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...

More:

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!

Latino Gangs Intimidating Blacks Into Leaving Compton

Times change, I guess.

At LAT, "Attack on family in Compton latest incident in wave of anti-black violence":

A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It's part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area.

The trouble began soon after they arrived.

The black family—a mother, three teenage children and a 10-year-old boy—moved into a little yellow home in Compton over Christmas vacation.

When a friend came to visit, four men in a black SUV pulled up and called him a "nigger," saying black people were barred from the neighborhood, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies. They jumped out, drew a gun on him and beat him with metal pipes.

It was just the beginning of what detectives said was a campaign by a Latino street gang to force an African American family to leave.

The attacks on the family are the latest in a series of violent incidents in which Latino gangs targeted blacks in parts of greater Los Angeles over the last decade.

Compton, with a population of about 97,000, was predominantly black for many years. It is now 65% Latino and 33% black, according to the 2010 U.S. census. But it's not only historically black areas that have been targeted.

Federal authorities have alleged in several indictments in the last decade that the Mexican Mafia prison gang has ordered street gangs under its control to attack African Americans. Leaders of the Azusa 13 gang were sentenced to lengthy prison terms earlier this month for leading a policy of attacking African American residents and expelling them from the town.

Similar attacks have taken place in Harbor Gateway, Highland Park, Pacoima, San Bernardino, Canoga Park and Wilmington, among other places. In the Compton case, sheriff's officials say the gang appears to have been acting on its own initiative.

Sheriff's detectives said Friday they had arrested Jeffrey Aguilar, 19, of Gardena and Efren Marquez, 21, of Rialto, both alleged members of the Compton Varrio 155 gang, and are continuing to look for more assailants.

"This family has no gang ties whatsoever," Sheriff's Lt. Richard Westin said. "They are complete innocent victims here."

The 19-year-old family friend managed to break free that first day and run into the house, where the children were the only ones at home.

The attackers left, but a half-hour later a crowd of as many as 20 people stood on the lawn yelling threats and epithets. A beer bottle crashed through the living room window as the youngsters watched in horror.

"They were scared if they called the sheriff they'd be killed," Westin said. "So they called their mom, who called the Sheriff's Department."

More at the link.

And that's N.W.A. at the clip, "Straight Outta Compton."

Compton ain't got no mo' black mofos like that, I be guessin'.

'Adorn'

Miguel, nice haircut:

University of Arizona Offers Minor in 'Hip-Hop Concentration'

Well, the university's "hip hop department" claims it won't be an easy minor, but I doubt it's going to help the "concentration" of those brothers who sign up for this scam. At the Los Angeles Times, "University of Arizona is first to offer minor in hip-hop":

Most people consider New York and Los Angeles to be the centers of hip-hop culture, but it's Tucson where students will find the first university to offer a minor dedicated to the movement.

The University of Arizona has recently added the concentration to its Africana Studies minor program. The decision is part of a trend to give serious academic study to the subject.

The curriculum is bound to be a hit with students, said Alain-Philippe Durand, interim director of the Africana Studies program. Though the concentration is new, the university has offered hip-hop courses since 2004.

Last spring, a class on hip-hop cinema at the university filled up in a matter of hours. Students then began emailing the teacher in an attempt to add the course.

"Rap and hip-hop in general has become super-popular around the world," Durand said. "The main reason for that is that it affects every single discipline and aspects of society."

News of the minor is exciting, said Steven Pond, associate professor and chairman of the Cornell University's music department. Cornell is at the forefront of applying serious study to the hip-hop movement, touting the largest hip-hop collection of music recordings, rare fliers, artwork, photography and other memorabilia.

"It's a very good development and an exciting one, … the idea of acknowledgment of the deep impact hip-hop has in many areas, across cultures," Pond said. "I think it's a very positive development to see hip-hop enter the academy, even if it's a decade or even a generation late."

'Scream & Shout'

At the recommendation of my oldest boy, Will.i.am and Britney Spears:

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "Going out with a bang! Britney Spears is sensational in backless bodice dress as she leads stars on X Factor red carpet."

Illiterate Rap Fans Flood Michelle Malkin's Timeline With Racist Misogyny

I was on Twitter when this was going down.

