''You Are the Light. You Are the Lion''
7:00PM ET July 31st, 2012
Contributor : Stephen Willis
A Rocky Williform Company

Rapper Snoop Dogg has officially announced his new moniker, Snoop Lion, and revealed that he is prepping his first reggae album, Reincarnated. The veteran hip hop star talked about his metamorphosis at Manhattan's Miss Lily's.

"I had no plans on going to Jamaica, making a Reggae record or nothing," he explained to the attending press. "The spirit called me...it told me to find something that's connected towards the Bob Marley spirit because I always thought I was Bob Marley reincarnated. It drew me to Jamaica."

"It's not Snoop Dogg on a Reggae track. I want to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion. But I didn't know that until I went to the temple. The high priest, when I walked in, he asked what is my name. I said, 'Snoop Dogg.' He said, 'No more...You are the light. You are the Lion,'" he explained. "From that moment on, I had started to understand why I was there. We hadn't even recorded one song, but I was taking all of this information and spirit."

Reincarnated will also include a photo book shot by Los Angeles photographer Willie T and a documentary film created by VICE Media detailing Snoop's career.