Rapper Snoop Dogg has broken with the Democratic Party establishment and endorsed billionaire businessman Rick Caruso for Los Angeles mayor in the June 7 race on Tuesday.

Alex Michaelson of local Fox affiliate KTTV-11 reported:

FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson reports rapper Snoop Dogg called Caruso the “real deal” in the billionaire’s push to lead the city of Los Angeles.

Snoop Dogg also pointed out the fact that Caruso had been active in the LA community for decades. Snoop Dogg isn’t always linked to politics, but for many who follow pop culture, the hip-hop icon’s legacy is often synonymous with Southern California.

Also joining Snoop Dogg in endorsing Caruso is longtime community activist “Sweet Alice” Harris, who is the founder and executive director of Parents of Watts.

Caruso is best known for his popular high-end shopping malls throughout the L.A. area, including The Grove in Beverly Hills. He was once a Republican, but became an independent and then a Democrat. Thanks to heavy spending on ads, he has shaken up the primary field, catching Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), who was the early favorite and remains the choice of a wide array of Democratic Party interest groups.

The preeminent issues in the race are crime and homelessness, with even left-wing candidates promising to clean up the city’s streets. Caruso is pointing to his career as a builder as proof that he can deliver — just as Donald Trump did in 2016, though Caruso has distanced himself from Trump, banning him from the Grove during the 2016 presidential election (though relenting after Trump actually won the presidency).

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.