At Twitchy, "Rapper The Game and fans attack ‘racist,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘hoe’ Malkin and Fox News; clog Twitter with bad English, threats."

Are you threatening me, fool? NOTED. RT @therealgreeley @thegame @meekmill fuck this @michellemalkin bitch up
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 14, 2012

Background here: "‘Jesus Piece’: Have you seen the cover of The Game’s new album?," and "Fox News, Michelle Malkin brace for mass exodus of viewers as The Game urges boycott."

Greg Gutfeld Slams 'Gangnam Style' Anti-American Rapper

You'll get a laugh, despite how serious this is:

PREVIOUSLY: "Obama Daughters Meet Psy the 'Gangnam Style' Troop-Kill Rapper," and "Joe Biden Photographed With Anti-American 'Gangnam Style' Rapper."

Obama Daughters Meet Psy the 'Gangnam Style' Troop-Kill Rapper

Utterly amazing, at Twitchy, "Killer photo op: Obama and daughters meet U.S. troop-slay rapper PSY."

Some of the dude's lyrics, via Weasel Zippers:

Kill those f-king Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives.
Kill those f-king Yankees who ordered them to torture.
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers.
Kill them all slowly and painfully.

Lovely, isn't it?

Previously: "Joe Biden Photographed With Anti-American 'Gangnam Style' Rapper."

Joe Biden Photographed With Anti-American 'Gangnam Style' Rapper

Gaffe-tastic!

At Twitchy, "Joe Biden poses for photo with PSY." And Demi Lovato's Twitpic page.

The K-Pop star who once advocated killing and torturing American soldiers and their family members was photographed tonight alongside the Vice President of the United States.

Makes sense, I guess. The Democrats are the anti-American party.

See also Scared Monkeys, "Before there was “Gangnam Style”, Rap Singer Psy had Anti-American Military style … “Dear American” Song “Kill those f***ing Yankees” … To Perform for President Obama for a Christmas In Washington (Update: Psy with Weak Apology)."

Shoot, "Kill Those F***ing Yankees"? That's practically a 2007 campaign speech from Barack Obama. He was basically rooting for a U.S. defeat in Iraq, for all the same pure political justifications that have marked his "Gutsy Call" presidency.

These people are epic anti-American clowns.

UPDATE: Christian Toto at Big Government has more, "VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN POSES WITH ANTI-AMERICAN RAPPER PSY":

Had President-elect Mitt Romney posed for pictures with someone who once wished violent death upon the family members of U.S. soldiers the story would be swirling through the mainstream media for days. Maybe longer.

Vice President Joe Biden did just that earlier today, but don't expect it to make much noise in traditional media circles.

It's okay, they're Democrats. Gotta maintain the narrative, you know?

'Rolling Stone'

From The Weeknd:

And at NME, "The Weeknd unveils 'Rolling Stone' video and writes open letter to fans - watch."

'Whistle'

My youngest likes Flo-Rida:

Red Hot Jennifer Lopez Hits the Beach in Brazil

Remember, she's No. 1 on Forbe's hot Celebrity 100.

And she's looking good in her Brazil bikini.

At London's Daily Mail, "Red hot Jennifer Lopez shows off her trim figure in a sexy bikini as she hits the beach with boyfriend Casper and her twins."

Jennifer Lopez Leaving 'American Idol'

At Los Angeles Times, "Rumors swirl about Jennifer Lopez leaving 'American Idol'."

Also at E! Online, "Sources: Jennifer Lopez Is Leaving American Idol!"

And see Dorothy Pomerantz, at Forbes, "J.Lo's Stunning Career Reincarnation Puts Her No. 1 on the Celebrity 100."

BONUS: From London's Daily Mail, "J-Lo dips low! Jennifer Lopez flaunts her famous curves in an array of plunging swimsuits for new sizzling shoot."

'Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang' — Los Angeles Riots Boost Gangsta Rap

I don't know.

