5 Facts About the Late Nate Dogg

by Mark Cina
from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

Todd Williamson/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Best known for his work with Warren G, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, his unforeseen death leaves the hip hop community in mourning.

Nathaniel D. Hale died Tuesday at age 41, rattling the hip hop community. "We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb," Snoop Dogg Tweeted after Hale’s sudden passing. "I love u buddy luv. U will always b wit me 4ever n a day."

So who is Hale, better known on stage as Nate Dogg?

THR uncovers:

1. He's been performing with Snoop Dogg since he was young.

In 1991, the Long Beach, Calif. native formed the rap group 213 — a reference to the local area code — with then-unknown pals Snoop Dogg and Warren G after serving a three-year stint in the Marines. The group's demo eventually made its way to Dr. Dre, who liked Nate's sound and recruited him to contribute to his classic solo debut, 1992's The Chronic.

2. He’s been nominated for four Grammys.

After his work with Dre, Nate collaborated with Warren G on the legendary track "Regulate.” It hit No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and also earned him his first Grammy nod in 1995. He received a second nomination in 2001 for providing a hook to the Dre-Snoop track "The Next Episode"; a third in 2002 for singing on Ludacris' "Area Codes" and another notice in 2007 for his work on Eminem's "Shake That."

3. He’s collaborated with everyone from Tupac to Mariah Carey.

Though he released his share of solo albums, he was better known for his countless cameos on tracks by Mariah Carey, Eve, Nelly and even Mark Ronson. 50 Cent recalled working with him on the 2003 track “21 Questions”: “I wrote the chorus to ‘21 Questions,'" he Tweeted. "I needed Nate to sing it for me. He had a way of making everything feel hard.”

4. He had been struggling with health issues

His lawyer Mark Geragos told the Associated Press that the performer died as a result of complications from two strokes he suffered in recent years. The Long Beach Press Telegram, which first reported the performer's passing, says Nate had one in 2007 that left him partially paralyzed and another the following year. Still, Rod McGrew, his close friend and manager, tells TMZ the death was unexpected and that Nate had been making significant progress in his recovery. McGrew said Nate had gotten his memory back and was fully alert and aware up until his death. "We appreciate the enormous outpouring of response from all over the world,” McGrew said in a statement. We greatly appreciate that and thank everyone for their prayers and support. We know that Nate will be hanging out with his good friends 2Pac and Biggie."

5. He leaves behind a lasting legacy.

Hours after his death, performers took to Twitter to pay tribute. Tweeted Snoop: “I am so sad but so happy I got to grow up wit u and I will c u again n heaven cuz u know d slogan.” Rapper and collaborator Daz Dillinger added, "R.I.P. TO MY HOMEBOY NATE DOGG DPGC DOGG POUND GANGSTA 4 LIFE." 50 Cent Tweeted, “GOD BLESS HIM R.I.P he meant a lot to west coast hiphop. Iv always been a fan of it.” Said The Game: "I lost a friend. Been here before. Tears. Memories. One day someone will lose "US" as well. LIVING until that day comes is our only option."

Cameron Diaz Says Snoop Dogg Sold Her Pot in 'LBC' High School

By Dennis Romero
From http://blogs.laweekly.com/

Lopez Tonight / TBS

Cameron Diaz says Snoop Dogg was an uplifting influence in high school.

Not really a shocker here: Cameron Diaz told George Lopez this week that she's "pretty sure" she bought marijuana from Snoop Dogg in high school.

America's foremost promoter of goodweed sold pot in high school? Sounds like it. Diaz apparently went to Long Beach Polytechnic High School in the '80s with Snoop. She remembered it as a campus with 3,500 students.

And she said the rapper was "very tall and skinny he wore lots of ponytails in his head."



That's him, officer. (We hope there's a statute of limitations here, because selling weed to a high school kid -- without a medical marijuana card even! -- has to be illegal).

