Long before hip hop luminary figure Snoop Dogg and the rest of his crew had found hip hop and gangsta rap success, they were Westside gang members living a street lifestyle that often included run ins with the law.

The ‘gangsta rapper’ of hip hop Snoop Dogg himself spent time locked down inside California's notorious "Youth Authority" - the CYA - which in recent years has come under court order for abusing and failing to rehabilitate youth.

Hip Hop luminary Snoop Dogg’s record is now expunged, but the truth is that memories of the time he spent incarcerated still trouble him. Today, having created success as a hip hop entrepreneur and rap artist and left gang life, Snoop decided he wants to give back to the kids still caught up in the system and those at risk of going in.

Using his truth and theirs, Bigg Snoop Dogg's Youth Authority: California will tell the story of the CYA, gang activity, and youth violence in a documentary based on Snoop's story (as told by Snoop Dogg himself) and the stories of those youths still in the struggle.

The show will air Tuesday, January 16, 2007 on Spike TV at 11pm ET.

Find out more at http://www.spiketv.com