I think hardcore rap music became hip after I'd reached my prime as a music listener. And I'm not convinced rap's had all that positive a social influence, frankly. That said, I'm listening to it more today than ever, since my boys like hip hop.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Rhythm of the Street: Gangsta Rap Was a Ready-Made Soundtrack, and Its Words Grew Stronger Afterward":

The L.A. riots of 1992 arrived with its soundtrack in place. Sanctioned police brutality, a grim job market, gang life, a decimated school system, the toll of crack on poor neighborhoods and racial tensions were all being documented by West Coast rappers long before Rodney King's beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers was documented on tape. Inner-city kids were infusing hip-hop — a genre that arose out of the Bronx in the last '70s — with hard-core, L.A.-centric rhymes about gangs and the crack-addled neighborhoods around them.

"Even before the riots … voices in L.A. hip-hop were foretelling what was to come," said director John Singleton, whose 1991 film "Boyz n the Hood" was one of the first empathetic looks at South L.A. life for many Americans. "So many people who didn't grow up black and poor couldn't understand why it happened. You can live in a different part of L.A. and never understand that frustration. But if you listen to 'F— tha Police,' you hear where they're coming from."

The riots gave marginalized music from the hood a global stage and sudden mainstream legitimacy. The music born of the very conditions that precipitated the riots now transcended South L.A., and major labels began signing and promoting West Coast artists like Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. For better or for worse, the Southland style that became known as gangsta rap changed the trajectory of pop music by becoming the '90s definition of cool.

For suburban fans who'd been consuming N.W.A's music as a race-music expression of white teenage angst, the televised revolution in L.A. made it clear that the lyrics weren't just outlandish fiction set to hard beats. They were rooted in bitter truths, a hard reality that L.A. was a two-tier city with gross inequities in both wealth and possibility.

One, two, three and to the fo'
Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre are at the do'
Ready to make an entrance, so back on up
(Cause you know we 'bout had to rip shit up)
Gimme the microphone first, so I can bust like a bubble
Compton and Long Beach together, now you know you in trouble
Ain't nothin' but a G thang, baaaaabay!
Two loc'ed out G's so we're craaaaazay!
Death Row is the label that paaaaays me!
Unfadable, so please don't try to fade this (Hell yeah)
But, uh, back to the lecture at hand
Perfection is perfected, so I'm 'a let 'em understand
From a young G's perspective
And before me dig out a bitch I have ta' find a contraceptive
You never know she could be earnin' her man,
And learnin' her man, and at the same time burnin' her man
Now you know I ain't wit that shit, Lieutenant
Ain't no pussy good enough to get burnt while I'm up in it
(yeah) Now that's realer than real-deal Holyfield
And now all you hookas and ho's know how I feel
Well if it's good enough to get broke off a proper chunk
I'll take a small piece of some of that funky stuff

[Hook: Snoop Doggy Dogg]

It's like this and like that and like this and uh
It's like that and like this and like that and uh
It's like this and like that and like this and uh
Dre, creep to the mic like a phantom...

Communists Astroturf Treyvon Martin Protest in Los Angeles

The photo below from Pilar Marrero on Twitter.

But check the picture at the Los Angeles Times, "Trayvon Martin case: Protesters gather at Pershing Square."

Sheesh. These commies are pathetic.

The folks at the tea party grassroots have nothing to worry about.

ANSWER's page is here: "Million Hoodie March LA."

George Zimmerman Speaks Out

Well, the New York Times is catching up on the story.

See, "Shooter of Florida Teen Describes Assault":

SANFORD, Fla. — In an account given to Sanford police that was passed on to the state attorney’s office, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, said that Trayvon had punched him and then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk in the moments leading up to the shooting.

The details were the most thorough yet to be revealed from Mr. Zimmerman’s point of view, and emerged on Monday as thousands were arriving in town to march and attend a meeting about the shooting and the investigation that followed. In the 911 calls that have been released, Mr. Zimmerman is heard deciding, against a dispatcher’s advice, to follow Trayvon, whom he deemed “up to no good.”

In Mr. Zimmerman’s sequence of events to the police, he returned to his S.U.V. after he was unable to find him, Trayvon then approached Mr. Zimmerman from behind and they exchanged words. Then. Mr. Zimmerman said, Trayvon hit him hard enough that he fell to the ground — which, if true, would explain what Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Craig Sonner, has said was a broken nose—and began slamming his head into the sidewalk.

The account first appeared in The Orlando Sentinel on Monday but was later confirmed by the Sanford Police Department as “consistent with the information provided to the state attorney’s office by the Police Department.”

