get Off The Corner" which was noticed for an improvement in lyrical content and style, it also received a music video. The second single which received less attention was "Shine" featuring The Hot Boys. Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "1# Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile, which rose to 24th place on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

In 2001, Lil Wayne was shot in the chest in Florida after "some groupies" fired two shots through his tour bus window. He recalled the incident in 2008 interview: 'It [the bullet] 'didn’t go all the way in, ’cause the window slowed it down.' The lead single was "Way Of Life" which like the album failed to match the success of his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez, he was featured in the single "Neva Get Enuf" by 3LW.

2004–07: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II and collaborations

In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes. In addition, the album's cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature dreadlocks. After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured in Destiny's Child's single "Soldier" with T.I., which peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B; Charts. The song Get Something (featuring Mannie Fresh) was supposed to appear on the album but failed to make the cut, however the music video was released.

Tha Carter II, the follow-up to the original Tha Carter album, was released in December 2005, this time without production by longtime Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh, who had since left the label. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell 2,000,000 copies world wide. The lead single, "Fireman," became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other singles included "Grown Man", "Hustler Muzik", and "Shooter" (featuring R&B; singer Robin Thicke). Lil Wayne also appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino's "Tell Me", which rose to No. 13 on the U.S. R&B; Charts.

In 2005, Lil Wayne was named president of Cash Money, and in the same year he founded Young Money Entertainment as an imprint of Cash Money. However, as of late 2007, Lil Wayne reported that he has stepped down from the management of both labels and has handed management of Young Money over to Cortez Bryant.

on July 23, 2007]]

In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for the album Like Father, Like Son, whose first single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Instead of a follow-up solo album, Lil Wayne reached his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop and hip-hop singles. and Vibe

Despite no album release for two years, Lil Wayne appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, "You" by Lloyd, and "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled (also featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, and Birdman), "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle, "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean (also featuring Akon), and the remix to "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled (also featuring T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross). All these singles charted within the top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Rap Tracks, and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs charts. On Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna, Lil Wayne appeared on the singles "100 Million" and "I Run This" among several other tracks. Wayne also appeared on tracks from albums Getback by Little Brother, American Gangster by Jay-Z, and Graduation by Kanye West and Insomniac by Enrique Iglesias. "Make it Rain", a Scott Storch production that peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 2008.

Vibe magazine ranked a list of 77 of Lil Wayne's songs from 2007 and ranked his verse in DJ Khaled's "We Takin Over" as his best of 2007, with "Dough Is What I Got" (a freestyle over the beat of Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got") from Da Drought 3 the second song. The New Yorker magazine ranked him "Rapper of the Year", In 2008 he was named "Best Rock Star Alive" by Blender magazine

2008–09: Tha Carter III and We Are Young Money

Initially planned to be released in 2007, Tha Carter III's largest delay came after the majority of the tracks were leaked and distributed on mixtapes, such as "The Drought Is Over Pt. 2" and "The Drought Is Over Pt. 4". Lil Wayne initially decided to use the leaked tracks, plus four new tracks, to make a separate album, titled The Leak. The Leak was to be released December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until March 18, 2008, The release of The Leak in this format never came to fruition, but an official EP titled The Leak and containing five tracks was released digitally on December 25, 2007.

Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005. The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static became the rapper's most commercially successful song at that point, topping the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a solo artist, as well as his first No. 1 on the chart. His third single from Carter III', "Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 100. Along with his album singles, Lil Wayne appeared on R&B; singles "Girls Around the World" by Lloyd, "Love In This Club, Part II" by Usher, "Official Girl" by Cassie, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Turnin' Me On" by Keri Hilson, and "Can't Believe It" by T-Pain; rap singles "My Life" by The Game, "Shawty Say" by David Banner, "Swagga Like Us" by T.I., "Cutty Buddy" by Mike Jones, All My Life (In the Ghetto) by Jay Rock and the remix to "Certified" by Glasses Malone; and pop single "Let It Rock" by new Cash Money artist Kevin Rudolf. On July 14, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Tha Carter III two times platinum. In an October 2008 interview with MTV News, Lil Wayne announced plans to re-release this album with all new tracks, including a duet with Ludacris and remixes of "A Milli". concert in Vancouver in January 2009.]]

The lineup for New Orleans' 2008 Voodoo Experience concert, held in October, featured Lil Wayne. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard magazine reported that the event would mark his biggest hometown headlining set of his career. Lil Wayne stated that he would reunite with Hot Boys alongside Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. They plan to release an album after B.G.'s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood was completed. Wayne also performed as the 2008 Virgin Mobile Music Fest with Kanye West, performing the remix of "Lollipop" with West and also lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Lil Wayne also performed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards with Kid Rock ("All Summer Long"), Leona Lewis ("DontGetIt (Misunderstood)") and T-Pain ("Got Money"). On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, he performed "Lollipop" and "Got Money". He later performed at the homecoming rally at Vanderbilt University and the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards with 12 nominations. He won the "MVP" title at the BET Hip Hop Awards and seven others. It was revealed that M.I.A. dropped out of performing on the tour due to her pregnancy, however Jay-Z is expected to perform with Wayne on the song "Mr. Carter" at select shows.

On November 11, 2008, Wayne became the first hip-hop act to ever perform at the Country Music Association Awards. He played alongside Kid Rock for the song, "All Summer Long", in which Wayne did not rap but instead inaudibly strummed guitar strings alongside the guitarist in Kid Rock's band. Shortly after, Wayne was nominated for eight Grammys – the most for any artist nominated that year. Wayne was then named the first ever MTV Man of the Year at the end of 2008. He won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli", Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his appearance in T.I.'s single "Swagga Like Us", and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Tha Carter III won the award for Best Rap Album.

DJ Drama stated that there would be a third installation of the Dedication mixtape series with Lil Wayne, who insisted that it will would be a full album under the title. However despite the fact Wayne wanted to release Dedication 3 as an album, it was released as a mixtape on November 14, 2008.

