Snoop Lion Strikes Back at 'Reincarnated' Collaborator Bunn

[Skeng DX]

In early 2012, Snoop Dogg took a three-week trip to Jamaica in order to make new music and explore a country and culture that had long fascinated him.

The fruits of that trip included a Rastafarian purification ceremony at a Nyabinghi temple, a name change to Snoop Lion, a reggae-inspired album calledReincarnated (out yesterday) and a promotional documentary of the same name. During the film, Snoop smokes a chalice with Bob Marley's old bandmate, Bunny Wailer, and invites him to sing on the new album – Wailer assents, but only after expressing his hope that Snoop's adoption of the Rastafarian movement will not be "commercialized." (As it happens, the Reincarnated film features abundant product placement for Adidas, which sponsors Snoop and which kicked in money for the budget, according to a member of Snoop's management team.)

Album Review: Snoop Lion, 'Reincarnated'

Recently, however, Wailer came out against Snoop in a TMZ interview, decrying the Long Beach, California MC's "outright fraudulent use of the Rastafari community's personalities and symbolism" and his failure to meet "contractual, moral and verbal commitments." Wailer's contribution to the album was ultimately cut. Last week, Rolling Stone met with Snoop Lion in Los Angeles for an upcoming profile. During the discussion, he elaborated on his side of the fallout with Wailer.

In the film, you and Bunny Wailer seem to get along well. Why has there been this dispute?

I couldn't tell you. To me, it's a miscommunication, and I'm not gonna speak nothing negative because I love him too much. Any relationship, you gotta be able to disagree. The last time I seen him, it was all love, but when I heard the negative remarks, I paid no attention. If I'm gonna be Rasta incorporated, loving energy is the only way I can match his negative energy.

Would it be meaningful for you to have a conversation directly with him?
I mean, it would be meaningful for him to talk to me. He's the one supposedly putting out the negative energy. I coulda said, "**** that n***a. Bitch-ass n***a." I'm still a gangsta – don't get it ****ed up. I'm growing to a man, so as a man, do I wanna revert back to my old ways and **** this n***a up, or move forward, shine with the light? It's nothing. I've been hit before.
One of the things he accuses you of is not honoring contractual commitments. What's he referring to?

It can't be nothing because he's not on my record. What could it be? To me, a lot of these guys from back in the days have been done wrong, and they think younger artists owe them, because we've been paid and treated right. It's not my fault if you haven't been paid. I just met you. I've done nothing but put you in a place where the world knows who you are. They heard who you are, now they knowwho you are. I've given you a platform to speak and make money. My conversation with Bunny was about how he was done, not how I'm gonna do him. I can't fix what people have done with you in the past, but I'm gonna put you in the movie – he signed off on it – put you on the album. It was too much negative energy so I said I don't even want him on the record.

By negative energy, do you mean his public statements or something else?
He's speaking and the album isn't out. That gave me fair warning to get this mother****er off my ****. I have no insight what turned him. The people I visited at the Nyabinghi Temple aren't speaking negative on me. They're real Rastas. I went in there and filmed them, showed their whole get-down. Nobody did that before. If anyone, they should have complained – "He exploited us!" Why aren't they saying that? To me, they have the most gripe to make. How did I exploit Bunny? I gave you a chance to be in my movie. My movie gonna be the **** with or without you. I'm gonna be the **** with or without you. I'm Snoop Dogg. Relevant right now.

It's like, people take my kindness for weakness. In the Nineties, he could have never tried that because I'd have slapped the dog **** out of his old ass. How dare you? After all I've done for you? How dare you? You wasn't the **** in the Wailers. You was just one of them: Bob, Peter Tosh, thenyou. They dead mean more than you do alive. You get the energy? When it should have been, 'Hey, this brother is putting me back in the light; I could possibly get on the road with him, be on his album, eat again. Let me get in line. This is Snoop Dogg; he's already a star.' It should have been, play along with me as opposed to stick me up. I'm gonna give you what you worth, but you not gonna stick me up.

So he wanted more money to be on the album than you were willing to pay?

The reason for him not being on the album is I started hearing negative energy and rather than have him be a part of it, I kept him in the movie to show his positivity against his negativity. Here this comes out of left field to make me go back, be the old ignorant-ass n***a. To me, it's a test, to see if I'm really made for this. Who else would it come from to make this amount of noise? But guess who stood up in my defense? Rohan, Rita, Stephen, Damian Marley. Rohan went public. He called him Phony Wailer, or whatever he called him. I can't call him that; I don't know him like that. But they do. They know what he after and they love me. If Bob's kids and his wife welcome they arms and say, "You one of the Marleys," then who is Bunny Wailer to say anything?
[Tone softening, posture relaxing, dropping into a Jamaican accent] Bunny, keep your head up. Jah bless; wisdom, guidance and protection.

http://music.yahoo.com/news/q-a--sno...223359024.html

[Exile]

Hmm....never look a gift horse in the mouth...