At a news conference on Monday, the Martin family, their lawyer and supporters said the police were attempting to demonize Trayvon by leaking Mr. Zimmerman’s account to the media.

The most relevant fact in Trayvon’s death, they said, is that Mr. Zimmerman chose to pursue Trayvon, who was walking home unarmed, despite the advice of the police dispatcher to stay put in his car.

“They have killed my son,” Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, said tearfully at the news conference. “And now they are trying to kill his reputation.”

Right.

Trying to "demonize" him.

Actually, "Trayvon Martin 'Decked' George Zimmerman."

BONUS: At Blazing Cat Fur, "Obama's Imaginary Son Is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Al Sharpton."

The End of Innocence? Trayvon Martin Had Multiple School Suspensions

Here's more "#NarrativeFail."

 At the Miami Herald, "Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin":

SANFORD -- Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool,” The Miami Herald has learned.

Trayvon, who claimed that an unnamed friend had given him the jewelry, was not disciplined because of the discovery, but was instead suspended for graffiti, according to a Miami-Dade Schools Police report obtained by The Miami Herald.

A lawyer for the dead teen’s family acknowledged Trayvon had been suspended for graffiti, but said the family knew nothing about the jewelry and the screwdriver, calling the information in the report an attempt to “demonize” the youth.

According to the report, on Oct. 21 staffers monitoring a security camera at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School spotted Trayvon and two other students writing “W.T.F.,” an acronym for “What the f---,” on a hallway locker, according to schools police. The security employee, who knew Trayvon, confronted the teen and looked through his bag for the graffiti marker.

Trayvon’s backpack contained 12 pieces of jewelry, in addition to a watch and a large flathead screwdriver, according to the report, which described the screwdriver as a burglary tool...

That suspension was followed four months later by another one, in February, in which Trayvon was caught with an empty plastic bag with traces of marijuana in it, the boy’s family’s attorney has confirmed. A schools police report obtained by The Miami Herald specifies two items: a bag with marijuana residue and a “marijuana pipe.”

The suspension was the third for the teen. On Monday, the family also acknowledged Trayvon had earlier been suspended for tardiness and truancy.

Like I said, mofos better keep working on that #JusticeForTrayvon meme.

And see Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Fight claims, pot put Fla. teen's side on defense."

Well, yeah.

See The Mad Jewess, "Who was Trayvon Martin, a Drug Dealer @NO_LIMIT_NIGGA Twitter Handle? New Picture The MSM Hid," and Pat Dollard, "Meet The Real Trayvon Martin: Evidence Emerges He Was A Drug Dealer and Gang Banger..."

PREVIOUSLY: "'Anythang 4 My Niggaz' — Yo, Check Out This Gangsta Video From Florida Rapper Selling 'Pussy Ass Cracker' T-Shirts."

PHOTO CREDIT: Flickr. 

'Anythang 4 My Niggaz' — Yo, Check Out This Gangsta Video From Florida Rapper Selling 'Pussy Ass Cracker' T-Shirts

Hardcore rapper Plies is the dude selling those "Pussy Ass Cracker" t-shirts now going live amid the Trayvon Martin civil rights shakedown story. See London's Daily Mail, "P**** A** CRACKER: Shocking Trayvon t-shirt bearing rapper's crude lyrics go on sale"

And here's the dude re-tweeting DJ Smalls' blog post with the clip: "VIDEO: Plies (@plies) - "Anythang 4 My Niggaz."

#NarrativeFail.

Occupy Hypocrisy: After Beyoncé Gives Birth, Other Patients Protest

Michelle Malkin was cracking me up on Twitter the other day, hammering Jay-Z for his Occupy hypocrisy with his leasing out of an entire hospital floor for Beyoncé's delivery. And here it is at New York Times, "As R&B Royalty Gives Birth, Security Irks Hospital’s Other Patients":

The couple were visiting their twin daughters in the neonatal intensive care unit at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan on Friday night, as they have done daily since the babies’ premature birth on Dec. 28. But when they tried to leave the sixth-floor unit to go home to Brooklyn at about 11 p.m., the new mother, Rozz Nash-Coulon, recalled, a burly security guard suddenly blocked their way.

The familiar area outside the neonatal unit had been transformed: partitions had been put up, the maternity ward windows were completely covered, and even the hospitals’ security cameras had been taped over with paper. Guards with Secret Service-style earpieces roamed the floor.