MTV listed Lil Wayne number two on their 2009 list of the Hottest MCs In The Game.

On December 23, 2009, Wayne released a collaboration album with Young Money, with the first single confirmed as "Every Girl". The second single is "BedRock", featuring Lloyd. The third single is "Roger That". On May 24, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold.

Wayne is featured on the song, "Revolver", with Madonna for her 2009 greatest hits album, Celebration. He was also featured on a Weezer song, "Can't Stop Partying", on their 2009 album, Raditude.

2008–present: Rebirth, I Am Not a Human Being, and Tha Carter IV

In late 2008, Wayne stated that he would re-release The Carter III with leftover tracks and call it Rebirth, several months later, however, he announced Rebirth would instead release as his debut rock album, maintaining its title as Rebirth. To support the release of Rebirth and a collaboration album with Young Money Entertainment, Wayne headlined the 'Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Music Festival'... a United States and Canada–only concert tour which started on July 29, 2009. The Rebirth album was originally scheduled for a April 7, 2009 release, however after numerous delays, the album was released on February 2, 2010. For the anticipation of Rebirth, Wayne was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

"Prom Queen", the first official single, debuted on January 27, 2009 immediately after a live Internet broadcast on Ustream of his concert in San Diego. "Prom Queen" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. On December 3, 2009, Lil Wayne's second single from the album, "On Fire", was released on iTunes. "On Fire" was produced by Cool & Dre with Lil Wayne playing the guitar with the aid of Pro Tools. "On Fire" peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. "Drop the World", which features Eminem, is the third single from the album. Following Tha Carter III's achievement of selling over 2 million copies, becoming 2008's best-selling record, Wayne re-signed with Cash Money Records for a multi-album deal. Wayne said Tha Carter IV will be released in 2009 just before the holidays. Birdman had previously stated that Tha Carter IV would be packaged with Rebirth as a double disc album. However, Wayne denied this idea saying that "Tha Carter IV deserves Tha Carter IV". He went on to say that We Are Young Money may be packaged with Rebirth. However, it was later confirmed that Rebirth and We Are Young Money will be released separately and that Tha Carter IV will be released during 2011. He started from scratch on Tha Carter IV since getting released from jail. He recorded his first track since being released from jail and it was described as being "a 2010 version of A Milli'' on steroids." The album is set to feature multiple guests, including Tech N9ne. The album will be released February 2011. The first single "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Cory Gunz was released on December 15, 2010. It was available for digital download on iTunes December 16, 2010. The song is produced by Bangladesh, who also produced Lil Wayne's single A Milli in 2008. Tha Carter IV is expected for release in Winter 2011.

Future projects

He has announced several possible upcoming projects, including a collaboration album I Can't Feel My Face with rapper Juelz Santana that has been in production for several years. He has discussed a possible R&B; album titled Luv Sawngz, for which he will heavily rely on a vocoder. He has also talked with singer Lloyd about doing a collaboration album in the future. On June 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and T-Pain formed a duo called T-Wayne and planned to release an album. On June 8, 2010, Drake confirmed that he and Wayne are planning to release a joint album in the future. Lil Wayne and Baby will release a second Like Father, Like Son album around Fathers Day 2011. Wayne and Drake will release a collaboration album sometime in the near future.

Television and film career

Lil Wayne was a guest debater going up against Skip Bayless on the "1st & 10" segment on the January 6, 2009 edition of ESPN First Take. On February 10, 2009 he also appeared on ESPN's Around the Horn and beat out veterans Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti and fellow New Orleanian Michael Smith to win that show's episode. Wayne is set to produce and compose music for the film Hurricane Season. A documentary of Lil Wayne titled The Carter was released at the Sundance Film Festival. Prior to the 2009 Grammy Awards, Wayne was featured in an interview with Katie Couric. He then appeared on an April 24 episode of The View – talking about his GED and addictions. In September 2009, Wayne was profiled in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music and was a presenter of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

Personal life

Family

Lil Wayne has four children. His first child, daughter Reginae, was born when he was 15, Internet rumours started circulating in August 2008 that Wayne's daughter had died in a car crash, which however he quickly cleared up as false saying "Please allow me to dispel any rumors or speculations and report that my daughter is alive, healthy and surrounded by family who care and love her dearly. The rumors are completely false and unfounded; neither Reginae nor any other member of my family has been involved in any car accident." His second child, Dwayne III, was then born on October 22, 2008 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. His third child, Lennox Samuel Ari, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009. He had his fourth child, Neal, on November 30, 2009 with singer Nivea.

In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now". He also revealed on The View that he switched to the University of Phoenix and majored in psychology taking online courses. An article in Urb magazine in March 2007 asserted that Wayne had been earning high grades at Houston.

Sports and musical interests

In an interview with Blender magazine, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite bands from childhood to be rock group Nirvana, and cites them as a major influence in his music.

On September 24, 2008, Lil Wayne published his first blog for ESPN in their issue, ESPN The Magazine. Wayne revealed he was a fan of tennis, the Green Bay Packers, the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Red Sox. Wayne has continued writing for ESPN, notably reporting at the ESPN Super Bowl party.

Lil Wayne made his debut on ESPN's daily sports round table show Around The Horn on February 10, 2009.

Along with Mack Maine, Wayne was in attendance of Game 3 of the opening round NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the home team New Orleans Hornets on April 25, 2009.

Religion

Lil Wayne is a practicing Christian, who takes time to read the Bible regularly. He then asked the Newark crowd if they also believed, and they responded affirmatively with a roar.

According to his Rikers Island inmate ID and prison records, Wayne is specifically a Roman Catholic.

Philanthropy

On February 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and Cortez Bryant revisited their alma mater McMain Secondary School to get students to design an invitation to the gala introducing Lil Wayne's nonprofit One Family Foundation. The website Change.org states: "The mission of One Family Foundation, Inc. is to empower urban youth by engaging them in opportunities to cultivate their talents and skills, educating them to become productive and economically self-sufficient, and motivating them to dream beyond their circumstances."

