He got us — again.
Last week, Snoop Dogg's surprising announcement that he was "giving up the smoke" had fans scratching their heads, wondering whether this was really the cannabis connoisseur's final dance with the drug or if he had something up his sleeve as fuel for the ambiguous social media post.
But now, it's clear it's the latter: Snoop is in fact "giving up the smoke," just not the kind that wafts off a marijuana product.
The West Coast rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, announced Monday the true reason he's going smokeless is because of Solo Stove, the creator of the smokeless fire pit.
"I have an announcement: I'm giving up smoke," Snoop said in a video posted to his social media. "I know what you thinking: 'Snoop, smoke is kinda your whole thing.' But I'm done with it. Done with the coughing and my clothes smelling all sticky-icky. I'm going smokeless."
As it turns out, the whole ruse was an ad campaign for his new position as being Solo Stove's "smokesman" to support the company's "quest to eliminate smoke from backyards everywhere," it said in a press release.
"I love a good fire outside, but the smoke was too much," Snoop Dogg said. "Solo Stove fixed fire and took out the smoke. They changed the game, and now I'm excited to spread the love and stay warm with my friends and family."
The collaboration means Snoop will partner with Solo Stove in innovating smokeless products and in designing "Snoop Dogg x Solo Stove" products. The line kicks off with a $349.99 limited edition bundle that includes a Snoop-designed Bonfire Fire Pit, a fire pit stand, a "Going Smokeless" bucket hat and a Snoop x Solo sticker pack, the company's website says.
Though many fans seemed torn when the 52-year-old rapper made the first anti-smoke announcement Thursday — with some congratulating the notorious weed lover on the end of the era and others believing he was creating his own edibles company — the energy seemed pretty uniform in the comments on the Solo Stove post: that this was a stroke of genius for whoever was in charge of the product's marketing campaign.
The rapper has often used his known affection for cannabis as a tool of promotion, particularly with his multiple ventures in the industry.
In 2015, he became a minor investor in Eaze, a California-based cannabis delivery service company, and he launched Merry Jane, a digital media business focused on news about marijuana. Also that year, he announced Leafs By Snoop, a branded cannabis company featuring marijuana flowers, edibles and concentrates. There's also "Double G News," his YouTube show in which he smokes and chats with celebrities.
And as he said in the ending of his Solo Stove video, going "smokeless" is just another "clever" move for the canna-businessman.