Snoop Dogg Is Still Himself, Is Still Awesome

Snoop Dogg Is Still Himself, Is Still Awesome

Before he stepped his lanky legs onstage Sunday night, I wondered: Would we see Snoop Dogg or Snoop Lion? The signs pointed toward the former; his Pharrell-produced latest album, Bush, just came out last month under the Dogg moniker, which all but guaranteed his Rastafarian phase had passed. But as soon as he strolled out to stand front and center and sway his rail-thin body to the mellow tunes his DJ was spinning, his choice of headwear gave him away. This is Snoop Dogg in name, but Snoop Lion in spirit. Rocking real dreadlocks and a rastacap, Snoop didn’t preach or try to convert us. Instead, he scored a fan’s piccolo-sized blunt and puffed it vigorously before ripping into “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” and “Forgot About Dre” nearly right away. An eventual “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” cover was more like a stoned Snoop hobbling around with a pal’s iPod, picking the stuff he liked to bounce along with. No matter. It was a party, after all, and Snoop was the center.