Drug use and arrests

Wayne told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on her All Access Grammy Special in 2009 that he enjoys smoking marijuana recreationally. He also stated that he is "not addicted" to drinking purple drank (codeine cough syrup) any longer, like some claimed he was. He has been arrested for use or possession of marijuana and other drugs.

Following a performance at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho, Lil Wayne was arrested October 5, 2007 on felony fugitive charges after Georgia authorities accused the rapper of possessing a controlled substance. The incident was later described as a "mix-up" and the fugitive charges were dropped.

On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered of marijuana, almost of cocaine, of MDMA, and $22,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with four felonies: possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted permission to travel outside of the state and remain out of custody on the $10,185 bond he posted. On May 6, 2008, Wayne returned to court in Arizona to plead not guilty to the charges. A bench warrant was issued on March 17, 2010 when Lil Wayne didn't show for a final trial management conference. However, the rapper was already in prison, serving a year-long sentence in Rikers on weapons charges. On June 22, 2010 Wayne plead guilty to the charges. As part of the plea deal he may serve 36 months of probation. On June 30, 2010, he was sentenced to 3 years probation.

On December 18, 2009, Wayne and 11 others were detained at the Falfurrias, Texas border patrol checkpoint after an unknown amount of marijuana was found on two of his tour buses.

New York weapon case

On July 22, 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested in New York City following a performance at the Beacon Theatre; the New York City Police Department discovered Lil Wayne and another man smoking marijuana near a tour bus. After taking Lil Wayne into custody, police discovered a .40 caliber pistol on his person. The gun, which was registered to his manager, was in a bag located near the rapper. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana.

On October 22, 2009, Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He was due for sentencing in February 2010 and was expected to receive a one-year jail sentence, but on February 9, 2010, Lil Wayne's attorney announced that the sentencing was delayed until March 2 due to dental surgery, which was performed on February 16. The surgery included eight root canals, the replacement of several tooth implants, as well as the addition of a few new implants and work on his remaining original teeth.

On March 2, 2010, sentencing was postponed again when the courthouse reported a fire in the basement.

On March 8, 2010, Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison, which he served in Rikers Island. His lawyer said the rapper expected to be held in protective custody, separated from other prisoners. He was released on good behavior. However, in May 2010 Wayne was found by Rikers Island correctional staff to be in possession of contraband (an MP3 player, charger, and headphones). However at that time, it was reported by MTV and HipHopDX (and later confirmed) that Lil Wayne was to be released four months early in November.

In April 2010, Lil Wayne's friends created a website called Weezy Thanx You, which publishes letters written by Wayne in prison. In the first letter, titled "Gone 'til November", the rapper described his daily routine, saying he works out a lot, and reads the Bible every day.

Lawsuits

In February 2009, production company RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against Wayne, following a $100,000 advance payment for three shows, all of which were cancelled by the artist.

On October 2009, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Cash Money Records and various music distribution outlets were sued for copyright infringement by Thomas Marasciullo, who claims his voice was used without permission. The rappers asked him to record some "Italian-styled spoken word recordings" in 2006. The lyrics were allegedly used on "Respect" and other tracks from the rappers' collaboration album Like Father, Like Son and Birdman's 5 * Stunna.

Public references by Barack Obama

Lil Wayne has been referenced in public speeches by President Barack Obama on at least two occasions, in mixed contexts. Speaking to a largely African-American audience during a general election campaign town hall speech in Georgia, then-U.S. Senator Obama exhorted children to stay in school and achieve their dreams through education and perseverance instead of hoping for shortcuts to fame and riches, stating: "You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school."

After assuming the Presidency, Obama later echoed this theme of personal and familial responsibility—and the difficulty of achieving Lil Wayne's lyrical skills or success—during an address to a meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, telling the audience:}}

Obama also mentioned listening to Lil Wayne on his iPod:

Discography

; Studio albums

1999: Tha Block Is Hot

2000: Lights Out

2002: 500 Degreez

2004: Tha Carter

2005: Tha Carter II

2008: Tha Carter III

2010: Rebirth

2010: I Am Not a Human Being

2011: Tha Carter IV

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

Lil Wayne at MTV

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:21st-century American criminals Category:African-American Catholics Category:African American rappers Category:American dance musicians Category:American shooting survivors Category:Cash Money Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:University of Houston alumni Category:World Music Awards winners

Subject name	Stanley Tookie Williams III
Image name	Stanley 'Tookie' Williams mugshot.jpg
Birth date	December 29, 1953
Birth place	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Death date	December 13, 2005
Death place	San Quentin Prison, California, U.S.
Charge	First degree murder with special circumstance
Conviction penalty	Death Penalty
Conviction status	Executed
Occupation	Convicted murderer

Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was the co-founder of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which had its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1971. In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, and he remained in prison for the rest of his life. Later on in his life, he became an author of several books including anti-gang and violence literature and children's books.

Williams refused to help police investigate his gang, and was implicated in attacks on guards and women, as well as multiple escape plots. In 1993, Williams began making changes in his behavior, and became an anti-gang activist while on Death Row in California. He renounced his gang affiliation and apologized for his role in founding the Crips. He also co-wrote children's books and participated in efforts intended to prevent youths from joining gangs. A biographical TV-movie entitled was made in 2004, and featured Jamie Foxx as Williams.

On December 13, 2005, Williams was executed by lethal injection after clemency and a four-week stay of execution were both rejected by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, amidst debate over the death penalty and whether Williams' anti-gang advocacy in prison represented genuine atonement for his crimes or were just a way to escape execution. Williams was the second inmate in California to be executed in 2005.

