Marcel Winatschek

The Lion Sings Anyway

Snoop Dogg spent 2012 trying on a different self. He went to Jamaica, sat with Bunny Wailer, came back as Snoop Lion, and released La La La—the kind of track that somehow works better than it has any right to. The reggae conversion could have been pure gimmick, a career detour dressed up as spiritual awakening. It was probably a little of both. But La La La has a lightness to it that I kept returning to anyway, the hook landing cleanly, the production unhurried, Snoop sounding like he meant it—or at least like he was enjoying himself enough that it didn’t matter either way.