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Words by Jesse Serwer, Video Shot by Ethan Sigman—
Like it or not, Snoop Lion’s Reincarnated is the most talked about reggae project since… yeah, even we are struggling to remember the last time a new reggae LP elicited this level of intrigue from the world at large. Other non-Jamaican acts with big names have made surprising left turns into reggae before but none has generated the interest and backlash as the former Snoop Dogg has with his new identity.
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
A few months back, shortly after Snoop Dogg’s press conference announcing his transformation into Snoop Lion, we sat down with Snoop and producer Diplo for an in-depth conversation on a wide variety of topics. One was Snoop’s relationship with Bunny Wailer. Another was dancehall phenom Popcaan, with whom the pair collaborated on “Lighters Up,” from Snoop’s upcoming Reincarnated album (and perhaps some other tracks from the LP as well?)
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Words by Jesse Serwer, Photo Courtesy of Andrew Bain—
Bunny Wailer’s gripes with Snoop Dogg/Snoop Lion and his representation of Rastafari culture have become a hot topic recently, even making gossip website TMZ. “Fire will bun fi him,” the site suggested—props on your patois, Harvey—if Snoop doesn’t make things right with Bunny and the Rastafari Millennium Council, which has also aired grievances with Snoop and his Vice-produced Reincarnated documentary—and asked him to stop calling himself “Lion.”
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
Just one week after the underwhelming “Here Comes the King,” the guy now calling himself Snoop Lion has unleashed the most interesting track thus far from his Reincarnated project. And he’s brought some notable guests from the dancehall world to “Lighters Up,” namely the Gully Gad Mavado, and Popcaan. Though unbilled, Jahdan Blakkamoore (who co-wrote “Lighters”) also lends his vocals to the track.
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
Snoop Lion is a cipher on “Here Comes the King,” the second single from the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg’s reggae album, Reincarnated. Similar to the project’s first release, “La La La,” the song serves more as a showcase for Major Lazer, Ariel Rechtshaid, and 6Blocc’s pop-, dancehall- and dubstep-straddling production and, in this case, the vocals of “Empire State 0f Mind” co-writer Angela Hunte (sounding an awful lot here like Jovi Rockwell on “La La La”), than as a canvas for Snoop’s singing talents. In what is perhaps a testament to the production—or perhaps not—at points you almost forget that he’s there. Stream below.
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Words by DJ Gravy—
As you’ve probably heard, hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg recently took his career in a radical new direction, inspired by reggae, Bob Marley and the message of Rastafari. Snoop spent some time in Jamaica last winter to work on his debut reggae album, holding a press conference at Manhattan’s Miss Lily’s (where the pics in this post were shot) to announce his transformation from rapper to reggae artist and trading his canine status in for his new feline moniker, Snoop Lion.
