So Snoop Dogg is now Snoop Lion. Why? Why?! When I heard this news I was thoroughly perplexed and decided to enlighten myself with the answer to why – much like Snoop enlightened himself with the fact that naming himself Dogg probably wasn’t a good idea in the first place.
After extensive research (because I view this as a very pressing issue) I learned that Snoop underwent a rebirth of sorts in Jamaica and converted to Rastafarianism. According to Rastafarian expert and scholar at Kenyon college Ennis Edmonds, calling someone a dog in Jamaica is deeply insulting and could be viewed as a lack of self-knowledge.
To me, “lack of self-knowledge” may be exactly what Snoop has. I thought he was merely a west coast gangster, not a Bob Marley incarnate. I don’t envision Rastafaris sipping on gin and juice or dropping it like it’s hot, but Snoop claimed that he wants to bury Snoop Dogg and fully take on his new lion persona. Good for him. Now I’m going to go listen to him sing Reggae with a west coast accent.
