Tag: Snoop Dogg (1-10 of 31)

Apr 22 2013 06:23 PM ET

Snoop Lion becomes a blogger for the Wall Street Journal

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Image Credit: C Flanigan/Getty Images

Rapper-turned-reggae artist Snoop Lion shared his new approach to life Monday in an essay for an unlikely source.

Snoop Doggy Dogg/Dogg/Lion — whose given name is actually Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. — is playing editor over at the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog today, where he blogged about his transition to Snoop Lion and assigned a story about how sports keep teens in line.

Looking for a non-violent reinvention of himself that doesn’t include rapping about “hustlin’” Snoop Lion says he is proud to have found a new lifestyle that helps promote a message he believes in — unity, love and peace.

“Everybody searches for this in their own way,” Snoop writes. “Some people never find it. Some people find it through religion or meditation or a relationship or travel. I found it in Jamaica. I finally made it to paradise. Rastafari called me.  And I’m glad I answered. JAH RASTAFARI!”

The timing of the guest editing gig is no coincidence: Snoop Lion’s new album, “Reincarnated,” drops Tuesday.

Read more:
Snoop Dogg unveils ‘Reincarnated’ documentary, reggae album details — Watch here
SXSW: Snoop Lion goes reggae, still raps, sorta covers ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ — VIDEO
Snoop Lion shows off his palace in ‘Here Comes The King’ video — Watch it here

Mar 15 2013 10:39 AM ET

SXSW: Snoop Lion goes reggae, still raps, sorta covers 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' -- VIDEO

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Image Credit: C Flanigan/Getty Images

Snoop Lion’s much-publicized Jamaican-journey documentary Reincarnated officially hits theaters today, giving curious fans a look into the how the gin-sipping rapper once known as Snoop Dogg (and Snoop Doggy Dogg before that) transformed into the reggae-loving Rastafarian he is today.

To mark the movie and the upcoming album of the same name, due April 23, and the 41-year-old celebrated with Lionfest, a Snoop-centric event he debuted at Vice‘s SXSW HQ last night. (Vice is also helping to release the movie and album.)

Donning layered black and grey shirts, sunglasses, and his signature brass-knuckled microphone, the rapper didn’t waste any time spreading the gospel of his new identity. After airing a trailer for the doc, he began his set with “Here Comes the King,” a dub-tinged, Major Lazer-produced cut from Reincarnated. (Major Lazer, by the way, was on-hand at Lionfest all night.) It was a good start, giving Snoop leeway to follow it up with another one of his new reggae numbers, “Lighters Up.”

But the updated Snoop still isn’t above dipping into his back catalog to thrill an audience, so he offered up his O.G. classic “Gin and Juice” — though not without giving it a reggae facelift. Unsurprisingly, the tampered song was still a hit; at this point, that song is bigger than its genre.

In fact, Mr. Lion offered up quite a few standout tracks from his LBC gangsta days, like “Bitch Please” and his Chronic-era Dr. Dre assists “‘Nuthin’ But a G Thang” and “Deep Cover” (even though they all feature the kind of imagery that the reincarnated Snoop says he’d like to avoid now that he’s had a spiritual awakening.)

He even performed “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” during the show — a funny choice, considering that he kept the original chorus intact. But, hey, classics are classics. Or maybe the fact that Beats By Dr. Dre had its own Pill speaker-hawking shop set up in the corner of the venue made him nostalgic?

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 19 2013 11:46 AM ET

Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z to headline Wireless festival in London

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Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z will headline the Wireless festival at Olympic Park on July 12 and July 13, respectively. The festival announced the full line-up of performers on their website, which includes Frank Ocean, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and more. To prepare for the experience the festival’s website advises “Lads, get that suit and tie sorted.”

At the Grammys, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed “Suit & Tie” together and earlier this month there were rumors that the two were planning a joint stadium tour. Hopefully, this announcement is a step in the right direction.

In the meantime/if you don’t live around London, Timberlake’s new album, The 20/20 Experience, comes out March 19.

Read more:
Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z put on their fancy pants for ‘Suit & Tie’ video: Watch it here!
Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z reportedly planning joint stadium tour
Justin Timberlake releases album cover and song list for ‘The 20/20 Experience’

Feb 8 2013 02:00 PM ET

Snoop Lion shows off his palace in 'Here Comes The King' video -- Watch it here

Snoop Dogg is dead; all hail Snoop Lion!

The reformed, peace-loving Snoop Lion has dropped the official video for his reggae-inflected “Here Comes the King.” As the second single off his upcoming album (the aptly titled Reincarnated, out this spring), the Major Lazer-produced song meshes Snoop’s classic flow with wobbly dub beats. The Andy Clapper-directed video follows through on this aesthetic, depicting the self-appointed monarch living the luxe life in a Jamaican palace, complete with his own court of dancing cheerleaders.

Take a look at the new Snoop Lion clip below:

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 5 2012 10:43 AM ET

CMA Awards: Eric Church leads noms (and Snoop Dogg's in the house!)

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Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Nominations for the 46th Annual CMA Awards (airing live on Nov. 1 on ABC) were announced this morning on Good Morning America. Eric Church led the way with five nods, including Male Vocalist and Album of the Year, along with Song, Single, and Video of the Year for his hit “Springsteen.” (Not a country music fan? Give that one listen and get back to us.)