Founding of the Crips

Williams met Raymond Washington in 1968, at John C. Fremont Senior High, who was from the east side of South Central, while Williams was from the west side of that neighborhood. They formed an alliance known first as the "Cribs," later changed to "Crips." (Ray Washington was killed in August 1979; his funeral took place on his birthday). The purpose for creating the gang initially was to eliminate all street gangs and create a "bull force" neighborhood watch. Williams said: "We started out—at least my intent was to, in a sense, address all of the so-called neighboring gangs in the area and to put, in a sense—I thought 'I can cleanse the neighborhood of all these, you know, marauding gangs.' But I was totally wrong. And eventually, we morphed into 60's Crips the monster we were addressing." washington was the founder of the crips but not for eliminating all other gangs but to protect them selves from the coruption of the police force and the racism

Crimes

In 1979 Williams was convicted of murder, in two separate incidents. Williams always maintained his innocence, though subsequent court reviews concluded that there was no compelling reason to grant a retrial.

Court transcripts state that Williams met with a man who is only identified in court documents as "Darryl" late on Tuesday evening, February 28, 1979. Williams introduced Darryl to a friend of his, Alfred Coward, a.k.a. "Blackie," a reference to his dark colored skin.

A short time after the initial meeting, Darryl, driving a brown station wagon and accompanied by Williams, drove to the home of James Garret. Williams frequently stayed with Garret, and kept some of his personal effects at that location including a 12-gauge shotgun. Williams went into the Garret residence, and in about ten minutes returned with the shotgun.

The three men then went to the home of Tony Sims in Pomona, California, where they discussed where they could go to make some money. Afterward, they went to another residence, where Williams left the others for a period of time. Upon returning, Williams produced a .22 caliber pistol, which he placed in the station wagon. Darryl and Williams got into the station wagon, Coward and Sims got into another vehicle, and shortly thereafter they were on the freeway.

Botched robbery

Both vehicles exited the freeway in the vicinity of Whittier Boulevard, where they drove to a nearby Stop-N-Go market. Darryl and Sims, at the request of Williams, entered the store with the apparent intention of robbing it. Darryl was carrying the .22 pistol that Williams had deposited in the station wagon earlier. Darryl also had an AK-47 assault rifle in the trunk of the car, along with two semi-automatic handguns.

The clerk at the Stop-N-Go market, Johnny Garcia, had just finished mopping the floor when he observed a station wagon and four black men at the door to the market. Two of the men entered the market. One of the men went down an aisle while the other approached Garcia.

The man that approached Garcia asked for a cigarette. Garcia gave the man a cigarette and lit it for him. After approximately three to four minutes, both men left the market without carrying out the planned robbery

The 7-Eleven murder

Transcripts show that next Coward and Sims followed Williams and Darryl to the 7-Eleven market located at 10437 Whittier Boulevard, in Whittier, California. The store clerk, twenty-six year old Albert Lewis Owens, was sweeping the store at 7:42 p.m. in the parking lot. When Darryl and Sims entered the 7-Eleven, Owens put the broom and dustpan he was using on the hood of his car and followed them into the store. Williams and Coward then followed Owens into the store. Court records show that as Darryl and Sims walked to the counter area to take money from the register, Williams walked behind Owens, pulled the shotgun from under his jacket and told Owens to "shut up and keep walking."

Conviction

Stanley Williams was convicted in 1979 of all four murders with special circumstances on each count of felony murder (robbery) as well as multiple murder in the case of the Brookhaven event. The jury also convicted him of robbery in both cases, and found that he personally used a firearm in the commission of the crimes. The jury recommended the death penalty, and the judge accepted the recommendation and sentenced him to death.

From the beginning of his sentence, Williams maintained his innocence regarding the four murders, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, exclusion of exculpatory evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, biased jury selection, and the misuse of jailhouse and government informants. Williams claimed that the police found "not a shred of tangible evidence, no fingerprints, no crime scenes of bloody boot prints. They didn't match my boots, nor eyewitnesses. Even the shotgun shells found conveniently at each crime scene didn't match the shotgun shells that I owned." However, the prosecution's firearms expert, a sheriff's deputy, testified during trial that the shotgun shell recovered from the Yang murder crime scene matched test shells from the shotgun owned by Stanley Williams. No second examiner verified his findings. The Defense claims this expert's methodology was "junk science at best."

Williams' gun was found in the home of a couple with whom he occasionally stayed. According to the District Attorney, the husband was undergoing sentencing for receiving stolen property and tried for extortion. Williams' lawyers have claimed that the District Attorney quashed a murder investigation in exchange for their testimony. The two shells recovered from the Owens crime scene were consistent with shells fired from this gun, with no exclusionary markings. The shell recovered from the Yang crime scene was conclusively matched to Williams' weapon "to the exclusion of all other firearms."

The prosecution removed three blacks from serving as jurors in Williams' trial. Williams' lawyers claimed that he was convicted by a jury that had no blacks, one Latino, one Filipino-American, and ten caucasians. The District Attorney provided proof, however, in the form of a death certificate and the sworn affidavit of another juror, that juror #12, William James McLurkin, was black.

Williams threatens jurors

In the Court of Appeals summary of the case, Williams stated that various jurors misconstrued as a threat a question that he asked defense counsel at the close of the guilt phase. The trial record shows that after the jurors returned their guilty verdicts, Williams said, 'Sons of bitches,' in a voice sufficiently loud that the court reporter included this statement in the trial transcript. "On the day that the jury began its penalty-phase deliberations, an alternate juror reported to the bailiff that he was going to get all of them."

Prison life

As inmate CDC# C29300 at San Quentin State Prison Williams spent 6½ years in solitary confinement in the late 1980s for multiple assaults on guards and fellow inmates. According to a classification report found on page 8 of filings by his lawyers during the clemency proceedings dated August 5, 2004, Williams had no violations since that time. The prison official had observed no gang activity and complimented Williams on his behavior for the last ten years.

Challenges to the conviction

Appeals

Williams appealed his conviction in the state courts, and filed a petition in the federal courts for habeas corpus relief. The State courts affirmed the conviction. The lower federal court denied the habeas petition. In 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard Williams' appeal from the lower federal court. The appellate court denied Williams' appeal in 2002, but noted that the federal courts were not his only forum for relief and that he could request clemency from the Governor of California.

