There was a lot of LOL-ing in the Her.ie office when we heard that Snoop Dogg, beloved rapper of the 90s, had changed his name to ‘Snoop Lion.’ Snoop Lion? Really? REALLY?

Anyway, the rapper has finally spoken out about why decided to reinvent himself as a big cat rather than the dog that we had become accustomed to.

The Irish Sun reports that Snoop is planning on making a career move from rapping to reggae and he wanted a new name to reflect the changes in his life.

The name change ultimately came after he embraced the religion of Rastafarianism on a recent trip to Jamaica.

“I want to bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion,” the 40-year old musician said.

“I went to the temple where the High Priest asked me what my name was and I said, ‘Snoop Dogg.’ He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘No more. You are the light – you are the lion,’” he added

Snoop was in Jamaica recording a new reggae album at the time he was enlightened by the High Priest and claims that he was “born again” in the country.

But why reggae? Well Snoop feels like he is now ready to start making music that his “kids and grandparents can listen to.” We should also mention that during his trip to Jamaica, Snoop claims that he connected with the spirit of Bob Marley and is now “Bob Marley reincarnated.” Eh…okay…

Well, whatever floats your boat. We have to say, we are oddly intrigued to hear what Snoop’s new sound will be like…