Amid preparations for her upcoming marriage—chronicled in the new E! series Snoop’s Fatherhood: Cori and Wayne’s Story—Cori “Chocc” Broadus is determined to make her music resonate deeply with fans while remaining a diary of her personal journey.
On the December 5th premiere date of Cori and Wayne’s Story, Broadus, the youngest daughter of Snoop Dogg and his wife, manager, and businesswoman Shante Broadus, will release her introductory EP, Journals to Johnny. Composed of six tracks, Broadus shows full emotional transparency. On the electropop-leaning “Did You Mean It??,” the 25-year-old shows urgency in questioning her lover’s motives. “Johnny Don’t Break My Heart” finds Broadus pining for the same wayward partner despite his player antics. The singer sincerely turns into balladish indie rock on “Move,” where she’s led by her heart into reconciliation. Although an heir to hip-hop royalty, Broadus clarifies that she’s no different from those absolving themselves from past toxic relationships.
But on first listen, the moody tone of Journals to Johnny strikes a drastic difference between Broadus then and the woman preparing to marry her longtime partner, creative director and the EP’s co-songwriter, Wayne ‘Duece’ Polk.
“I feel like ‘Johnny’ is really like a John Doe or Jane Doe. It’s kind of like someone who has basically put us through hell and back,” Broadus tells BET.com “We all, us as women, have a Johnny in our lives. So it’s kind of just broad–this is to anybody who did wrong. And instead of coming up with a specific name, why not call him Johnny?”
Having exhibited radical honesty in her struggles with chronic autoimmune disease lupus and previously having self-harm ideations, it took support from an intimate three-person team, including Polk and producer Sam Pounds, for the Los Angeles native to witness her vision on Journals to Johnny take shape.
“I think I’m just really growing into womanhood. I’ve been through things and I feel like now I’m able to talk about them and sing about them,” Broadus says. “I feel like that’s my brand–being vulnerable and accessible, relatable. Because when we’re going through things, we tend to feel like we’re alone, when you never know who may be going through the same things as you.”
She continues, “I really feel like [on] this project, I truly found my voice. I felt like, over the years, I was doing things that other people wanted me to do and singing about what other people wanted me to sing about.”
Known initially as Cori B., Journals proves to be an artistic reset for Broadus, who was once a kiddie pop act on songs like “Do My Thang,” “No Guns Allowed” with Snoop Dogg and Drake, and “Trouble” featuring Gabi Wilson years before she became known as H.E.R. Similar to H.E.R.’s mysterious revamping, Broadus demonstrates an alluring and grown-up reintroduction. As modern R&B listeners gravitate towards lyrics that involve desolation, Broadus teases a second part to Journals, as she’s comfortable wearing her heart on her sleeve.
“I feel like a lot of people don’t resonate with happy music, because life be life-ing and that’s the beauty of it. It’s like, ‘Okay, I can sit here and relate to what she’s singing about and what she’s going through. I’m going through the same thing,’” Broadus says about her musical direction. “We could talk about it for hours, months, years, depending on how bad the situation was. But always find light in every situation, even if it may be dark.”
Working on Journals gave Broadus a stronger sense of self, but her parents, who celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary in July, have been a guiding light to her relationship with Polk. They’ve also trusted their daughter well enough to know how to experience marriage with a mature outlook.
“They may tell us something, but our experiences may be different from what they experienced as a couple,” Broadus says about her parents’ advice. “You kind of just gotta go through it, pray about it and just be there for each other. At the end of the day, things are going to get hard. It’s not gonna always be the honeymoon stage. I feel like what people don’t realize is relationships are hard work, in general.”
Broadus also shares that her family embraced Polk early on after the singer dealt with previous romantic partners whom she now considers “trash.” “I think from the jump, everybody knew Wayne was a good guy. I actually moved out of my parents house and I moved in with him at the age of 19,” she says. “Them just seeing how he treated me, how he was there for me–he was low-key taking care of me at one point. Just seeing him being a man, him having a car, him having a job–it wasn’t the bum behavior of what we were used to. It was a real man who was there for his lady.”
Journals signify the ‘Johnny’ types that Broadus dated before meeting Polk, with whom she navigates the highs and lows of engagement and wedding planning on Cori and Wayne’s Story.
She continues, “I was used to the cheating, I was used to the disrespect, I was used to just everything [being] negative. So when Wayne was coming at me full throttle with nothing but positivity, it was very uncomfortable and I had to pray to God to help me accept this type of love that I was receiving.”
The message extends to Broadus coming to grips with her mental health after a nearly two-decade battle with lupus, in which her flare-ups cause her to have arthritis, stiff joints, soreness and fatigue. Broadus’ health problems nearly sent the singer over the edge after suicide ideations almost claimed her life, as she recalled on the finale of mini-docuseries #MyChoccStory. Now prioritizing wellness through pilates classes and walking her dogs daily, Broadus also provides outreach to individuals at war with themselves. Broadus also pours messages of self-love into her following and plans to encourage their natural beauty with lip care line Chocc Factory, which launches on February 15.
“I’ve never been afraid to tell people what I’m going through in my story. And I feel like the more I started to do it, the more I realized how many people I was helping and realizing how many people are in the same position as me,” she says. “I thank God every day for even giving me the courage to speak about my life experiences and what I go through on a daily basis, because you look at me and you would think my life is perfect and I don’t go through anything, when it’s the complete opposite. I’m human just like you and I go through things just like you.”
Now, at a place where she bravely speaks about her imperfections, Broadus uncovers it all in her new show and EP and wants fans to reroute their lives in a positive direction, just as she continues to do.
“I’m only 25 and I’m figuring life out every day as I go. So, [I’m] just trying to be easy on myself and just take it one day at a time because I feel like that’s all we have,” Broadus says.” We can’t worry about tomorrow, we can’t worry about yesterday. We have to worry about right now. I try to just take it one day at a time and just breathe and pray.”