Entertainment Icon Snoop Dogg Unveils Reincarnated Project and Explains Snoop Lion
Los Angeles, CA — Last night, Snoop Dogg unveiled the meaning
behind his newest moniker, Snoop Lion, and explained his latest project, REINCARNATED.
Set at New York’s famed Jamaican themed record store and restaurant, Miss
Lily’s, Sway Calloway (MTV, SiriusXM) hosted the event with Snoop Lion,
Diplo, Ted Chung (Snoop Dogg’s Manager, Stampede Management) and Suroosh
Alvi (co-founder, VICE Media).
In conjunction with VICE, the youth media brand, the REINCARNATED project embodies
Snoop’s recent stay on the island of Jamaica. The project includes a reggae
album produced by Diplo and the Major Lazer production team, documentary, photo
book and a non-profit initiative called Mind Garden.
Initially set as a trip to focus on his music in an isolated environment, the
journey quickly morphed into both a musical and a spiritual awakening. “For
this project, I had no intention of making a reggae album, but the spirit called
me. Anytime the spirit calls you gotta know that it’s serious and real,”
recalled Snoop on both the Rastafarian culture and the Jamaican people who embraced
him along the journey of being reincarnated into Snoop Lion.
Snoop revealed the story behind his adopted moniker “Snoop Lion”
– a title change that garnered massive press attention when announced
through his social networks last week. The title was given to him by the revered
Nyabinghi upon his arrival to the island. The name is derived from the Lion
that appears on the Imperial Ethiopian flag and remains an honored symbol of
former Ethiopian Emperor Halie Selassie I and the Rastafarians themselves.
I didn’t want to be Snoop Dogg on a reggae track…I wanted to bury
Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion, but I didn’t know that until I went
to the temple and received the name Snoop Lion from the Nyabingi priest,”
said Snoop. “From that moment on, I started to understand why I was there
and was able to create something magical in this [Reincarnated] project…something
I haven’t done before in my career.
Snoop recently released his first single “La La La” from his REINCARNATED
reggae album to rave reviews. In celebration of his song and to commemorate
50 years of Jamaican independence on August 6th, Snoop has made 1962 copies
of limited edition 7? vinyls to distribute.
The riveting documentary was also just accepted to the prestigious Toronto
International Film Festival and will premiere on September 7th and 8th, 2012.
VICE documented Snoop’s very personal journey throughout Jamaica and his
time spent with Rastafarian elders. The documentary, REINCARNATED, features
never-before-seen images of Jamaica, as Snoop was granted unprecedented access
to Rastafarian culture, temples and Jamaican culture.
Not only was his time documented on film, but also through awe-inspiring photos
of Jamaica’s rich landscapes and beautiful people. The photos were captured
by Los Angeles photographer, Willie T, and will be released as a coffee table
book through VICE.
While in Jamaica, Snoop was deeply affected by the people of Jamaica and also
discussed his role in the development of Mind Garden, a non-profit social initiative
focusing on community gardens that will provide essential nourishment to the
kids in Kingston, Jamaica. For Mind Garden, Snoop partnered with renowned businessman
Jean Paul DeJoria and his JP’s Love, Peace and Happiness Foundation.
Keep posted on REINCARNATED by visiting www.snooplion.com and follow @Snoop_Lion
on Twitter and Instagram.
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