Activist response and community reaction

In late 2005, a campaign began to urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant clemency for Williams in consideration of his work as an anti-gang activist and asserted "redemption." Thousands of people signed online petitions calling for Schwarzenegger to commute the death sentence. Those who campaigned against the execution included celebrities, politicians, and Nobel laureates. In early November, 2005, Williams' attorneys filed his formal petition for executive clemency, as well as a motion to obtain new evidence. (See below for the full text of the documents filed in these proceedings.)

The state, through the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, opposed the clemency petition. The Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, and other law enforcement groups disputed that Williams had in fact reformed, saying that he refused to divulge information on other gang members, or debrief officials on the tactics and communication methods that gangs use. Williams said he didn't want to be a "snitch."

The clemency petition emphasized the theme of Williams' redemption, rather than his claim of actual innocence. At least one commentator felt this strategy was flawed: San Francisco Chronicle writer Bob Egelko noted doubts stated by the courts handling the appeals and quoted Austin Sarat, professor of law and politics at Amherst College in Massachusetts and author of Mercy on Trial, a book about clemency: "It's [actual innocence] about the only ground in which governors grant clemency in the modern period...I know of no case in which a death row inmate has been spared (solely) on the basis of post-conviction rehabilitation."

On December 8, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger held a clemency hearing. The one-hour, closed-door meeting took place as a crowd consisting of both supporters of Williams and proponents of capital punishment congregated outside the Capitol in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger described the decision whether to grant clemency as "the toughest thing when you are governor, dealing with someone's life."

While the clemency petition was pending before the governor, Williams also filed further appeals in the courts. On November 30, 2005, the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, refused to reopen Williams' case.. On December 11, 2005, the California Supreme Court denied Williams' request for a stay of execution. Supporters of Williams also made another plea directly to Governor Schwarzenegger to stay the execution.

Also during this period, the media, community organizations, and relatives of the victims were speaking out. In mid-November 2005, talk show hosts John and Ken of the John and Ken Show on Clear Channel's KFI radio in Los Angeles, California started a "Tookie Must Die (For Killing Four Innocent People)" hour on their show daily until the execution of Williams. In the hour, they interviewed advocates of both sides of the issue and expressed their support of the impending execution.

Many anti-death penalty and civil rights organizations around the country organized activist campaigns to stop the execution, including the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the NAACP, A.N.S.W.E.R., and others. Tookie's friend, co-author and political collaborator, Barbara Becnel, helped to spearhead much of the organizing. Celebrities also joined the fight, including Snoop Dogg, who appeared at a clemency rally wearing a shirt advertising the Save Tookie website and performed a song he had written for Williams, and Jamie Foxx, who - noting that Tookie's execution date was his birthday - publicly stated that the only birthday present he wanted was clemency for Williams. Other prisoners were also involved in activism to save Williams's life. Tony Ford, whose death sentence in a disputed case has been indefinitely stayed , helped organize a prisoners' strike in Texas protesting Williams's execution.

On November 29, 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California announced that more than 175,000 Californians had signed a petition requesting the temporary suspension of executions in California until the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice could complete its study, due by December 31, 2007. The "California Moratorium on Executions Act", A.B.1121, is scheduled to have its first hearing in January 2006. Press conferences and rallies in more than a dozen California cities called for a halt to all executions and asked Governor Schwarzenegger to commute Williams’ death sentence to a sentence of life without parole; demonstrations against the death penalty also took place in numerous cities around the world.

On December 8, 2005, Lora Owens, the stepmother of Albert Owens, one of the victims, made a statement expressing her opinion of Stanley Williams: "I think he [Williams] is the same cold-blooded killer that he was then and he would be now if he had the opportunity again." Owens' two daughters, Rebecca and Andrea, who were 20 and 36 when their father was murdered, also opposed clemency and recalled that they were aghast when they had learned that their father's murderer was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

By contrast, on December 9, 2005, Linda Owens, Albert Owens' widow, issued a statement in support of Williams’ efforts to bring an end to gang violence and his call for peace between gangs: "I, Linda Owens want to build upon Mr. Williams' peace initiative. I invite Mr. Williams to join me in sending a message to all communities that we should all unite in peace. This position of peace would honor my husband's memory and Mr. Williams work."

The Governor denies clemency

On December 12, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger denied clemency for Williams. In his denial, Governor Schwarzenegger cited the following:

"The possible irregularities in Williams’ trial have been thoroughly and carefully reviewed by the courts, and there is no reason to disturb the judicial decisions that uphold the jury’s decisions that he is guilty of these four murders and should pay with his life."

The basis of his request for clemency is the "personal redemption Stanley Williams has experienced and the positive impact of the message he sends," yet "it is impossible to separate Williams' claim of innocence from his claim of redemption."

"Cumulatively, the evidence demonstrating Williams is guilty of these murders is strong and compelling...there is no reason to second guess the jury’s decision of guilt or raise significant doubts or serious reservations about Williams’ convictions and death sentence."

"Williams has written books that instruct readers to avoid the gang lifestyle and to stay out of prison...(h)e has also...tried to preach a message of gang avoidance and peacemaking...(i)t is hard to assess the effect of such efforts in concrete terms, but the continued pervasiveness of gang violence leads one to question the efficacy of Williams' message."

"The dedication of Williams' book Life in Prison casts significant doubt on his personal redemption… the mix of individuals on [the dedication] list is curious… (b)ut the inclusion of George Jackson on the list defies reason and is a significant indicator that Williams is not reformed and that he still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems."

"Is Williams’ redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case. Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption. In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do."

Governor Schwarzenegger summarized by basing his denial of clemency on the "totality of circumstances."

Last legal efforts to save Williams

On the same day the governor denied Williams clemency, Jonathan Harris, a New York counsel with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, filed a response summarizing new evidence of innocence.