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert scored four noms a piece while Taylor Swift, who earned three noms, was the lone female to make the Entertainer of the Year category. Kelly Clarkson’s nom for Female Vocalist of the Year is slightly less of a surprise than Snoop Dogg popping up in Musical Event of the Year (listen to Willie Nelson’s ”Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” featuring Snoop, Kris Kristofferson, and Jamey Johnson). The full nominees list: READ FULL STORY »

Jul 31 2012 10:44 AM ET

Snoop Dogg unveils 'Reincarnated' documentary, reggae album details -- Watch here

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Image Credit: C Flanigan/FilmMagic.com

Nope, it’s not (just) the smoke in the air that’s making your head feel funny.

Snoop Dogg really did say he’s the reincarnation of Bob Marley on Monday at a New York press conference for Reincarnated, his upcoming reggae album, documentary, and photography book of the same name. (Rohan Marley was on hand to give his blessing, though, so positive vibes, everybody!)

The announcements didn’t stop there. Snoop, who is releasing the three-part project under the name Snoop Lion, says he was instructed to make the album by a higher power. No, not that higher power — the holy spirit itself. And when the spirit tells you to make a reggae album, you listen. So Snoop did what any aspiring reggae star in the hip hop world would do — he went to Jamaica and teamed up with Diplo of dancehall crossover project Major Lazer and various other extracurricular activities to make a whole album.

You can listen to first single “La La La” to get a taste of Reincarnated, but soon you’ll be able to see how it all came together: Snoop’s other announcement was that he captured his spiritual and musical journey on video. Vice Media traveled to Jamaica with him, and their full-length documentary chronicling the making of the album and Snoop’s exploration of Rastafarian culture is an official selection for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Snoop has some hash words for his rap career in the Reincarnated trailer (the three most succinct being “F— Snoop Dogg”) and professed that he was “tired of rap.” Snoop says he wanted to make a real reggae album, one he could perform for kids and grandparents, so for now he’s on hiatus from dropping it like it’s hot.

Still, he swears he hasn’t sworn off the rap game for good: “I could never become Snoop Lion if I wasn’t Snoop Dogg.”

Watch the trailer for Reincarnated here: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 20 2012 05:08 PM ET

New music from Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, Rihanna, and more appear in honor of 4/20

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Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

You may have noticed that Snoop Dogg’s been suspiciously active today. That’s because the rapper, like a number of other like-minded musicians, has a calendar, and it’s telling him that his favorite holiday has arrived.

Yes, there’s been a flurry of 4/20-themed releases surfacing all day, and it seems like Snoop has something do with all of them. The most high-profile offering is “Rollup,” a country collaboration with his braid-bro Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, and Kris Kristofferson. You can roll up to Nelson’s official site to give it a listen.

Mr. Dogg also dropped a new song of his own (why, yes, it is called “Stoner’s Anthem”!), a collaboration track with Belly, and a Jamaica-centric 4/20 PSA. Check it all out in the videos below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 17 2012 12:14 PM ET

Tupac's hologram was developed by Oscar-winning effects people, cost a ton of money, has a Twitter account

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Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

For a lot of hip-hop fans, Tupac Shakur never really died.

Some legitimately believed that, like Elvis before him, Shakur actually faked his own death to duck out of the spotlight. For others, tracks like “California Love” and “I Get Around” simply lend him a less literal kind of immortality.

Of course, that was before the man himself “materialized” on stage at the closing night of the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and stole the entire Coachella conversation. “Tupac hologram” almost instantly became one of the most-searched phrases on the Internet, and now more information is emerging about the exceptionally weird technological trick pulled off by headliners Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the hologram was crafted by the Digital Domain Media Group, the visual effects house co-founded by James Cameron and responsible for cutting-edge film tricks in movies like Titanic, Tron: Legacy, the Transformers series, Real Steel, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 16 2012 01:18 PM ET

Coachella Sunday night: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg bring along a lot of friends...and a Tupac hologram

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Image Credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images

Who didn’t Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg trot out to close the Coachella Festival on Sunday night? The full retinue was a veritable Hip Hop Hall of Fame: 50 Cent, Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, Kurupt, Warren G, Nate Dogg (via montage tribute), a two-story LED projection of Frank Sinatra, and a Tupac Shakur hologram. All that was missing was gin and juice gratis for every audience member.

Of course, the West has never been shy to throw up the “W” and the Dogg and Doc delivered a bell-ringing performance to please the hometown crowd. Backed by a full band, the set list was both party-to-go and paean to the last two decades of gangsta rap. After all, when Andre Young dropped The Chronic 20 years ago, the genre retained its marine blue menace and instilled fear into the hearts of sweater-clad suburban parents. Today, Dr. Dre is a gangsta eminence grise and savvy headphone entrepreneur. Meanwhile his one-time sidekick Snoop Dogg has starred in movies, television shows, and leased his star wattage to more products than Ron Popeil.

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 16 2012 10:25 AM ET

Tupac lives (as a hologram) at Coachella!

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Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

We’ll have the full run-down of ups and downs from the final day of the first weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival shortly, but the biggest news from Sunday night’s festivities was Tupac Shakur’s return to the stage.

Though the legendary rapper was murdered in 1996, Shakur stole Sunday night’s weekend-closing set by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg. Appearing as a hologram (as previously rumored), Shakur (or rather, his pixel-mongering image) materialized for the purpose of filling in his verse on “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” as well as taking a solo on “Hail Mary.”

It was a pretty impressive bit of scene-stealing, if only because that stage also saw drop-ins from superstars like Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, and 50 Cent. Check out Tupac’s ghost performing “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” below. READ FULL STORY »

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