Snoop Dogg is now Snoop Lion.

The man of a dozen nicknames has changed his identity.  Once upon a time, the Long Beach rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg changed his moniker to the more grown-up Snoop Dogg and became the face of West Coast rap thanks to his laid-back flow, funky production, love of marijuana, and willingness to poke fun at his own persona.  The Snoop Dogg days are over; the Snoop Lion days are here.  Rap is out, reggae is in.

“I wanted to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion, but I didn’t know that until I went to the temple and received the name Snoop Lion from the Nyabingi priest,” said Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus.  ”From that moment on, I started to understand why I was there and was able to create something magical in this project … something I haven’t done before in my career.”

The project mentioned above by Snoop is Reincarnated, which is actually two different things.  One of these is a new album of straightforward reggae produced by Major Lazer and coming out on Vice Records.  The other is a new documentary about Snoop’s trip to Jamaica and his renewed interest in all things spiritual thanks to Rastafarianism and Rasta priests declaring him the reincarnation of Bob Marley.  It remains to be seen just how long the Lion sticks around.  If Snoop Lion lingers as long as OS X Mountain Lion, I’ll be very surprised.

Tags: snoop dogg, snoop lion, music, celebrities, snoop dogg changes his name to snoop lion,  Jamaica, Bob marley, rastafarianism, calvin broadus, name changes, reggae album, reggae, reincarnated, vice records, major lazer, toronto film festival, reincarnaged album, reincarnated documentary

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