The enduring appeal of Snoop Dogg

I’m in Provence for my annual jaunt to the land of bulls, Pernod and lavender. All over our small French village, fever for the Jeux Olympiques ‘24 builds: the Olympic rings hang in the window of the Pharmacie and the Papeterie, in the Cafe du Commerce on the Rue General de Galle the television blares all day with adverts for the opening ceremony set to Celine Dion’s I’m Alive, the Mistral blows the Olympic buntinghung over the Mairie high into the cloudless sky. So far, so normale.  

One thing, however, seems rather off. Snoop Dogg, the American rapper and notorious connoisseur of large joints, will be carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of Seine Saint Denis on Friday ahead of the grand opening ceremony that evening. Sorry, what? His fellow torch bearers are decidedly French: actress, comedian and model Laetitia Casta, rapper MC Solaar and journalist and Saint-Denis local Mohamed Bouhafsi. Yes, Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka is also carrying the torch but he’s an accomplished sportsman. But what is the Dogg Father doing in the line up? As neither a sportsman, a Frenchman or a standard-bearer for French culture, I’m rather confused.