It included reference to an affidavit by Gordon Bradbury von Ellerman attesting to belief in Williams' innocence. Dated December 10, it states that he called the NAACP on December 8 after reading in the Daily Breeze that his cellmate, George Oglesby, had testified against Williams. He states that he had observed Oglesby receive police reports on Williams and others. Mr. Oglesby told Von Ellerman that he was using the documents to testify against Williams and others "to gain a reduction or eliminate charges against him." Von Ellerman also observed Oglesby copying from samples of Williams' handwriting to "create incriminating documents that would appear to be written by Mr. Williams." Prosecutors had cited handwritten notes written by Mr. Williams about an escape plan which involved the killing of a bus driver and another accomplice.

"My lack of fear of this barbaric methodology of death, I rely upon my faith. It has nothing to do with machismo, with manhood, or with some pseudo former gang street code. This is pure faith, and predicated on my redemption. So, therefore, I just stand strong and continue to tell you, your audience, and the world that I am innocent and, yes, I have been a wretched person, but I have redeemed myself. And I say to you and all those who can listen and will listen that redemption is tailor-made for the wretched, and that's what I used to be…That's what I would like the world to remember me. That's how I would like my legacy to be remembered as: a redemptive transition, something that I believe is not exclusive just for the so-called sanctimonious, the elitists. And it doesn't—is not predicated on color or race or social stratum or one's religious background. It's accessible for everybody. That's the beauty about it. And whether others choose to believe that I have redeemed myself or not, I worry not, because I know and God knows, and you can believe that all of the youths that I continue to help, they know, too. So with that, I am grateful…I say to you and everyone else, God bless. So take care."

Witnesses described the mood in the execution chamber as somber, and Williams showed no resistance as he was led into the execution chamber. After Williams was strapped to the gurney, he struggled against the straps holding him down to look up at the press gallery behind him, and to exchange glances with his supporters.

Williams's advocate and editor Barbara Becnel was also a witness to Williams's execution. In the epilogue of Williams's reprinted memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption, Becnel reported that prior to Williams's arrival in the death chamber, he had promised her that "he would find a way to lift his head and smile at me at some point during his execution, no matter what was being done to him. And that is exactly what he did."

Williams then rested his head on the gurney while medical technicians began inserting needles in his veins, although CNN reported the staff had difficulty inserting the needles and the usually-short process took almost 20 minutes.

Contra Costa Times reporter John Simerman added, "They had some trouble with the second I.V., which was in the left arm… Williams, at one point, grimaced or looked almost out of frustration…at the difficulty there…He had his glasses on the whole time. He kept them on, and he kept looking…"

With a look of frustration on his face, Williams angrily asked the technicians, "You guys doing that right?" A female guard whispered to him, and a second guard patted Williams' shoulder as if to comfort him. Williams shed one silent tear but otherwise showed no emotion as he died. Members of Albert Owens' family who witnessed the execution were described as stony-faced; however, Lora Owens appeared very upset, according to MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby.

Kevin Fagan, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a detailed description of the execution:

Aftermath

Williams' spokeswoman and co-author, Barbara Becnel, said shortly after Williams's death that she is "now on a mission" to obtain justice for Stanley Tookie Williams. Williams directed Becnel to receive his body and Becnel began making the funeral arrangements.

Becnel reacted to Williams' execution by saying "We are going to prove his innocence, and when we do, we are going to show that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is, in fact, himself a cold blooded murderer."

Williams' body was laid out for viewing on December 19, 2005 and drew approximately 2,000 mourners. A memorial service was held in Los Angeles on December 20, 2005, where Becnel read his final wishes. Williams' funeral filled the 1,500 seat Bethel AME church and drew a wide variety of people from current gang members to celebrities and religious leaders. On June 25, 2006, Barbara Becnel and Williams' longtime friend, Shirley Neal, sprinkled his ashes into a lake in Thokoza Park in the city of Soweto, South Africa as Williams had wished.

At his funeral, the last words of Williams echoed from a tape played to mourners, whom he asked to spread a message to loved ones:

:"The war within me is over. I battled my demons and I was triumphant."

:"Teach them how to avoid our destructive footsteps. Teach them to strive for higher education. Teach them to promote peace and teach them to focus on rebuilding the neighborhoods that you, others, and I helped to destroy."

Rapper Snoop Dogg, himself a former Crip, recited a poem to mourners about the execution:

:"It's 9:15 on 12/13 and another black king will be taken from the scene." Crips Gang member and rapper, WC, made a reference to the execution of Williams on his album Guilty by Affiliation: "Charles Manson can kill and live to see another day, but if you're black like Tookie they're gonna steal you away."

Governor Schwarzenegger's decision provoked outrage in his home town of Graz, Austria. Local politicians submitted a petition to the City Council to remove his name from the local stadium, which was backed by a majority on the council. Before the vote was taken, Schwarzenegger asked for the name of the stadium to be changed, since he and Graz council members were not of one mind on the issue.

Williams' children

Travon Williams, the older son by Bonnie Williams-Taylor, whom Williams wed in 1981 before his conviction, was 32 years old at the time of his father's execution. Williams-Taylor talked to her ex-husband by phone that day. "He was great. He said he was at peace with himself and proud of his son," who avoided the gang life, according to Leslie Fulbright, a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Travon is married, a father, owns a home and works for a social services agency in the Los Angeles area, said Barbara Becnel, Stanley Williams' co-author.

Travon was the only family member who spoke at the funeral. Williams' son "brought the church to its feet" when he promised to teach Schwarzenegger about redemption. He said, "I feel it's my duty to go on a worldwide campaign to show that redemption is real," he said.

Stanley Tookie Williams has one daughter named LaTanya Deniece Blair. LaTanya Blair is now residing in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Stanley Williams' other son, Stanley "Little Tookie" Williams, IV, a Neighborhood Crip, was found guilty of shooting a 20-year-old woman to death in an alley off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Williams IV was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for second-degree murder.

In November 2005, the Fontana, California Police Department advised print and television media that a warrant had been issued for a registered sex offender, Lafayette Jones. The police department identified Jones as the son of Stanley Tookie Williams. The defense of Stanley Tookie Williams stated that this was a lie purported by the police department, and in their Reply Petition for Executive Clemency, they attached a declaration from Lafayette Jones' mother which declared, under penalty of perjury, that Jones was not Stanley Tookie Williams' son.

