A HIP-HOP superstar rocked a music festival with a controversial appearance complete with a suspicious looking cigarette in hand.

Snoop Dogg performed to thousands at Mutiny festival at Fontwell Park racecourse on Saturday, donning an England football shirt for his special appearance in Sussex.

The 43-year-old American rapper wowed thousands of festival goers with various hits from his west-coast rap back catalogue, including fan-favourites like Gin and Juice and Tha Shiznit.

The Smoke The Weed star also appeared to play up to his reputation as a cannabis advocate, performing on the Mutiny stage while puffing on a homemade roll-up.

But while the crowd were happy to see Snoop, Fontwell residents were not pleased that festival organisers had managed to book the rapper for a set ahead of his headline slot at Love Box in London.

Villagers were worried Snoop, known briefly as Snoop Lion in 2012, would shock and offend children and adults deep into the night with expletive-laden lyrics and references to sex and drugs.

But luckily for them, he took to the stage for a short and sweet daytime set instead.

Music fans paid tribute to Snoop Dogg following his performance at Fontwell over the weekend.

Jack Brocky tweeted: "I think it’s fair to say that Snoop Dogg was amazing at Mutiny today.”

Reanna Burns said: “Snoop Dogg was unreal today at Mutiny. Can’t actually believe I’ve seen him!”

Festival organisers said they had around 15,000 people through the doors over Saturday and Sunday.