“We were told we could walk no further,” Ms. Nash-Coulon said Monday. And when she and her husband, Neil, demanded an explanation, she added, the guard claimed, unconvincingly, “ ‘Well, they’re handling hazardous materials,’ ” even as a large group of people screened from view were passing through the main hallway he had declared off-limits.

It was just the first of a series of indignities that they and several other noncelebrity maternity patients say they experienced over the weekend, as Lenox Hill Hospital went all-out to protect the privacy of Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z, whose daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, was born there on Saturday.

At one point, another father, Edgar Ramirez, 25, said, security guards kept him out of the neonatal unit for three hours while his wife and newborn were waiting for him. At another point on Saturday, a guard declared that “the floor is on lockdown,” Ms. Nash-Coulon said, and told her that if she left the neonatal unit, she would not be allowed back in to see her babies.

“It was just really disgusting,” said Ms. Nash-Coulon, 38, who is still recovering from her C-section, while one of her twins remains in the hospital. “We really believe the hospital is culpable in this because they didn’t let us know what was happening. And the security of our children is at risk when you cover security cameras.”

More at that top link.

And at Human Events, "Occupy's Celebrity 1 Percent Backers."

'Love The Way You Lie'

And, ICYMI, the interview with Eminem, at GQ's, "Survivors Music Portfolio":

The current Mathers narrative revolves around his triumph over a nasty addiction to prescription meds. It's not a touchy subject: Within minutes, he introduces the topic, explaining how he used to drink and pop pills to get through his concerts. "I'm very much a creature of habit," he says, picking up his Red Bull. "If I'm used to waking up in the morning and having one of these, I could do it every morning for the next ten years straight until I find something else to move on to. So if I'm used to taking a Vicodin when I wake up in the morning because I'm hungover from ­drinking or taking pills..." He trails off. "The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got."

Mathers says you can trace the arc of his addiction by listening to his albums: He was more or less sober writing the white-trash party that was The Slim Shady LP (1999); he credits experimentation with drugs for taking his music to unexpected places on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000); with The Eminem Show (2002), he struck the perfect balance—a potent mix of punch-line raps and intensely biographical material. Then the balance tipped: His fourth album, Encore, was his weakest, and it took him two years to complete because of his addiction to pills. "Five or six songs leaked from the original version of Encore," he says. "So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them. In my head I was pissed off: 'Oh well. Songs leaked. Fuck it. I'm just going to take a bunch of fucking pills and go in there and have a party with myself.' I'm sure the more pills I took, the goofier I got."

He's a little hazy about that time, when he was taking, by his own account, somewhere between sixty and ninety pills a day, including Valium, Vicodin, Ambien, and Seroquel (used to treat schizophrenia). "Ambien," he says, "ate a hole through my brain." He thinks he went to rehab in 2005, but don't hold him to that. Like I said, it's a little hazy.

Rehab was not a safe space for Eminem. "Look," he says, "every addict in rehab feels like everyone's staring at them. With me? Everyone was staring at me. I could never be comfortable. There were people there that treated me normal. Then there were a bunch of fucking idiots who aren't even concentrating on their own sobriety because they're so worried about mine. They're stealing my hats, my books—it was chaos. Everything was drama in there. And at the time, I didn't really want to get clean. Everybody else wanted me to. And anyone will tell you: If you're not ready, nothing is going to change you. Love, nothing."

He left rehab pissed off and heavily burdened with what he calls "woe is me"—and started popping pills again. It nearly killed him. "I came to in the hospital and I didn't know what the fuck happened," he says. "Tubes in me and shit, fuckin' needles in my arms. I didn't realize I had [overdosed]. I wanted my drugs—get me the fuck outta there! I think I was clean for two weeks. I was trying so hard—I was trying to do it for my kids—but I just wasn't ready."

What finally got him clean after a second relapse wasn't his kids or his coma or even hip-hop. This time he really thought he was going to die. "I had a feeling in my arm that was weird, man," he says. "Like, it really freaked me out. So I went to some people I trust and said, 'Look, I know I need help. I'm ready now.' I got a room in the same hospital where I overdosed, and I detoxed."

More here: "The Survivors: Eminem."