Snoop Dogg

Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper and actor from Long Beach, California. His music career began in 1992 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre of N.W.A and, as a result, was prominently featured throughout Dr. Dre's solo debut album, The Chronic (1992). He has since sold over 21 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide.

Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records, debuting at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Selling almost a million copies in the first week of its release, Doggystyle became certified 4× platinum in 1994 and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name?" and "Gin & Juice". In 1994, Snoop released a soundtrack on Death Row Records for the short film Murder Was The Case, starring himself. His second album Tha Doggfather (1996), also debuted at number one on both charts with "Snoop's Upside Ya Head", as the lead single. The album was certified double platinum in 1997.

Tha Doggfather

Tha Doggfather is the second studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg; it was released, by The "New and Untouchable" Death Row Records on November 12, 1996. The album was re-released July 11, 2005. Prior to the successful release of his debut album Doggystyle (1993), Snoop was charged with murder. During 1995, Snoop had been spending much time preparing for the case, which went to trial later that year. In February 1996, he was cleared of all charges and began working on his second album, without Dr. Dre as producer. This was Snoop's last album on Death Row Records under the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg.

The album debuted at number one during the week of November 12, 1996 selling 478,971 copies, but it failed to match the commercial success of Doggystyle and 2Pac's album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996). 2Pac had become a friend of Snoop during 1996 and died weeks before the release of Tha Doggfather. Dr. Dre had left Death Row to his partner Suge Knight, who was indicted on racketeering charges by the end of 1996. Consequently, Snoop's second album stalled at sales of two million. It was released only one week after another Death Row release, the first posthumous album by slain Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which also debuted at number one. The illustration on the back cover of the CD is done by Joe Cool, the same artist who did the front cover of Doggystyle.

LBC Crew

The LBC Crew (Long Beach City Crew) is a collective of Long Beach-based rappers. They were the first act to be executively-produced by Snoop Dogg. In 1997, The LBC Crew was signed to Doggystyle Records, a label operated by Snoop and distributed through Snoop's then record label, Death Row Records. Their debut album titled "Haven't You Heard" was released in February 2011.

During their time with Death Row, the LBC Crew recorded a previously unreleased album entitled 'Haven't U Heard...' which remained unreleased until February 8, 2011 when it was released by WideAwake/Death Row. They had a hit single with the song "Beware Of My Crew", from the A Thin Line Between Love and Hate soundtrack, which was originally intended to be for their debut album. They played on Snoop Dogg's second album Tha Doggfather. The group disbanded following the collapse of Death Row. Since then, unreleased material from the group emerged on the underground.

The LBC Crew remained visible figures in West-Coast hip-hop. Bad Azz released two solo albums under the Doggy Style imprint. Tray Deee went on to larger fame as part of Snoop Dogg's Eastsidaz. Lil C-Style remained part of disorganized Death Row camp. And Techniec recently signed to The Game's The Black Wall Street Records then left to start his own label.

Crew

A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved in operating a ship, particularly a sailing ship, providing numerous specialities within a ship's crew, often organised with a chain of command. Traditional nautical usage strongly distinguishes officers from crew, though the two groups combined form the ship's company. Members of a crew are often referred to by the title Crewman.

Crew also refers to the sport of rowing, where teams row competitively in racing shells.

Crew is used colloquially to refer to a small, tight-knit group of friends or associates engaged in criminal activity. Also used in reference to the traditional "unit" of criminals under the supervision of a caporegime in the American Mafia. However, the term is not specific to (Mafia-affiliated) organized crime. Crew can also refer simply to a group of friends, unrelated to crime or violence.

Death row

Death row, in English-speaking countries that have capital punishment, is the place, often a section of a prison, that houses prisoners awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ("being on death row"), even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. After persons are found guilty of an offence and sentenced to death, they remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures.

Opponents of capital punishment claim that a prisoner's isolation and uncertainty over his or her fate constitute a form of mental cruelty and that especially long-time death row inmates are liable to become mentally ill, if they are not already. This is referred to as the death row phenomenon. In extreme cases some inmates may attempt to commit suicide.

In the United States, prisoners may wait years before execution can be carried out due to the complex and time-consuming appeals procedures mandated in the jurisdiction. The time between sentencing and execution has increased relatively steadily between 1977 and 2010, including a 22% jump between 1989 and 1990 and a similar jump between 2008 and 2009. In 2010, a death row inmate waited an average of 178 months (roughly 15 years) between sentencing and execution. Nearly a quarter of deaths on death row in the U.S. are due to natural causes.