Inside Snoop Dogg's Close Relationship With His Mother

Snoop Dogg's childhood was, unsurprisingly, a musical one. Born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., he became a rapper around the time he was in 6th grade (per Biography). Prior to that, he was a choir singer and pianist. His mother, Beverly Broadus Green, named the young man after his stepfather (via iHeart). She would have a tremendous influence on him for the rest of her life, and his talents in the field blossomed.

According to Biography, it was Green who first referred to her son as Snoop (or a variant on the name), as she thought he bore a striking resemblance to Charlie Brown's canine friend from "Peanuts." She couldn't have known that her son would one day be famous — that "Snoop Dogg" would become one of the most iconic stage names in rap history. Nevertheless, he clearly owes her not only his life but also, in a sense, his professional persona.

In May 2021, Snoop acknowledged his huge debt to his mother in an Instagram post. "Mama thank [you] for having me ... could [have given] me up but [you] raised a family," he wrote, captioning a precious photograph of the pair smiling together. It seems he never forgot that his mother was there to raise and mold him into the troubled success story he would become.

It's incredible to think that a personality as vast as Snoop's can be quelled by his mother long into adulthood, but that's been exactly the case for him. As NBC News reports, Snoop's reaction to journalist Gayle King's comments about the late Kobe Bryant caused a media frenzy in February 2020, and Snoop didn't know how to respond to it all. Until he spoke to his mother, as he explained on "Red Table Talk" (via The View). "This time was different, because mama called," the rap legend said. "Certain things that she said to me ... took me back to being a little kid ... I didn't feel like I was Snoop Dogg the rapper, I felt like Snoopy."

Tragically, Beverly Broadus Green's time seemed to be growing short in May 2021. Snoop took to Instagram again to ask for "prayers" and declare that she was "still fighting." In an interview celebrating her 70th birthday (via YouTube), Green acknowledged that she had been "a sick woman" but stated that she was "so grateful that I have that eternal love for my children." The next month, she sadly died. On October 24, Snoop expressed his gratitude for having been given "an angel for a mother" on Instagram. Eternal love indeed.