References

Books by Williams

Magazines

Notes

External links

Transcript and audio of interview with Williams (Democracy Now!)

People v. Williams (1988) 44 C3d 1127, Habeas Corpus filed on behalf of Williams

Transcript and audio of interview with Tookie a few hours before his execution with Democracy Now!

The Crimes of Tookie Williams (About.com)

Webcast of Williams' memorial service

Stan "Tookie" Williams Memorial at Find A Grave

Stanley Williams. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.

Obituary

American Gangster: Tookie Williams & The Rise of the Crips"">"American Gangster: Tookie Williams & The Rise of the Crips" by Alan Kurtz (Blogcritics)

Legal documents

PDF files:

* Motion for Post Judgment Discovery (savetookie.org)

* Executive Clemency petition filed by Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, from the law firm's website

* Los Angeles County District Attorney's Response to Clemency petition from the District Attorney's website

* Executive Clemency Reply petition filed by Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, from the law firm's website

* Stanley Williams v. Jill Brown, filed in the Supreme Court of the United States of America - www.streetgangs.com

News articles

Snoop Dogg, Barbara Becnel and Minister Tony Muhammad speak at Rally, Alex Alonso, November 21, 2005.

"Stanley Tookie Williams, Could be First Gang Member Executed in California", Alex Alonso, December 10, 2005. Retrieved December 21, 2005.

''"Tookie’s Mistaken Identity; On the trail of the real founder of the Crips", L.A. Weekly, December 16–22, 2005. Retrieved December 21, 2005.

''"Watching Williams die", Contra Costa Times, December 13, 2005.

Category:1953 births Category:2005 deaths Category:20th-century American criminals Category:21st-century executions by the United States Category:Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:American activists Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American robbers Category:California criminals Category:Crips Category:Executed African-American people Category:History of Los Angeles, California Category:People convicted of murder by California Category:People executed by California Category:People executed by lethal injection Category:People executed for murder Category:People from Monroe, Louisiana Category:People from Los Angeles, California

Name	Baron Davis
Caption	Davis with the Clippers
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	215
Team	Los Angeles Clippers
Number	5
Position	Point guard
Birth date	April 13, 1979
Birth place	Los Angeles, California
High school	Crossroads School
College	UCLA
Nationality	American
Draft round	1
Draft pick	3
Draft team	Charlotte Hornets
Draft year	1999
Teams
Career start	1999
Highlights

Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. Drafted as the third pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, Davis was a star at Crossroads School and UCLA.

Early life

Davis was born in Los Angeles, California. His grandmother and guardian, Lela Nicholson, was instrumental in pushing him to play basketball. With her encouragement, he eventually earned a scholarship to attend Crossroads School, a prestigious private school in Santa Monica, California.

As a senior at Crossroads, Davis led his team to the Championship of The Beach Ball Classic tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina over perennial prep powerhouse Christ The King Regional High School (Queens, New York), while earning MVP honors and a spot on the All-Tournament team along with future St. John's standout Erick Barkley at that prestigious event. That year, Davis was also named Gatorade National Player of the Year and a Parade All-American. He was also selected to play in the prestigious McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Game in Colorado Springs in 1997, playing with future NBA players Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Larry Hughes and Ron Artest, and winning the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest despite being the smallest man in the competition at 6'2."

College career

After a highly contested recruiting battle that saw Kansas, Georgia Tech, Duke, and UCLA in hot pursuit for his services, Davis selected UCLA as his school of choice, so that he could play in front of his family and friends. During this time, Davis was involved in a minor scandal pertaining to his driving a 1991 Chevy Blazer that was a gift from his sister, then a UCLA employee. The car was sold to her by a member of Jim Harrick's family. At the time, Harrick was the UCLA men's basketball coach, presenting both a conflict of interest and a potential recruiting violation, since rumor had it that the car was purchased below market value. The incident was cleared up when it was discovered that Davis' sister had, in fact, bought the car at the listed blue-book price. Davis then enrolled at UCLA in 1997 without problem. In 1998, Davis was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and made the All-American Third Team by his sophomore year in 1999.

In Davis's two years at UCLA, he averaged 13.6 points and 5.1 assists for the Bruins. While coming down from a dunk during an NCAA Tournament game his freshman year, he injured his knee and tore his Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Surprisingly, though, he made a full recovery the next season and seemed to have regained nearly all of the speed, quickness, and explosiveness he had before the injury while doing enough on the basketball court to warrant his declaring for the 1999 NBA Draft after his sophomore campaign.

NBA career

Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets

Davis was the third pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. In his NBA debut, a 100–86 win over the Orlando Magic, Davis scored nine points, and added five rebounds, two assists and two steals. In Davis' first year, he backed up Eddie Jones and David Wesley, but by Davis' second year he started all 82 games for the Hornets. Davis would lead Charlotte to the second round of the playoffs in back-to-back years, the first being a sweep of the Miami Heat in the 2001 NBA Playoffs. The next season, Davis started all 82 games again while averaging 18 points a game and 8.5 assists per game. He was also selected as an injury replacement for Vince Carter in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. In the summer of 2002 the Charlotte Hornets moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. Davis would lead the Hornets back to the playoffs, but the next two years were first round exits. Injuries would plague Davis for much of his tenure in New Orleans.

