Snoop Lion

Snoop puts the Dogg to bed after spiritual awakening in Jamaica, saying he wants to seek out new challenges

Snoop Dogg is dead! Long live Snoop Lion!

The rumors are true! Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr – aka Snoop Doggy Dogg aka the rap legend behind hits like Still A G Thang and Gin n Juice – is no more. Broadus told journalists on Tuesday that he's officially dropped the Dogg act and upgraded his name to "Snoop Lion".

In all seriousness, Snoop says his decision is for real. The rapper says he underwent a spiritual and artistic rebirth while in Jamaica where he's been working on his next album. Rastafarian priests reportedly inspired the name change.

"I went to the temple, where the high priest asked me what my name was, and I said, 'Snoop Dogg'," he told journalists on Tuesday. "And he looked me in my eyes and said: 'No more. You are the light. You are the lion.' From that moment on, it's like I had started to understand why I was there."

Snoop is hardly the first musician to find religion or change his name mid-career, but unlike P Diddy or Cat Stevens, Snoop is also switching genres. Calling rap "no longer a challenge" Snoop says he'll devote the rest of his career to reggae, beginning with his appropriately titled next album "Reincarnation".

"With no disrespect to other rappers, but they can't fuck with me in rap. … I've won every accolade you can get in rap, they call me 'Uncle Snoop' in rap. When you're an uncle, it's time to find something new. … I want to feel like a kid again."

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