Snoop says he hadn't planned on this musical rebirth in Jamaica, but "the spirit called me. And, you know, anytime the spirit calls you, you gotta know that its serious. I just didn't have my third eye open, but it's wide open right now. I want to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion. How different is the new album from his past work? It's a pretty big departure.
Snoop says that reggae references are "something I always had in my music," but that he wanted this album to be "true reggae music," like something you might find on "a record out of a s collection.
One song, "No Guns Allowed," even pleads for a handgun ban. Gun control is "not something particularly gangsta," says James Plafke at Geekosystem , but that's the point. As a rapper, Snoop Lion notes, "I could have never made a song called 'No Guns Allowed' because I'm supposed to be a gangster and we supposed to keep one on us at all times. Will this name-change stick? Right now, "the Lion overrules," he tells Rolling Stone.
I inhale. It tastes gorgeous — mellow, sweet, lovely. So I have another go. Within seconds my head's spinning, I'm spluttering and talking in a falsetto.
He grins. I tell Snoop some of his early videos remind me of the television series Happy Days. He turns away from the giant flatscreen. And Chachi! That's how life was! We lived like that. We were gangstas, but we were having fun. By the mids there was civil war between the west and east coast, and rap was becoming a blood bath.
By March , two of the greatest rappers — Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls — had been killed within six months of each other. How did things go so wrong? And it just goes on and on. And once somebody gets killed it seems like it's never gonna stop because we are trying to even it out.
Homies was getting shot every other night, then one of my family members got killed. And when that happens it's a horrible feeling. You never want to feel that. He took his step-father's name — when he was three months old his biological father walked out on the family, though they have since been reconciled. He sang and played piano in the church choir, but gave up the piano when he finished second in a contest. Even to this day, I'm a sore loser.
The funny thing is, he says, people now expect him to look back on his early life with regret, and they couldn't be more wrong. Even when I came home from church, we'd see all the gangstas and that was more appealing to me, so when I finally got a chance to live it, to do it, I rapped about it.
Did being a gangster live up to expectations? When you ask for it, you've got to be ready to receive it. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. For once, he pauses. How surprised is he today to see 41? I did some things that could have cut my days short. Did he think he would go down when he was charged with accessory to murder?
I thought I was going to go down for that. Every day of my life I thought it was my last day on the streets. When you're in court, you have no real sense of vibe and what is going to be until they read it off. You're in there trying to be on your best behaviour, they're tearing your character down, they're bringing up pictures of you with guns, and the kind of person you was when you was that person, and saying you're still that person, and you're on that witness stand and you can't even say anything.
After he was acquitted, he released his second album, Tha DoggFather , which led to accusations that he was glorying in his gangster status: the intro started with a commentary that he was now more famous for his murder charge than his music. Twenty years on, he has written No Guns Allowed , which he sings with his year-old daughter Cori B.
Is it strange for him to be singing an anti-gun song? No, he says, it makes perfect sense. Who better to do it than me because I come from the gangsta lifestyle, carrying a gun every day of the week lifestyle? He talks about the other ways Rastafarianism has changed him. Like if you hate me, I hate you more.
But now I answer hate with love. Was there hate in the lyrics of early songs, the bitches and the hos? I was taught that a bitch is a ho and a ho was a bitch, so my music represented that, until I got to the point where I wanted to show love and appreciation for the woman. He's staring at the screen again.
She got tush. You know when they got body? If you go to Taco Bell, right, order something to eat, and the bitch looks good in them slacks, imagine what she going to look like when you put her in a skirt.
The more Snoop smokes and the more he focuses on the screen, the easier his words come. Blimey, I say, how many of these do you smoke a day? Because I keep getting asked questions so I got to make sure I'm on point. On a bad day On a good day Is it true that he smokes with his older son, Corde , 18?
He's a good smoker. His brother's a good sportsman. He took on my smoke side, his brother took on my sport side. Super Fly's girl. Sheila Frazier! Show that bathtub scene! As he talks, I notice the semi-clad girls at the back of the room.
He bursts out laughing. I'm loving it! They're my weather girls. They work for my news network. It's amazing how much you get away with, I say. I tell him about an article by the feminist writer Julie Bindel , in which she admitted that, despite despising everything Snoop stood for, she adored him.
Why does she forgive you? He turns away from the TV. This chameleon-like capability is reflected in his numerous name changes and aliases throughout the years. As Snoop grew and matured a little he began to see himself a father figure with his level of success and growing knowledge of the rap game.
He also had gone through his share of trials literally and tribulations when he and his body guard charged for the murder. The album cover for Snoop's Tha Doggfather from Once Snoop arrived at No Limit Records he had to change his name to the abbreviated, Snoop Dogg, for contractual reasons with his former label.
He released several on No Limit before striking out on his own and changing his name again at least changing his alias. After Snoop left No Limit he became more independent and responsible and even quit weed for 6 months. Evidently, Snoop wanted a name that was iconic and strong like 2Pac's Makaveli alias.
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