Frankly, we were surprised to see such humility from Diaz, a former model. She talked openly about her Cuban background and growing up in "the LBC."

She said Snoop was "a year older than me ... I'm pretty sure I bought weed from him. I had to have."

"So you were green even in high school," Lopez asked, referring to her affinity for Toyota Priuses.

"Absolutely."

Snoop Does a Public Service Annoucement for Prop. 19

By Lilledeshan Bose
From: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/

John Gilhooley./OC Weekly

​Yesterday Matt Coker wrote about Snoop Dogg endorsing Prop. 19 on KTLA Morning News Today. We all knew he was "high on that" already--now watch Snoop Dogg's public service announcement after the jump.

The LA Times also wrote about a 30-second ad airing on Comedy Central this weekend to make sure people vote, saying the measure would pass if there was a big pro-legalization turnout.

Katy Perry's 'California Gurls': Frame By Frame

MTV Shows

Katy Perry's 'Naughty Twist' On Candy Land

Willie Nelson & Snoop Dog: On the Road Again!!

adidas Originals - Star Wars™ Cantina 2010

This new Adidas commercial combines Snoop Dogg and Star Wars


adidasoriginals — June 04, 2010 — adidas Originals invites you to join David Beckham, Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, Franz Beckenbauer, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Ciara, Jay Baruchel, DJ Neil Armstrong and some of your dear, old friends for an intergalactic 2010 FIFA World Cup™ viewing party that you'll never forget.

What Is This Magazine Cover with Snoop Dogg Trying to Tell Us?

By Nick Lucchesi,

The following weekend magazine cover is awesomely subtle. Snoop is scheduled to play the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, this Saturday, and it's clear that this particular publication has an ingenious art director.

Look how they cleverly placed Snoop's head just in front of the "ken" on weekend. What's it look like to you? Hmm...

Since this is magazine cover is from the Rochester, New York area, it could be the weekend magazine for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; we're not sure. If you know, post it in the comments so we can hang out with/high-five the art director for this magazine.

​

Snoop Dogg & George Lopez Play Chatroulette Bingo

That's a crack-a-lackin bingo! [Editor's note: I would seriously watch an entire reality series of this. Is Chatroulette Bingo the new Celebrity Poker???]

Snoop Dogg joins the Nation of Islam

'I'm an advocate for peace,' claims rapper as he appears at US religious group convention

• Rosie Swash
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 March 2009 15.28 GMT
• Article history

Rapper Snoop Dogg ... has joined the US religious group made famous by Malcolm X. Photograph: Jason DeCrow/AP

Rapper Snoop Dogg surprised fans and reporters alike this weekend by revealing he has joined the Nation of Islam. Speaking at the religious group's Saviours' Day convention in Chicago, the 37-year-old praised the group's supreme minister and national representative Louis Farrakhan. It is reported by the Associated Press that he also made a donation to the group of $1,000.

Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, talked about his reasons for joining the religious group in relatively loose terms. "I'm an advocate for peace. I've been in the peace movement ever since I've been making music," he told followers. "My whole thing is not about really trying to push my thing on you. It's just about the way I live, and I live how I'm supposed to live as far as doing what's right and representing what's right. That's why I was here today."

The Nation of Islam was founded in 1930 with the aim of promoting the conditions of black Americans. The group's most famous convert is activist Malcolm X.

Snoop Dogg's career has spanned nearly two decades and has been as controversial as it has been successful. He has been arrested numerous times, mainly for possession of marijuana, and was charged as an accomplice to the murder of Phillip Woldermarian in 1993. The rapper was found not guilty.

He sought to reinvent himself as a family man with the recent reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, which portrays his domestic side along with his wife and three children. However, he was prevented from entering the UK in 2007 following a previous violent incident at Heathrow airport.

Discussing his religious beliefs at this weekend's Nation of Islam event, the Doggystyle rapper referred to himself as the "leader of the hip-hop community" and hinted that his affiliation with the group is not new. "It's about seeing yourself and what you can do to better the situation," Broadus said. "We're doing a lot of wrongs among ourselves that need correcting."

