Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Born 57 Years Ago Today, Snoop Dogg’s Cousin and Hip-Hop’s Undisputed ‘King of Hooks’ Who Defined Countless West Coast Classics

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

When you think of all-time choruses in hip-hop history, you only think of two people: T-Pain and Nate Dogg. No one could make everything from street justice to searching for cheap liquor like St. Ides sound so blissful. His penchant for sweet, addictive melodies cemented him as the “king of hooks” in hip-hop. Born on this day 57 years ago today in Long Beach, it’s hard not to imagine where the West Coast legend would’ve been in the game today.

The craziest part of Nate Dogg’s innate abilities is that a career in hip-hop was the furthest thing from his brain. You could argue that his knack for singing came from his days in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he spent a bulk of his childhood. His father was a pastor and his mother........

© Vice