Tha Doggfather

Tha Doggfather is the second studio album by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released by Death Row Records on November 12, 1996. The album was re-released July 11, 2005. Prior to the successful release of his debut album Doggystyle, Snoop was charged with murder. Snoop spent much of 1995 preparing for the case, which went to trial late that year. In February 1996, he was cleared of all charges and began working on his second album, without Dr. Dre as producer. This was Snoop's last album on Death Row Records, and under the name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Although the album debuted at number one in the week of November 12, 1996 with over 478,971 copies sold, it failed to match the commercial success of Doggystyle. 2Pac, who had become a friend of Snoop during 1996, died weeks before the release of Tha Doggfather, and Dr. Dre had left Death Row to his partner Suge Knight, who was indicted on racketeering charges by the end of 1996. Consequently, Snoop's second album stalled at sales of two million. It was released only one week after another Death Row release, the first posthumous album by slain Tupac Shakur, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which also debuted at number one. The illustration on the back cover of the CD is done by Joe Cool, the same artist who did the front cover of Doggystyle.