Snoop Dogg's daughter Cori Broadus, now known as Chocc, has spoken to NME about her debut EP 'Journals to Johnny' and her mission to “be a safe space where people can understand it's OK to feel”.
Earlier this week, Broadus revealed she is dropping her debut tomorrow (Friday December 6) under the moniker Chocc. She is now the third child of Snoop's to dabble in music, following in the footsteps of her brothers, Cordell and Cordé, who released an album in 2013 called 'Royal Fam' as a duo under the name Tha Broadus Boyz.
'Journals to Johnny' is a bright and earnest collection of six songs about “a girl who's been through life” and leans more towards pop than the hip-hop music her father is known for.
“Life be lifin' and – one thing about me – I've always been an open book,” Chocc told NME. “I've always shared with the world what I'm going through – whether it's a good day or a bad day, a good month or a bad month – I show it off.”
She said that she knew that “when you're a celebrity's kid, people have certain expectations,” but she “finally got to put out music that feels true to who she is” on 'Journals to Johnny'.
The EP will be released a day after the premiere of her reality TV special on AND!, Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood: Cori & Wayne's Story – a spinoff of her father's original 2007 series. “I was the baby girl when I was on that show and I didn't carry no weight on it,” Chocc said about her latest venture into reality TV. “Now, you get to see an insight into my life and I'm sharing everything: my good days, my bad days, and I love that.”
Finding her artistic identity wasn't straightforward, as she couldn't figure out what sound she wanted. Early on, Chocc grappled with preconceived notions about what music she should create – especially with her father being a history-making rap pioneer, telling NME: “When people found out I made music, they'd ask if I rapped. But I don't rap — I don't even know how to rap.”
Then, Chocc revealed that she pivoted to R&B “because, as a Black girl, I felt that's what made sense for our culture — but it wasn't fully me.”
When Snoop suggested that she should try to make pop music, she told him: “Dad, that's not for me. That's not for Black girls. I can't do that.” Only after she started experimenting with the genre did she find her footing. “Something clicked,” she admitted. “My dad and I both fell in love with the sound, with my voice, and it felt right. It's who I am.”
Chocc is inspired by the “chill” vibes of the likes of SZA, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Brandy to be “authentically herself” – which she believes is “very simple”.
“I don't wear heels or tight clothes. I don't show my body [and I thought] that's what I needed to do to be successful because 'sex sells',” she said. “But then I saw Billie Eilish, who's mostly covered up and still incredibly successful, and realized I could do that too: just be who you want to be. Not everyone will love you, and that's OK — you're not meant to be everyone's taste.”
Ironically, Snoop was also the first person who tried to deter Chocc from making music. At just six-years-old, she sang in her school choir and her father wasn't initially impressed with her performance. “He told me I sucked,” she said. “I cried, but I never gave up. I begged my mom for singing lessons, piano lessons — anything to improve.”
So, she continued to make music with producers and didn't give up on her dream. Broadus knew she had something because those she would work with would tell her she had “such an amazing tone” and, after “spending hours in the studio every day,” she started to discover her voice and “who Choc really is.”
At first, she believed she needed “more people to make hits,” and – because she couldn't do things writers wanted her to – other background singers or writers would perform on songs for her. So, when she got older, she wanted “to be in full control”.
“I just found my voice a few months ago,” she shared, before explaining how a spontaneous drive to Las Vegas by herself with “no dog, no man, no security” gave her the confidence “to make a song that makes sense to the world.” On that very trip, she learned how to write songs and created the two singles she released this year – 'Friends' and 'Move' – which kickedstarted her new autonomous era.
Both songs are expressive and honest – something Chocc was striving for while making 'Journals to Johnny': “If you listen to it, it has a lot of confusion. A lot of [women] be confused like, we want to be with this person, but then we don't, but then we do. [We say] 'OK, I love you', then, 'I hate you'. You really don't know how you feel. So, when you hear this EP, it's literally like you're in your journal. This is how I'm pretty sure a lot of women are feeling right now, and I want to be a safe space where people can understand it's okay to feel like this.”
Many might think Snoop Dogg helped create 'Journals To Johnny', but Broadus made the record solely with her partner Wayne Duece and producer Sam Pounds. “He wasn't even in the passenger seat this time,” Chocc said. “He wasn't even in the car. It was really a three-man team.”
However, Dogg put his stamp of approval on the EP by releasing it under Death Row Records – for which Chocc is immensely grateful.
“It's very beautiful to me,” she said, expressing her feelings about her music being released via her father's label. “Like I said in the beginning, my dad told me I sucked and maybe this isn't for me. So the fact that he sees the vision now… he calls me every other day: 'Cori B, your album? I didn't know you could do this.' He sees potential in me, he sees the vision and he's a legend himself so, if he sees it, I don't care what nobody else thinks.”
Most artists with famous parents usually want to detach themselves from their success through fear of being labeled a 'nepo baby'. However, Chocc says her dad is “perfect” and she wants to align herself with her father's legacy.
“At first, I didn't wanna be known as Snoop Dogg's daughter, I just wanted to be Cori Broadus, but it's like, 'Girl, this is what you were born into and that's just what comes with it,'” Chocc shared . “When you're born, you don't ask to be here, so you should appreciate that [you have a celebrity parent] and take advantage of that. I used to want to stray away from that but now I live in that.”
But she does believe her career and legacy are already different to Snoop's because she's “doing things he's never even thought about” like entering real estate and having her own cosmetic line: The Choc Factory.
“Our journeys are different. I can't feel his shoes and he can't feel my shoes,” she told NMEremembering what her father told her when “nobody's listening to her music”.
“Cori, you have to be your own luck,” she recalled. “I can do all these things, put all this money behind you and this and that, but you have to be your own luck, baby girl. I can't do everything for you.” So, with her father's support, she continued to “do what she's supposed to do” and not try to imitate his career.
Chocc said she believes her purpose in music is to “be an example of, 'You can do it too because I did it.'” Growing up in the public eye, many would assume her “life is flawless,” but in reality, she faces her own battles with Lupus, depression and poor mental health which she candidly speaks about online.
“I'm showing people that there's a light at the end of the tunnel,” she proclaimed. “Even with me having Lupus, so many people always ask me, 'How do you do this?' and I don't know. I've just had it for so long, it's like second nature to me so I try to look at the good versus the bad.”
Chocc concluded: “I'm able to get up and do what I want to do. I'm not in the hospital. I'm not on my deathbed. So I just have to look at the bigger picture and look at more positive things than be a negative Nancy. If I show that to the world, it can help them as well.”
Broadus' new reality TV series Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood: Cori and Wayne's Story will air on E! In the US today (Thursday December 5) at 10pm ET, and 'Journals To Johnny' will drop tomorrow via Death Row Records.
