The 40-year-old, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, Jr., believes that he is Bob Marley reincarnated and is embracing reggae instead of the culture of guns he once rapped about.
He has also renamed himself in the process, and now goes by Snoop Lion.
The artist said at a news conference on Monday in New York that he was 'born again' during a visit to Jamaica in February, and is ready to make music that his 'kids and grandparents can listen to.'
The former gangster rapper is releasing a reggae album called Reincarnated in the fall.
He said that in Jamaica, he connected with Bob Marley's spirit and is now 'Bob Marley reincarnated.'
Marley's son Rohan attended the conference and gave Snoop his blessing.
'I feel like I've always been Rastafarian,' Snoop said of the spiritual Jamaican movement.
While there, he said, he visited a temple, was renamed Snoop Lion and was also given the Ethiopian name Berhane, meaning 'light of the world.'
Snoop didn't explain why he was switching from Dogg to Lion, but it's likely a reference to the Lion of Judah, a religious symbol popular in Rastafarian and Ethiopian culture.
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