[Rockman]

Snoop Dog sounds like baldhead.
Rasta does not use words like n....and a$$.
Secondly, in terms of Jamaica and the World,Bunny Wailer is a living legend.
He is an icon to Rasta.
Renaming the group Bob and the Wailers was a decision made by a marketing genius using tactics typical of babylon,Bob's brown face was most ideal for the international market, had Bunny or Peter been 'white' the group would've had a different leader and name.The dynamics of the renaming of this great group ran afoul of the fundamental principles of Rasta from the get go.
Clearly it is Snoop that benefitted from someone's hard(the Wailers etc) work.
Our true Rasta may or not be the one with the fattest bank account.
Nyabinghi RUSH to embrace Snoop Dog(who just happens to be a made artiste, bank account to show)is embarrassing.

[OJ]

dont blame snoop.. Bunny a move like de man owe anything...

[Islandman]

Bunny seem to be always complaining. After the Bob movie was released him complain that he wasn't represented right, Rita put rasta flag pon the ground, etc, etc.

Maybe he needs to stop appearing in these movies. He must have known it was a publicity stunt when he got involved. Why complain now?

[Assasin]

mi brethren use to tell me every rasta is a comedian. LOL.

[Islandman]

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTqyV5Kw9Ss

[Historian]

I Do Not Agree With You!

Snoop Dog sounds like baldhead.
Rasta does not use words like n....and a$$.
Secondly, in terms of Jamaica and the World,Bunny Wailer is a living legend.
He is an icon to Rasta.
Renaming the group Bob and the Wailers was a decision made by a marketing genius using tactics typical of babylon,Bob's brown face was most ideal for the international market, had Bunny or Peter been 'white' the group would've had a different leader and name.The dynamics of the renaming of this great group ran afoul of the fundamental principles of Rasta from the get go.

Bob Marley was more than merely a “brown face,” although his skin tone might have been a factor in making him the front man for the group!

The fact, though, is that Bob was much bigger than merely skin color! He had the most charismatic persona of the trio, and he also possessed an undeniable songwriting talent. Charismatic appeal is important for marketing purposes, because you want a charismatic person to lead your group. This is commonsense. (For example, just look at Peetah Morgan and Morgan Heritage – Peetah, more than any of the others, fits the lead man roll perfectly.)

If handled right, Snoop would quite possibly have exposed Bunny to a market hitherto unreachable in this 21st century! Bunny, as you correctly said, is an icon, but NOT to today’s young music listening generation, not even inside Jamaica!!

By the way, JAMAICAN rastas are the ones that do not use words like “n….and a$$”, boss, for the simple fact that those words just happen to be not a part of the Jamaican cultural vocabulary. I am sure that rastas elsewhere (where those words are part of the cultural slang) use those words.

[Sir X]

I will leave you to Rock , although I disagree with some of what Rock said , I am with him about the use of the N word. Negative connotation with ones identity isnt a part of rastafarism, if used by those who bear locks , you are considered lost or a fraud.

Thats one of the main reasons black americans are drawn to it.Upliftment,its good to greet each other as brethren.Some are drawn to the wearing of locks as a fashion statement , dont equate the two as being unison in black america .

[Rockman]

Bob Marley was more than merely a “brown face,” although his skin tone might have been a factor in making him the front man for the group!


Rasta is not clothes, it is not influenced by fashion.
Unfortunately people are making a correlation between wealth and the face of Rasta.
Wailer,as an artiste, may not have the same prestige he enjoyed during his time with the group but his prestige as a Rasta never dwindled.
Rasta came from Jamaica, the Rastas you mentioned will gladly take cues from authentic Rastas.Snoop Cub is likely to be given much exposure(similar to Bolt being much larger regarding endorsements if he was say from the US).
Is he going to be the voice of Rasta?
These little and big artistes are likely not the true face of Rasta.

[Rockman]

The comedian is the person that keeps doing the same thing but expect different result.
A large amount of thread on our beloved forum has to do with our discontent with babylon.
Food preference for Rasta is now the choice for people that are now conscious of what they eat.
People are looking for alternative to the toxic pills being prescribed to them by doctors.
The unity that Rasta has been promoting from day one is now the cry of various international communities.
We are the comedians,not Rasta.

[Stonigut]

Agree and disagree with you. Agree on first point, snoop is a weak heart of the first order to call the one thing he shares with Bunny, west African heritage by the term that has been used in a derogatory manner by the plantocracy to describe those they enslaved, I guess that is the best you can do when your mind has been mentally enslaved growing up in The la hoods.

On the second point only bob alone wanted it bad enough and that desire was expressed in everything he did, the lyrical superiority of his songs, so simple yet so profound, the high quality in the arrangement of the music, song after song after song. I am a massive tosh fan but I can truly say that his best and most incredible album that compares to any marley album is only 'equal rights' every song is relevant and hard hitting. Bunny don't even come into this thing, even though I must say one of the best live performances I have seen was a bunny wailer concert in 1984. Marley was meeting with Danny sims and them man on his own in the late 60's, going to Sweden to make a mark on his own, not a yard man in sight. Bob was definitely the perfectionist in the lot and toured more than any of the them to every corner of the earth. Don't grudge bob for what him achieved, him do things none of wi willing to sacrifice our time to do. What him achieve is no dyam buck up and he would have done it with or without Blackwell in my opinion.

[Rockman]

I have great respect for Bob and no doubt I can't imagine anyone being a better leader, but fact is the dynamics behind appointing a leader and renaming the group were tactics not endorsed by the Rasta. It worked out nicely but...