





One of the most recognizable names in hip hop is no longer quite the same: After a revelatory experience in Jamaica, Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. — better known as Snoop Dogg — decided to change his artist name to Snoop Lion.

It may sound like a joke, but Snoop Dogg Lion seems to be very serious about it. "I didn't know that until I went to the temple, where the High Priest asked me what my name was, and I said, 'Snoop Dogg.' And he looked me in my eyes and said, 'No more. You are the light; you are the lion.' From that moment on, it's like I had started to understand why I was there," he said at a press conference in New York.

Snoop Lion expressed his disinterest in hip hop and decided his upcoming record will be a purely reggae one. "I've won every accolade you can get in rap, they call me 'Uncle Snoop' in rap. When you're an uncle, it's time to find something new ... I want to feel like a kid again," he said.

Further proof that Snoop means business: his new Twitter handle, @snoop_lion, as well as his new Tumblr account, available at http://snooplion.tumblr.com.

Snoop's spiritual journey to Jamaica and decision to change his name have been documented in an upcoming documentary called Reincarnated. The documentary premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 7; check out the trailer above.