Snoop Lion

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Not that I follow Snoop Dog all that closely (okay, as close to being not at all without actually being not at all) but it was interesting or odd to realize that he had been hiding in Jamaica and transforming himself into a rastafarian. He's also made a reggae album..

[youtube]MTqyV5Kw9Ss[/youtube]

Name changes in hip-hop aren’t exactly new. Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan notoriously conjured up a litany of rap aliases, including Big Baby Jesus and Osirus. Rapper/actor Mos Def recently decided to call himself Yasiin Bey, even though no one else seems to have gotten the memo. But for undisputed hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, the transformation into Snoop Lion was more than just aesthetic. Snoop’s new reggae persona was born from the genuine inspiration of spending time in Jamaica and getting in touch with his inner Rastafarian.

“It’s not that I want to become Snoop Dogg on a reggae track,” Snoop said during a recent New York press event according to Huffington Post. “I want to bury Snoop Dogg, and become Snoop Lion. I didn’t know that until I went to the temple, where the High Priest asked me what my name was, and I said, ‘Snoop Dogg.’ And he looked me in my eyes and said, ‘No more. You are the light; you are the lion.’ From that moment on, it’s like I had started to understand why I was there.”

To realize his reggae dreams, Snoop connected with globe-trotting DJ and producer Diplo and his Major Lazer project to create the debut Snoop Lion album, Reincarnated, featuring the chill island vibes of first single, “La La La.”

“He wanted to do real reggae,” Diplo said at the press event, calling the album “some of the best” music he’s ever produced. “To sing and find a new voice. It was a dream to work on an entire record [as opposed to a single]. That’s very rare.”

Snoop Lion has already received a heavyweight co-sign from none less than Rohan Marley, the son of music legend Bob Marley.

“Music is universal,” Marley said when asked if he had any doubts about Snoop Lion’s commitment to real reggae sounds. “Jamaica is just a part of music, so we were open to Snoop.”

Get into the island groove of “La La La” below and feel the Rastaman vibrations of Snoop Lion.

[Drunk Monk]

Snoop is hilarious. He's the king of stoners. I've seen him perform many times. At the 'Mo and BGC, he invariably sets of the smoke alarms.

:weedman:

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I thought you would enjoy that story.

I was amazed at the amount of smoke they were exhaling in the video.

[Drunk Monk]

Actually, that was nothing, smoke-wise. Jamaica and Cali are the biggest hitters in the world. That was minor league - toned down for the trailer.

Looking forward to this.

[Drunk Monk]

It was a big topic at GAIA, after I brought it up. One of my close friends promoted a show for Snoop in the Emerald Triangle last year. He was wearing his shirt from that show, which was the perfect lead in. He told a hilarious story about how Snoop had to request that people stop throwing buds on the stage as there were already several pounds sticking to his shoes, and he couldn't take it all home on the plane.