Some look to Neil deGrasse Tyson to make sense of how and why we're here. But Snoop Dogg already told us how the earth was made: "When the pimp's in the crib, ma, drop it like it's hot." And that's how we came to be, we're popcorn out of the void. Somewhere amongst the infinity came California and 1990, when Warren G gave Dr. Dre Snoop's tape, pre-Chronic. Then came juices, gins, matter-forming atoms, and Doggystyle. Neil deGrasse Tyson can sip Courvoisier and debate intelligent design all day, but Snoop has better earth-mother verses: "Through all the drama, I love my mama." So put down your calculator, Neil. Snoop has the multi-platinum code: "It's the knickknack patty wack... The world keeps spinning to the D-O-double-G-Y."

Now let us move to the 2004 film Soul Plane, with Snoop starring as Captain Mack. In the movie's takeoff scene, he hangs fuzzy dice, rolls a joint, and says to the passengers, "What's crackalackin'? Welcome aboard NWA Flight 069. I'll be hittin' them switches and gettin' this bitch pumpin' and jumpin'. So screw your shit on tight and enjoy the flight." Snoop as a captain doesn't have to do much acting. Born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., the six-foot-four Snoop is a funk-filled hiphop pillar from Long Beach, California, who has sold more than 30 million albums. His eased tones and rhymes are so laid-back and succinct, they're laid-forward. Having clocked in his Huggy Bear and Snoop Lion time, Snoop Dogg is back, touring (and reportedly recording) with Wiz Khalifa. Also, Captain Broadus may or may not be working on his 13th and last solo studio album as Snoop Dogg. He spoke from an undisclosed Los Angeles studio, where he was recording.

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