Reincarnated

"I know Obama wants me to come to the White House, but what the fuck can I perform?" asks the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg and, likely, soon to be known as Snoop Dogg again. How about Bitch Please ? That's That Shit ? Gin and Juice ?

The man has a point. And so Snoop journeys to Jamaica in search of inspiration, spiritual reawakening and PG-rated lyrics. On reality shows, they'd call it a makeover. Bunny Wailer likens Snoop Lion (as we're now supposed to call him) to Bob Marley: "It's not just the weed – the struggle, the love, peace, power."

Except, with Snoop, it's not just the weed but it is, we suspect, mostly just the weed. Watching
the rapper hanging, chilling and listening to The Wailers, one thinks he might have taken the exact same spiritual journey in Amsterdam.

Vice magazine's Andy Capper dogs the Dogg as the rapper visits marijuana jungles, tough Caribbean neighbourhoods and Rastafarian rituals. It's How Snoop Spent His Summer Holidays with some interesting yarns from the old days (Nate Dogg, Tupac, general thug life) thrown in. So he's a Rasta man now, right? He does, after all, appear to have the correct hat. And there's the new album and the neat Cutty Corn collaboration.

Maybe. Confusingly, Louis Farrakhan also pops up to talk about Snoop's 2009 spiritual journey with the Nation of Islam.

Will the real Snoop please stand up? But this is the real Snoop. Snoop is all that the case may be. That vaguely whistling, smooth SoCal drawl always sounds sincere. He's the Dogg. He's the Lion. He's Berhane – meaning shining light – according to the Rastafarian elders. He can be more than one thing as long as he's entertaining. We've forgiven him worse on account of his good company.

The Ethio-Africa Diaspora Millennium Union Council aka Rastafari Millennium Council are threatening to sue Snoop for misrepresenting their religion as just weed and Bob Marley. They fail to understand the fundamental nature of hip-hop: rappers must rap, aight.