Snoop Dogg Releases Reggae Album, Becomes Snoop Lion

Someone’s going to have to re-write the lyrics to ‘Who Am I (What’s My Name?)’…

You might recall how Sean ‘Diddy” Combs began his career as Puff Daddy, well now it’s another iconic rapper’s turn. Snoop Dogg has changed his moniker for the release of his latest album, Reincarnated, a complete reggae album complete with a reinvented name: Snoop Lion.

NME reports that, seemingly overnight, that the man born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. has reinvented himself as Snoop Lion for his upcoming album, and he’s already released the first taste of his rastafarian efforts in lead single, ‘La La La.’ With dubby bass, choppy guitars and Snoop even adapting his trademark delivery to a more Jamaican-influenced lilt.

The track is ‘executive produced’ by Major Lazer, which is of course the production team of Diplo and Switch, and their fingerprints are all over the track in the grimy, dancehall tone and dubbed up bass. They’re credited as the producers of Reincarnated along with Ariel Rechtshaid, whose production CV includes both indie figures (Blood Orange, We Are Scientists, Foreign Born) and since crossed over into more popular fare (Theophilus London, Usher).

The reinvention of Snoop Lion was first hinted at by the American rapper to NME a few months back, when he teased that despite being 11 albums into his career, we had yet to see the ‘real him.’

Speaking of the reggae follow-up to last year’s Doggumentary, he remarked “it’s special. It’s a real special project to me because it’s like the reincarnation and the birth of me becoming who I really am.”

“This record gives me an opportunity to the world of the stadium,” he said. “Those are the kind of songs that last 40, 50 years.”

You can have a listen to Snoop Do… *ahem* Lion’s re-born debut below: