Snoop Dogg has grown bored with the rap game. He’s made a trek to Jamaica, found his reggae roots, made a record with Diplo, and documented the entire thing with the help of VICE. Today he held a press conference unveiling the entire project entitled “REINCARNATED.” Not only is this a departure from rap, it’s a separation from the Snoop Dogg brand name. As part of this immersion into the culture, he was given the Snoop Lion moniker by a Rastafarian he’d studied with. It made an impact and he decided to transform into this new persona for the project.
The record is executive produced by Diplo and the Major Lazer team. The focus was to craft authentic reggae records where Snoop would actually sing. Diplo has been quoted as saying it’s one of the best projects he’s been a part of and that he was pleasantly surprised by Snoop’s vocals. The album’s debut single, “La La La,” is already available on iTunes.
VICE was invited to document Snoop’s journeys to Jamaica to record the album. Initially they thought it would end up being a short promo or viral video to go along with the record but while there they captured enough intriguing footage for a full feature. Once finished, the film was submitted to and accepted by the Toronto International Film Festival. It is set to premier on September 7th.
Check out the trailer and today’s press conference announcing the project below.
