As far as role models go, Calvin Broadus would appear to fall into the “do as I say, not as I do” category. Better known as Snoop Dogg to his millions of fans, the hip-hop icon is as well known for his smooth molasses drawl as he is for his love of a certain sticky green flowering plant.
But, the rangy performer with the heavy-lidded gaze, who brought the suffix “-izzle” into the global lexicon is far more than the Gangsta rap caricature that his public persona has become.
This week the track suit aficionado announced a partnership with 7-Eleven and unveiled the Snoop Dogg “Coffee Cup with a Cause”. The program, which in the past has seen coffee cups featuring Jennifer Hudson, John Cena, and Joel and Benji Madden, guarantees a quarter of a million dollar donation to the celebrity’s charity of choice, along with donations that increase depending on the amount of cups sold.
Snoop’s charity of choice? The Snoop Youth Football League, a cause so near and dear to the rapper’s heart of bling that not only does it bear his name, but he also serves as one of the coaches.
Most rap artists rely on an often checkered past for some sort of credibility in their industry, distancing themselves from their backgrounds, as soon as fame and fortune dictate.
Snoop escaped from his troubled past, only to return to it with an acute understanding of the toll it takes on every aspect of the inner city community, especially the children that are struggling to find their way out.
Six years ago, Snoop Dogg and a small group of friends saw a problem and set out to fix it.
The father and avid sports fan couldn’t help but notice that the inner city youth football organizations were set up in a manner that not only alienated the boys they were supposed to nurture, but also showed a profound lack of understanding to their surroundings.
“The kids were having problems joining,” the rapper tells Tonic, “The fees were too much, and certain games were played in areas that the parents couldn’t get their kids to.”
With that, the Snoop Youth Football League was born, and its founding “G-Father” says that all politics were set aside, so that the participants were put first. ”We just wanted to create something that was all about the inner city kids,” Snoop says, “where money wasn’t a problem, and transportation wasn’t a problem. We wanted to do something that was more about academics and athletics.”
There are those that may scoff at someone named after a Peanuts character, who was a former Crips gang member, expounding on such virtues, but the SYFL has since grown to 72 teams, and strives to instill in each of it’s players the tenets of discipline, teamwork, and most importantly, family.
“What our league does is it brings a lot of unity to the community,” the rapper said, beaming at either his rhyme, or the cup bearing his likeness, “It brings parents and kids who don’t usually spend time with each other together, it brings fathers and mothers and grandparents together, and we get to help these kids shape their lives, and become young men.”
Young men that may run out onto a football field intent on playfully knocking the snot out of one another, but who are also subtly learning the art of giving back from a man who truly does know how to Drop it like it’s a hot cup of coffee.
Photo by wireimage via Ketchum