Snoop Dogg: A Hip Hop Renaissance Man

The hip-hop industry is a fickle one. One minute, a young rapper comes out with a hit and is seen everywhere and the next minute, he becomes a one-hit wonder that fades into obscurity. Very few rappers achieve longevity and Snoop Dogg is one of those rappers. Snoop has been in the game since the eighties and has been reinventing himself as of late. These days, he’s going by Snoop Lion and has decided to try out reggae music. His first reggae track “La La La” was leaked in July and he’s preparing to release an album titled “Reincarnated.” Many think Snoop undergoing a reggae transformation is a gimmick but in all actuality, he has immersed himself in reggae as well as Rastafarianism. His new nickname is a nod to the culture which reveres lions. “Rasta is not a religion it’s a way of life, it’s a ‘livity,’” Snoop said to Complex Music Blog. “I’ve always been Rastafari, I just didn’t have my third eye open. But it’s wide open now.”

Reggae and Rastafarianism isn’t the only new interest that has been distracting Snoop. He has also dabbled in electronic music and he released a mixtape titled “Loose Joints.” He got into electronic music via suggestions from friends and he gave himself another nickname. “Snoop Dogg meets Funkadelic and you get [DJ] Snoopadelic, baby. Couple of my homies and homegirls came to me and said that’s an avenue you never really went down. It’s so global that I had to fucks with it,” he told Fader, an online culture magazine.

Although hip-hop is Snoop’s first love, he refuses to be pigeonholed into just doing hip-hop. While it might be off-putting for some to see the Doggfather doing club music, he doesn’t seem to care about what this experimentation will do to his image. Snoop is just flexing his creative muscles.

“Whoever or wherever, I’ve always been experimental and won doing it. No disrespect to hip-hop, but if you wanna be universal, you gotta do universal things,” he said. “Hip-hop is big all over, but if you got the power and talent to do other things, then why not? Not why.” The California native has come a long way from the debut of 1993’s Doggy Style. He has traded in the large flannel shirts in favor of a wide array of get-ups that included a suit covered with cupcakes, zoot suits and now red, green and yellow Rasta influenced garb. He has reinvented himself several times and somehow, it always works. It has gotten him seven platinum albums, 13 Grammy nominations and numerous awards. ‘

Either way, Snoop just wants to make good music. Snoop Lion and DJ Snoopadelic are just two integral parts of one whole. “Snoop Lion, Snoop Dogg, DJ Snoopadelic—they only know one thing: make music that’s timeless and bangs. I’m Snooperman. I go into the booth and when I come out I’m damn sure gonna have a hit record for yo ass,” he quipped.

Music isn’t his only interest. Snoop is also trying to break into the sports world. While other rappers are investing in basketball teams, Snoop wants to buy a share of the Glasgow Celtic, a soccer team from the United Kingdom. “I don’t need to run a soccer club but enough of a percentage to get me on board so I can be heard,” he told UK’s Daily Record Newspaper. “I asked my man David [Beckham] about Celtic and he was like, ‘Yeah, teams don’t come much bigger.’ I would try and sign him up for a season, but he is pretty happy over here [playing for the L.A. Galaxy].” Snoop is also an experienced actor having appeared in over 30 projects including voice over work for shows like King of The Hill and Futurama. He has also dabbled in producing pornography and he is the subject a documentary about his upcoming album and his transformation into Snoop Lion. The documentary, also named “Reincarnated”, was shown at the Toronto Film Festival back in September.

Clearly, Snoop is willing to try anything once. Perhaps, that is the secret behind his longevity and relevance. Young rappers definitely need to take note. They are witnessing the creation of a legend.

–Ashleigh Atwell