He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Golden State Warriors

On February 24, 2005, Davis was traded from the Hornets to the Golden State Warriors for guard Speedy Claxton and veteran forward Dale Davis after tension with the Hornets coaching staff and several nagging injuries. The move created one of the more potent backcourts in the NBA with Davis and star guard Jason Richardson. It also saw Davis' return to California, to which he had craved to return to since his college days in UCLA.

|thumb]] After two seasons in which the Warriors underachieved under coach Mike Montgomery, the Warriors hired former coach Don Nelson for the 2006–2007 season. His high scoring offensive system was designed to fit Davis's uptempo style. Although Davis suffered through knee soreness and underwent surgery during the season, he still led the Warriors to their first playoffs since 1994. The Warriors swept the regular season series against the Mavericks 3–0 giving them an advantage and won the series against the top seeded Dallas Mavericks 4–2, making them the 1st No. 8 seed to beat a No.1 seed since the NBA changed the 1st round from a 5-game series to a 7-game series. It was numerically the largest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs, with the 67–15 Mavericks having a record of 25 games better than the 42–40 Warriors. Davis averaged 25 points per game in the series.

Steve Kerr, then television analyst, called Davis' performance in the 2007 NBA Playoffs "outrageous...stunningly athletic and creative and explosive." Davis' playoff highlights included numerous acrobatic layups, a half-court three-pointer at the buzzer, and a memorable dunk over Andrei Kirilenko. The Jazz eliminated the undersized Warriors 4 games to 1. Davis averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 assists, 2.9 steals, and 4.5 rebounds per game in the 2007 Playoffs.

In 2008 during a playoff elimination game against the Phoenix Suns, Coach Nelson benched Davis at halftime due to Davis' poor play (shooting 2–13 in 17 minutes). Down fourteen at the half, the Warriors lost by six. Some sportswriters criticized Coach Don Nelson's decision to bench his team's star with an entire half left to play; other writers speculated about possible friction between Davis and Nelson, which Nelson denied. After the 2007–08 season, in which the Warriors were narrowly edged out of playoff contention despite a record of 48–34 (led by Davis – who remained injury-free throughout the season – with averages of 21.6 PPG, 8 assists, 4.6 RPG), Davis's agent Todd Ramasar stated that Davis might opt out of his contract with the Warriors, which would have paid him $17.8 million, to pursue other options. On June 30, 2008, Davis opted out of his contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Los Angeles Clippers

On July 1, 2008 Davis verbally agreed to a 5-year, $65 million dollar deal to play for his hometown-team, the Los Angeles Clippers, and officially signed with the Clippers on July 10, 2008. Although Davis committed to joining the Clippers with the intention of playing with Elton Brand (who had opted out of his contract but was expected to re-sign with the Clippers but later signed with the Philadelphia 76ers) Davis still signed and said that Brand's departure had no impact on his decision to come to Los Angeles. On November 20 at a home game vs the Denver Nuggets, Baron reached and surpassed the 5,000 assist mark.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 82 || 0 || 18.6 || .420 || .225 || .634 || 2.0 || 3.8 || 1.2 || .2 || 5.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 82 || 82 || 38.9 || .427 || .310 || .677 || 5.0 || 7.3 || 2.1 || .4 || 13.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 82 || 82 || 40.5 || .417 || .356 || .580 || 4.3 || 8.5 || 2.1 || .6 || 18.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 50 || 47 || 37.8 || .416 || .350 || .710 || 3.7 || 6.4 || 1.8 || .4 || 17.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 67 || 66 || 40.1 || .395 || .321 || .673 || 4.3 || 7.5 || 2.4 || .4 || 22.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 18 || 13 || 32.9 || .366 || .321 || .771 || 3.7 || 7.2 || 1.7 || .2 || 18.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 28 || 19 || 35.3 || .401 || .341 || .755 || 3.9 || 8.3 || 1.8 || .4 || 19.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 54 || 48 || 36.5 || .389 || .315 || .675 || 4.4 || 8.9 || 1.6 || .3 || 17.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 63 || 62 || 35.3 || .439 || .304 || .745 || 4.4 || 8.1 || 2.1 || .5 || 20.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 82 || 82 || 39.0 || .426 || .330 || .750 || 4.7 || 7.6 || 2.3 || .5 || 21.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 65 || 60 || 34.6 || .370 || .302 || .757 || 3.7 || 7.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 14.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 75 || 73 || 33.6 || .406 || .277 || .821 || 3.5 || 8.0 || 1.7 || .6 || 15.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 748 || 634 || 35.2 || .409 || .319 || .708 || 4.0 || 7.4 || 1.9 || .4 || 16.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 2 || 0 || 14.5 || .286 || .111 || .000 || .5 || 6.0 || .5 || .0 || 4.5

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 4 || 0 || 14.3 || .435 || .167 || .500 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 1.0 || .0 || 5.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 10 || 10 || 39.7 || .480 || .400 || .714 || 4.4 || 5.8 || 2.8 || .5 || 17.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 9 || 9 || 44.6 || .378 || .339 || .597 || 7.0 || 7.9 || 3.6 || .6 || 22.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 5 || 5 || 38.8 || .446 || .343 || .727 || 3.6 || 8.4 || 1.4 || .4 || 20.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 7 || 7 || 37.1 || .377 || .327 || .758 || 4.1 || 7.0 || 1.6 || .7 || 18.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 11 || 11 || 40.5 || .513 || .373 || .770 || 4.5 || 6.5 || 2.9 || .6 || 25.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 46 || 42 || 38.1 || .440 || .353 || .703 || 4.6 || 6.5 || 2.5 || .5 || 19.8

Television

The Forgotten (2009)

Other

He played basketball at the Crossroads School with Cash Warren, movie producer and husband to Jessica Alba. Davis and high school friend Cash Warren formed a production company called Verso Entertainment. Davis is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He earned his membership by appearing in movies such as The Cookout and guest-starring on the ABC Family show, Lincoln Heights. He appeared in the DVD commentary of 2008 film Step Brothers alongside Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. This was despite the film having nothing to do with basketball, Davis was simply a fan of the pair. Davis is credited with the longest shot ever recorded in an NBA game, an against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 17, 2001.

See also

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

References

External links

Baron Davis – official site

Player Profile @ NBA.com

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Point guards Category:Charlotte Hornets draft picks Category:Charlotte Hornets players Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:New Orleans Hornets players Category:Golden State Warriors players Category:Los Angeles Clippers players Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Sportspeople from Los Angeles, California Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Basketball players from California