All of this, of course, is done while smoking a heroic amount of weed, apparently during every waking moment.īut Reincarnated goes beyond reggae, since to explain what brought Snoop to Jamaica, it's necessary to look at where he's been. At the same time, Snoop plans to soak in the vibe of Jamaica and translate it into a reggae album free of rapping recorded with DJ/producer Diplo and his team, which is a fascinating process to watch. So Snoop travels to Jamaica, the home of one of Snoop's heroes, Bob Marley, to see the birthplace of reggae, get the blessing of Marley's descendants and bandmates, and learn more about the indigenous Jamaican religion, Rastafari. Dre in the 'Deep Cover' video, the film finds him at the age of 40 wanting to leave a legacy more positive than songs mostly about violence, crime and objectifying women. But even though Snoop, aka Calvin Broadus Jr., has barely aged since we first saw him with Dr. In the beginning of the film, Snoop says something that sounds like a brag but is simply the truth: that Snoop has been at the top of the rap game from the moment he burst onto the scene in 1992, has made songs that will live forever, and has literally accomplished everything there is to achieve in the world of rap. And neither should Reincarnated, which, to my surprise, is one of the best music documentaries I've ever seen. But I was very quickly reminded that Snoop has spent his entire career defying expectations and breaking barriers, and should never, ever be underestimated. Besides, are we really supposed to believe that Snoop Dogg, the quintessential West Coast gangster from Long Beach, is now a Rastafarian? So when I went to see Reincarnated, a documentary about Snoop's trip to Jamaica to record his reggae album, I was fully prepared for some ridiculousness. After all, for over 20 years, Snoop Dogg has been virtually synonymous with rap, and there's always something ridiculous about an artist changing their name to take a stab at another genre - I'm looking at you, Garth Brooks, or should I say Chris Gaines.

When I heard that rapper Snoop Dogg now wants to be called Snoop Lion and would be releasing a reggae album, I, like a lot of people, had a nice scoff.

Snoop lion reincarnated cover