Snoop Dogg has done what some may call a 180 when it comes to his music. From his gangster persona which was cultivated in the '90s, he's now propounding Rastafarian views of "love and positivity," as he says. Snoop Dogg's new single "No Guns Allowed" off his upcoming reggae album Reincarnated displays those ideas.
In a clip from his documentary Reincarnated, Snoop Lion shared a vivid memory from awhile back which he drew as inspiration for "No Guns Allowed." "Six, seven years ago, when I was at the Jay Leno show, and I just got off stage and I was about to roll back to the house. I pull up about a block and a half, and before I know it, 100 police pull up on me, and they all drawing down with real guns," Snoop said. "And they not playin. They finally come over and pull me out the car and start talking to me, and they like, 'you can play dumb all you want, we have your wife and kids under arrest and we finna run through your whole house. So either you tell us where the guns are we gon' put your family through hell. And I had to think, my daughter is in the house, my sons is in the house. Do I really want them to go through this, that I'm trained for, that doesn't bother me, but they've never seen this."
Snoop said later on, "Let's go back and make Rasta music, what it was made for. Beause we can educate those and take them back to the beginning of what it was, it was all about love and positivity, not shooting and beating people up and ridin' and killin'. I get that, and I want that, that's the kind of record I want."
The rapper-turned-Rastafarian also explained why he featured his daughter, Cori B, on the song, alongside Drake. "With the 'No Guns Allowed' it just sounded like Cori B should be on it, 'cause she sound good now, and it's her tone. And it's a great record for me and my daughter 'cause of the things being said in that song. 'Money makes a man, and that's a crime, if we were all were rich, we'd spend more time..' and that is so true."
Be on the look out for a music video for "No Guns Allowed," and cop Reincarnated on April 23rd.