Rohan defends Snoop Lion

ROHAN Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley, has come out in support of Snoop Lion's (formerly Snoop Dogg) recent conversion to Rastafari.

According to celebrity website TMZ, Marley said his father would have "totally supported Snoop's Rastafarian rebirth".

"Why condemn a man for his love of Rastafari and Bob Marley?," Marley was quoted saying.

Recently, Bunny Wailer - an original member of the Wailers - accused Snoop of engaging in "outright fraudulent use of (the) Rastafari community's personalities and symbolism" - and has failed to meet "contractual, moral and verbal commitments" from Reincarnation, Snoop's documentary looking at his conversion.

The weed-loving rapper also came under fire from the Rastafari Millennium Council, which issued a seven-page letter to Snoop, claiming in part, that "smoking weed and loving Bob Marley and reggae music is not what defines the Rastafari Indigenous culture!"

According to tmz.com, the group wants Snoop to stop using the name 'Lion' and pay the "financial and moral support" they claim he promised them.

The report did not say what promises Snoop had made both parties.

Snoop Dogg told reporters in the United States that he converted to the Rastafarian faith after befriending a group of elders during a visit to Jamaica last year.

"Telling us our father's name should not even be mentioned in this issue because like a true Rasta, he would have embraced Snoop's reincarnation and welcomed the positivity," Marley said.

"Those guys have it all wrong."

(from Jamaica Observer)