As the son of legendary rapper and entertainment mogul Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., or Snoop Dogg as many fans know him, Cordell Broadus has had the keys to the entertainment industry at his fingertips. Yet, he knew early on that he wanted to use his nepotism to build on the empire his dad started for his family.
Not only was he born into the world of entertainment, Broadus also grew up making a name for himself in sports, becoming a four-star recruit and one of the top-ranked wide receivers in the country during his high school career. After committing to the University of California, Los Angeles to suit up as a Bruin football player, it wasn’t long before he changed his mind, stepping away from the sport to pursue other passions like filmmaking, modeling and his foray into life as a businessman instead.
Today, Broadus is the creative director for Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, his father’s latest business endeavor. In his role, the 27-year-old oversees the brand’s overall vision, artistic direction and storytelling, helping to shape its identity and appeal.
“My dad likes to say, you know, people like us, we don’t have identities,” Broadus told Blavity in a recent interview”We just go at our intuition, and I didn’t know what it was going to look like when I walked away, but I felt it would be empowering. I felt, you know, I would have an impact,” he said. “Not to say that athletes and musicians don’t have impacts, but I think when you have representation in the field where it’s not many of us, like all these meetings I’m at and all these consumer product things we’re doing, it’s hardly any 27-year-old Black kids inside the rooms.”
He added, “I want to change that, and I feel good as far as taking that journey versus doing something, you know, that our culture has been doing for decades, and it’s not really, you know, breaking the mold. It’s not really inspiring us to be more. That’s not to take anything from athletes or musicians, but how do we have representation to be, you know, entrepreneurs and people in power of their own future? That’s really all it really is. Just hearing stories about my great-grandfather and my grandfather and just knowing, you know, our family lineage don’t just start with Snoop. It’s more of a business side that a lot of people don’t know.”
Broadus is the visionary behind Dr. Bombay Ice Cream flavors like Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Rollin’ in the Dough, Tropical Sherbet Swizzle and more. He and his dad knew they wanted to bring a particular type of nostalgia back to the frozen dessert aisle.
“That’s really what my dad was thinking because growing up, he used to always take me and my brother to Baskin-Robbins, and we’ll get rainbow sherbet, so when I found the Bored Ape, it kind of looked like rainbow sherbert to me, because of the pink coat and then the orange and all of the different colors, and that was like the first flavor that we wanted to go with, because it looked like the Bored Ape, and then from there we just started to lean on happiness as far as other flavors to create.”
Broadus credits working alongside great partners and operators and building relationships with various C-suite executives and brands like Walmart to help them hit the ground running with their ice cream. Rather than focusing on just how many different ice cream brands are available for consumers, he said they are instead honing in on the unique things about Dr. Bombay that make it stand out.
“We got a doctor on our team who specializes in, you know, ice cream science and, you know, people with experience — Kraft and Heinz and White Claw,” Broadus revealed. “Our CEO has been working with Walmart for 14 years. So, really just partnering with people we know way better than us. You know, me and my dad are the creative, marketing, you know, and they’re more the operational side. So I think when you put all those pieces together, it just makes a great team.”
More recently, Dr. Bombay Ice Cream expanded into convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Speedway, as it continues to become a household ice cream name.
“It starts with my great-grandfather in Mississippi,” Broadus recalled. “He owned a dairy farm, and we’re not, you know, using those recipes or nothing like that, but just the mentality of being a Black man in the ’50s and ’60s, owning land, owning, you know, things that can bring passive income. That’s how we think. We’re trying to build generational wealth, and we’re trying to build a legacy, you know, that will never be forgotten, not just in ice cream, but in branding in general.”
“It’s just mindset, you know. These are Black kings we’re talking about, and they came from nothing,” Broadus continued. “I’m starting a few steps ahead of them because, you know, what my father was able to build, my mother was able to have a vision for us as far as education for me and my siblings. So the resources I have — we have way more this generation than the previous. So, I think it’s only right to take it a step further, you know? I’m the first person in my family to go to college, and you know, start businesses, and be an entrepreneur.”
While he said there’s nothing wrong with having dreams of becoming a musician or athlete, Broadus knew that he wanted to be optimistic and not marginalize himself, something he’s picked up along the way with his father being Snoop Dogg and having other people in business at his liberty to bounce ideas off of.
“That’s what I learned from the Snoops and all the different entrepreneurs my dad was around and just being a king, being confident, and you know, submitting with your legacy, and not giving up,” Broadus concluded. “It’s going to take a long time, and just keeping your head down and, you know, staying locked in because we tend to get happy with, you know, certain milestones. So, I just want to think like how we can think, you know, centuries from now, how can we be like our competitors, like those brands are still being talked about that was started 60, 70 years ago. How do we do that outside of music, but with consumer products and things we know aren’t going anywhere?”
Since its inception a little over a year ago, Dr. Bombay Ice Cream has already generated more than $10 million in revenue. It is now distributed in most grocers across the nation. Broadus said this is just the beginning as he and his family continue to take over the globe, one product and one step toward generational wealth at a time!
The post Cordell Broadus, Son Of Snoop Dogg, Honors Family Legacy And Shapes Dr. Bombay Ice Cream’s Vision: ‘It Starts With My Great-Grandfather’ appeared first on Blavity.
