Is Snoop Lion's Transformation the Real Dope?

Snoop Dogg is now Snoop Lion, and the dude's got a reggae album coming out on April 23rd. Is he for real? The Los Angeles Times reports, "Snoop Dogg was gangsta; Snoop Lion is Rasta."

This is pretty fascinating. Bunny Wailer is not pleased:

"I had got to a point in my career where I had done it all," the performer, 41, explained between drags in the hotel suite on a blunt. "I had reached the pinnacle of rap. It was too easy. I was looking for a new challenge. I needed to speak to the people but not from a hip-hop voice — from a different angle."

Given Snoop's other recent stabs at musical rebranding, his latest iteration may strike some as little more than a countervailing persona served up via a new film and a new album. He insists it isn't an act.

"Reincarnated," a travelogue documentary that reached theaters March 15, chronicles the artist's 2012 journey to Jamaica. Shuttling from shantytown to Nyabinghi temple by minivan and inhaling industrial quantities of ganja, the Boss Dogg is shown immersing himself in reggae culture and being inculcated into the Rastafarian religion — he's instructed to ditch the "Dogg" alias in favor of the more righteous Snoop Lion by none other than reggae legend Bunny Wailer. The film, which premiered at September's Toronto International Film Festival, also captures Snoop recording an all-reggae, non-hip-hop album — his first — also titled "Reincarnated," due out on RCA Records April 23.

If his journey of self-discovery and musical rebirth is authentic, it could have far-reaching implications for one of gangsta rap's keystone figures, a hard-core stalwart (real name: Calvin Broadus) whose "Murder Was the Case" fatalism and 1996 acquittal on murder charges helped cement his street bona fides while paving the way for Snoop to become one of the most sought-out performers in hip-hop history. Some who spent time with the artist in Jamaica — including Wailer — have doubts about his transformation...

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With its boilerplate reggae references to "revolution," "ghetto youth," the opening of a "third eye" and frequent salutation to the Rastafarian creative force Jah, the debut Snoop Lion album (executive produced by Grammy-nominated hit maker Diplo) reflects the performer's burgeoning consciousness and apparent finesse with his adopted musical idiom. Add in guest contributions from a host of hip-hop and R&B heavyweights including Rita Ora, Drake, Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes as well as such Jamaican musical luminaries as Mavado and Collie Buddz, and "Reincarnated" provides a surprisingly satisfying pupu platter of reggae styles, referencing dancehall, dub, roots rock reggae and even rub-a-dub style electro-clash.

Not everyone associated with the project is overjoyed with the performer's transformation, however. Wailer has accused the star of "outright fraudulent use of Rastafari Community's personalities and symbolism," insisting Snoop failed to meet "contractual, moral and verbal commitments" in a seven-page demand letter that also orders him to give up using the "Lion" part of his name, demanding he pay unspecified "financial and moral support." (Snoop disputes the allegations but refuses to condemn Wailer.)

Boy, those Rastafarians don't mess around with the brand!