Death Row Assets Auctioned For $18 Million

"Suge" Knight (right), with Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg

A Billboard staff report

The assets of Death Row Records, said to include master recordings of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, were auctioned yesterday (Jan. 15) for $18 million to Canadian development company WIDEawake Entertainment Group.

Because of the less-than-expected acquisition price, the only creditor likely to capture a return after lawyers and other Chapter 11 administrative fees are paid is the Internal Revenue Service.

That means other creditors, including unsecured ones like co-founder Lydia Harris, will be left out in the cold. Harris isn't content with the verdict.

"This was all a scam from the beginning," a disgruntled Harris tells Billboard. "Everyone wanted me to bring judgment down, and so I brought on the case. But now I'm not getting paid because I'm an unsecured creditor? Yet, administrators are getting paid and Suge [Knight]'s bills are still getting paid? If it wasn't for me no one would be getting money. They made sure it happened this way because I was the biggest creditor. There must be some internal thing going on and I'm obviously not in on it."

According to Harris, Conquest Media, an online marketing and branding company, made an undisclosed bid yesterday, but the judge overruled it because it wasn't filed on time.

As previously reported, Death Row initially filed for Chapter 11 protection in April 2006, and that July, the California judge overseeing the filing ordered a bankruptcy trustee to take over the label. Along the way, three companies put bids in on Death Row, all three valued at about $25 million. But the first two -- stalking horse Warner Music Group and its replacement Koch Entertainment -- both pulled out when due diligence showed that inadequate record-keeping made it difficult to ascertain the label's valuation, let alone whether it was worth the $25 million bid both had made.

An investment group called Global Music agreed to buy Death Row in June 2007, but that deal collapsed amid fighting between investors, who ultimately were unable to raise the necessary financing.

Harris battled Knight for years for a share of Death Row and won a $107 million judgment in 2005, which was one of the factors that tipped the label into Chapter 11.

WIDEawake Entertainment Group Inc., based in Toronto, has had nominal exposure to the U.S. market. Lara Lavi, the company's founder and CEO, is a lawyer, songwriter and entrepreneu, who founded the company in 2006 to work in a variety of media, including film and music. WIDEawake has distribution in Canada through Universal Music.

Lavi says WIDEawake does not have distribution in the U.S. and has not determined which company it will partner with to distribute the Death Row catalog.

"We have some ideas," she says, adding that the label has been in contact with companies in the U.S. about potential distribution. "We're very respectful of Death Row's legacy and when the time is right we'll announce that."

Lavi acknowledged there is significant unreleased material included in the deal, including tracks by Shakur, Dr. Dre and others. "There's probably more that hasn't seen the light of day than has," she says. Lavi says announcements on the unreleased material are forthcoming. In the case of the Shakur material, the company will work closely with his estate.

Lavi would not disclose who WIDEawake's investors are, other than to say the company has financing to secure the Death Row deal. She says the value of the acquisition makes sense considering "it is a clear deal. There's no debt to worry about." WIDEawake lists its investors as Mississauga, Ont.-based New Solutions Capital.

Lavi says she is unconcerned about any potential involvement of Knight, the label's co-founder. "He's moved on," she says, noting he has started a new label.

For her part, Harris also recently launched an independent label, Lady Boss Entertainment, which she had planned to continue funding with the money she hoped she'd be awarded in the settlement. Now, Harris says she's looking for investors to "make it what Death Row was supposed to be. I need people who believe in me."

"My head is spinning right now. I feel like a victim," says Harris. "They took all this time and tried to attack me, now there's no money for unsecured creditors. Now I wonder if it was all worth it. But I'm definitely not giving up. I never thought I would end up with anything. I'm going to keep pushing."

Reporting by Mariel Concepcion, Ed Christman and Robert Thompson.