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Snoop Dogg - Happy Birthday Snoop! Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., hit the big 4-0 today although it seems like just yesterday the slim, fresh faced 23 year-old was introducing himself to the world with the infamous "1-2-3 and to 4" Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre are legends in their own right. A long way from his Doggystyle days, Snoop D-O-Double G has gone from rookie to legend and along the way has inspired many fans and aspiring rappers. Here, some rappers reflect on the first time they heard Snoop…(Photo: Samir Hussein/Getty Images) 

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Game - "The first time I heard Snoop Dogg's music I knew he would be the best west coast rapper ever." (Photo: Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

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Prodigy of Mobb Deep - "When I first heard Snoop Dogg, I wanted to buy a 64 Impala with the switches and ride around Queens banging 'Deep Cover'."

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Dom Kennedy - "The first time I heard Snoop I was at Baldwin Hills Recreation park and a kid pulled up on his bike saying... 1,2,3 into the 4. The whole world knew the song a week later." (Photo: OpM)

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Yung Berg - "When I first herd Snoop I was a very Yung Berg lol. I remember watching this music video channel called The Box and seeing "Deep Cover" and loving Snoop's voice and cadence on the record! From there on out I've been a fan and I will be one til the day that I die!"

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Kendrick Lamar - "The first I head Snoop I was watching "The Box" and "Nuthin but a G Thang" came on. The video replayed six times after that, and I watched it every single time."(Photo: Aftermath Entertainment) 

Photo By Photo: Afterm

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French Montana - "The first time I heard him was when Doggystyle came out, it was like 94 or 93. I was in Morocco. I fell in love right there, that's one of my top three favorite albums of all time"  (Photo by Brad Barket/PictureGroup)

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Jay Rock - "The first time I heard Snoop I was only five years old, I remember thinking his voice is crazy. He was saying all the gangsta shit I was used to hearing in the projects but he did it so smooth. That was 20 years ago and he still going, he's definitely an icon." (Photo: Brad Barket/PictureGroup)

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Kreayshawn - “When I first heard Snoop I cried a little on the inside. He’s so original. ‘Gin N Juice’ is a classic, it’s one of the first songs I heard from him.” (Photo: Anthony Harvey/PictureGroup)

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Glasses Malone - "The first time I heard Snoop Dogg I was at the Compton Swap Meet at a model car lowrider hop off (where people put hydraulics on the minature model cars). The song 'What's My Name?; was played over and over again. I won that hop off with a Green 64 Impala we called Leprechaun. I loved that song ever since." (Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images