Snoop Dogg to Play Petaluma

North Bay people, get ready. Rap icon Snoop Dogg is coming to the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma on Dec. 15.

Earlier this year, Snoop Dogg declared that he was done with “gangsta” rap and would now be called Snoop Lion, to go along with his newfound appreciation and identification with reggae and Rastafarian culture.

Snoop, who has enjoyed two decades of success in the rap world and is known for rap anthems such as “Nothing But a G Than” and “Gin Juice,” announced his reincarnation this summer following a trip to Jamaica.

"I want to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion,” he told music reporters at a press conference in June.

“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. “I have always said I was Bob Marley reincarnated. I feel I have always been a Rastafari. I just didn’t have my third eye open, but its wide open right now.”

Snoop's next album, Reincarnated, will be a reggae record. 

Listen to Snoop Lion’s latest track called "La La La"

Snoop, 40, began his career in the early 1990s rap and hip-hop scene as Snoop Doggy Dogg, eventually dropping the middle name ‘Doggy.’ Snoop Dogg has become his brand, earning him nicknames like ‘the Doggfather.’

Now he says he's done with rap entirely because it’s no longer a challenge. But it remains to be seen how lasting this latest incarnation will be.

Jay-Z made a similar pronouncement only to confront fans who wanted to hear rap. He has since returned to producing rap music.

Tickets to the Phoenix show are $70 or $335 if you want to meet the man himself. Click here to purchase.

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