Snoop Dogg is an icon in the entertainment industry. The hip-hop star and business man is also a dad who gives back a lot to his community. He sat down with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo on Monday to discuss everything from mentoring young people to using social networking to maintain his empire, and he even discussed the origins of his name.
Maria caught up with Snoop at the New York Stock Exchange where he was appearing to ring the Opening Bell on behalf of the second annual Mentoring Madness program. Snoop explained that mentoring has always been important to him.
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"There were a lot of important mentors in my life," he told Maria. "Whether it was the school people, the counselors, my preachers, my peers, older guys who had been in trouble before me who recognized my talent and just didn't was (sic) see me go through the same situations that they went through.
"And just people that I seen on TV that I was inspired by, like Magic Johnson. You know, to see him go from one of the greatest basketball players in the world to become one of the greatest businessmen in the world… that inspired me to want to do something with myself.
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No stranger to the media, Snoop also spoke with Maria about how social networking has become an important means to further his brand. "I realize that that's the key nowadays," he said. "You have to be in the-- in the media as far as with the Internet and the social activity that's goin' down with the computers nowadays. So, I try to have my hands in everything that's movin', you know, from YouTube to MySpace to Twitter to, you know, whatever is popping, I'm tryin' to get involved with it and make sure that my name and my brand is (sic) on it. And I make it personal so it's not somebody doin' it for me. It's me doin' it in actuality."
And yes, Snoop even told Maria that he is indeed named after the famous Peanuts canine.
Snoop told Maria, "As a kid born in the '70s, mom used to put on a TV show called Charlie Brown. And there was a character on there named Snoopy. And I used to love him to death. And my mama said I started to look like him so much 'cause I watched him all the time, and that's what they used to name me."
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