Snoop Dogg is one of the most accomplished and respected rappers to ever hold a mic. If you ask him, however, none of his successes might have ever happened. That is, not without an unseen influence that saved his career—and his life—from meeting a disastrous end.
In a 1994 interview with Steven Daly for The Face, Snoop shared that his former probation officer, Mr. Dwoskin, saved him from falling deeper into a life of crime. As Snoop tells it, Dwoskin could’ve slapped the rapper with multiple probation violations, but chose not to.
Snoop believes he could have died or been corrupted if he had been sent to a penitentiary as a teenager
“I was supposed to go to the penitentiary on the first violation, but he just sent me to the county jail to get my life together,” Snoop said of Dwoskin, whom he thanked in the liner notes of his 1993 debut album, Doggystyle.
“In the county, you might get into a squabble and get stabbed or something. But in the pen, you could die,” Snoop continued. “It’s tore up. It’s corruption at its best. You have to adapt to the life, to the politics in there. That would have been a complete turnaround for me. I probably wouldn’t have no remorse.”
Snoop began rapping at a young age, but went to jail shortly after graduating from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1989. According to his biography at AllMusic, he was arrested for possession of cocaine. Snoop was frequently incarcerated over the next three years, but continued honing his craft even while behind bars.
“I always had my own little style in school,” he recalled. “My voice was real light, like a girl’s, and I could just hear some music and make up raps about whatever was taking place. Whenever I had to challenge somebody, I would beat ’em. I could work the crowd real smooth because I was so little.”
His fellow inmates would tell Snoop he “was too talented” to be in jail
“In prison, the older people would tell me I was too talented to be in there. I was like, Why would they tell me this? They’re doin’ time, and they don’t give a f*** about me. For them to overlook all that s***, it showed that I had a gift, so I figured I had to use it to the fullest.”
These days, Snoop is a legendary, multi-platinum-selling rap icon and hip-hop mogul still cranking out incredible music. So, it seems we all owe thanks to Mr. Dwoskin.
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