When I first heard about Snoop Dogg’s recent announcement that he’d be changing his name to Snoop Lion and pursuing down the path towards a reggae album, my first reaction was admittedly a bit negative.
I kind of found the whole thing funny for some reason. Thinking that the dude doesn’t really need to give us any more evidence that he smokes a lot of weed and that Snoop Lion as a name just didn’t roll off the tongue just showcased my initial ignorance towards what Snoop is doing, embarrassingly enough.
In actuality, this career choice is about moving forward, moving away from his established role in rap and starting fresh towards a new (re)discovered passion. It’s not just a genre swap for one album; it’s a whole commitment towards a new persona and life path. We’ll learn to like the name change, because it’s not going anywhere. Snoop is as Snoop does. I’ve always respected that.
Vice Media has produced a feature-length film that share’s the aptly-titled album’s name, Reincarnated, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The trailer for the film is what opened my eyes to what Snoop actually is doing and I absolutely can’t wait for the opportunity to see the film in full.