Rapper 'Snoop Dogg' is no longer

Say hello to "Snoop Lion":

SNOOP Dogg has officially dropped the Dogg act and upgraded his name to "Snoop Lion".

The rapper says he underwent a spiritual and artistic rebirth while in Jamaica where he was given the new moniker by Rastafarian priests.

Legally he isn't any sort of animal, of course, but must go by the name Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.

"I want to bury Snoop Dogg, and become Snoop Lion" Mr Broadus Jr told journalists at a news conference in New York.

"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."

In related non-news, Mr. Snoop has reportedly been banned from entering Norway for two years after allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana into the country last month.