Snoop Dogg joins the Nation of Islam

Rapper Snoop Dogg revealed he has joined the Nation of Islam, this past weekend by surprised fans and reporters alike. Speaking at the religious group’s Saviours’ Day convention in Chicago, the 37-year-old praised the group’s supreme minister and national representative Louis Farrakhan.

Discussing his religious beliefs Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, referred to himself as the “leader of the hip-hop community” and hinted that his affiliation with the group is not new. “It’s about seeing yourself and what you can do to better the situation,” Snoop said. “We’re doing a lot of wrongs among ourselves that need correcting.”

It is reported by the Associated Press that he also made a donation to the group of $1,000.

Snoop talked about his reasons for joining the event: “I’m an advocate for peace. I’ve been in the peace movement ever since I’ve been making music,” he told followers. “My whole thing is not about really trying to push my thing on you. It’s just about the way I live, and I live how I’m supposed to live as far as doing what’s right and representing what’s right. That’s why I was here today.”

The Nation of Islam was founded in 1930 with the aim of promoting the conditions of black Americans. The group’s most famous convert is activist Malcolm X.

Snoop Dogg’s successful rap career has spanned nearly two decades but he has had some brushes with the law. He has been arrested numerous times, mainly for possession of marijuana, and was charged as an accomplice to the murder of Phillip Woldermarian in 1993. The rapper was found not guilty.

He sought to reinvent himself as a family man with the recent reality show Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, which portrays his domestic side along with his wife and three children.