Afroman | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Joseph Edgar Foreman |
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | July 28, 1974
Origin | Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. [1] |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1997–present |
Labels |
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Website | ogafroman |
Joseph Edgar Foreman (born July 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, political candidate, and comedian. He is best known for his 2000 single "Because I Got High", and its follow-up, the 2001 single "Crazy Rap". Both songs were featured on his album The Good Times (2001). Afroman was nominated for a Grammy award a year later.
Afroman was born on July 28, 1974, in Los Angeles, California. [2] He initially grew up in the state of Mississippi before moving back to South-Central Los Angeles at an early age. He later lived in the High Desert Southern California city of Palmdale, briefly in Las Vegas, Nevada, and then Hattiesburg, Mississippi. [3]
The first song Afroman wrote was entitled "Hairy Carrie". He stated it was written during his time in middle school and was a "diss song" about a student known for her cruel harassment of fellow students concerning their appearances. [4]
His musical career began in the eighth grade when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates. [4] He later recalled: "The first tape I made was about my eighth-grade teacher. She got me kicked out of school for sagging my pants, which was a big deal back then. So I wrote this song about her and it sold about 400 copies: it was selling to teachers, students, just about everybody. And I realized that, even though I wasn't at school, my song was at school, so in a way I was still there. All these people would come by my house just to give me comments about how cool they thought the song was." [5] Foreman also performed in his church at a young age, playing both the drums and guitar. [4]
In 1998, Afroman released his first album, My Fro-losophy, which was described as a "flop". The following year, he released Sell Your Dope and relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, [4] where he met drummer Jody Stallone, keyboardist/bassist Darrell Havard, and producer Tim Ramenofsky (a.k.a. Headfridge). Afroman attributes his musical success in part to his relocation. In a 2023 interview with DJ Vlad, he stated Midwesterners and Southerners were more willing than people in LA to experiment with their taste in music.
Ramenofsky produced and released Afroman's album Because I Got High in 2000 on T-Bones Records; it was distributed primarily through local concerts and the file-sharing service Napster before its title track was played on The Howard Stern Show . The song humorously describes how cannabis use is degrading the narrator's quality of life. [4] In late 2001, the song became a hit and was featured in the 2000s films Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , The Perfect Score , and Disturbia . "Because I Got High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002. [6]
After the single's success, Afroman joined the lineup of Cypress Hill's fall festival "Smoke Out" with the Deftones, Method Man, and others. [7] After this, Universal Records signed Afroman to a six-album deal, and Universal released The Good Times in 2001. The Good Times was a compilation of Afroman's first two albums and also featured new songs. [4]
Afroman started releasing his music independently and mostly through the Internet in 2004, [4] and that year, he recorded Jobe Bells, which satirized traditional Christmas songs. [8]
Afroman was part of the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos lineup. [9]
In October 2014, Afroman released a remix of his hit song "Because I Got High" in order to highlight the usefulness of cannabis as part of the effort to legalize its sale across the United States. [10]
In 2003, Afroman declared himself a Christian. [11] In January 2023, he released an hour-long video on YouTube titled "How To Be Happy In An Unhappy World - Sermon By Afroman" detailing his experiences and understanding on life's issues and how to overcome tribulations through faith in the word of God. [12]
On February 17, 2015, Afroman was midway through his performance at a live music venue in Biloxi, Mississippi, when a woman walked on stage. While dancing and holding a drink, she approached Afroman from behind. Afroman punched her in the face and was eventually escorted offstage by security. He was taken into custody, charged with assault, and released on bond shortly thereafter.
There were reportedly 12 to 15 security guards on duty to manage a crowd in excess of 500 people. According to Afroman's representative, he had punched the woman as an involuntary reaction to the invasion of his personal space. Afroman also stated that he mistook her for another audience member who had been heckling him throughout the performance. He publicly apologized and sought assistance with anger management. [13] [14]
In August 2022, the Adams County, Ohio Sheriff's department searched Afroman's home on suspicion of kidnapping and drug trafficking. Nothing was found during the search, and according to Afroman he "had nothing more in his house than the ends of a few blunts and unused pipes made for him by fans." No charges were presented against Afroman. [15]
Afroman, who was in Chicago when his neighbors informed him of the raid, posted about the experience on social media, and criticized the officers for raiding his home and causing damage to his property. [16] He also posted about a previous burglary on his home where he was threatened with arrest by the sheriff's department if he kept checking about the progress of the case and was told they did not have time to provide him with an update. [17] [18] The search of Afroman's home damaged his door, external gate, and security system wiring, which cost over $20,000 to repair. During the raid officers also seized over $5,000 of cash from his home. The cash was later returned to him, but with $400 missing. [15]
He recorded a trio of songs criticizing the raid, titled "Will You Help Me Repair My Door", “Lemon Pound Cake" (also the name of his album, set to the tune of Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters) and "Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera", and released three music videos composed primarily of security camera recordings of the raid, to his YouTube account, on December 29, 2022. [19]
On March 14, 2023, seven police officers from the Adams County Sheriff's office sued Afroman, alleging that his use of their personas from the video of the raid was an invasion of the officers' privacy. [20]
On December 20, 2022, Afroman announced his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. His campaign manager, Jason Savage, announced his candidacy on his behalf, citing inflation, the housing market, law enforcement corruption, and legalizing marijuana as key issues of his campaign. [21] [22]
Anthony L. Ray, better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1992 hit song "Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Reginald Noble, better known by his stage name Redman, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an artist on the Def Jam label.
"Because I Got High" is a song by American rapper Afroman from the album of the same name. The lyrics of the song humorously describe how cannabis use is degrading the narrator's quality of life. The song, which was written in only a few minutes, rose from obscurity to popularity after it was circulated around the Internet and was featured on The Howard Stern Show.
"Smoke Two Joints" is a song originally written by The Toyes, who performed it in traditional Reggae style and released it in 1983. According to The Toyes, "one fine fall day on a small island" of Oahu in Hawaii, two of the band members, Mawg and Sky, were sitting under a large banyan tree on Kuhio Beach, "tokin' on some sweet bud & jammin' on a rootsy reggae funky town" when they conceived the song "Smoke Two Joints."
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"Crazy Rap", also known as "Colt 45 and 2 Zig-Zags" or simply "Colt 45", is a song by American rapper Afroman. It was featured on his third album, Sell Your Dope, and was later included on his greatest hits album, The Good Times. It is often referred to as "Colt 45", as the hook states "Colt 45 and two Zig-Zags, baby that's all we need".
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Afroholic... The Even Better Times is a double-disc hip hop album released by Afroman. Despite Afroman's six-album deal with Universal Records, Afroman recorded one album for Universal, The Good Times, and would release all future albums independently, beginning with this one. There are two versions of this album. The original version featured numerous parody songs. The reissue contained, among others, the song "Whack Rappers", which is a diss to many hip hop and R&B artists, including 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Kelis, Nas and P. Diddy. The album peaked at number 99 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 36 on the Independent Albums chart.
The Good Times is the fourth studio album by Mississippi-based rapper Afroman. It was released after his record deal with Universal Records, and is composed of material taken from his previous independent releases. It contains his two hit singles: "Because I Got High" and "Crazy Rap", along with his other popular songs from his two albums. Most of the songs on the album are about growing up in the ghetto of East Palmdale. The album was certified gold in the United States on October 24, 2001 by the RIAA.
Because I Got High is the second studio album by Mississippi-based rapper Afroman. The record was released on T-Bones Records in 2000. Although a Canada-exclusive release, it was otherwise sold and distributed via live performances. The title track of the record stands as Afroman's most popular and best-selling song.
T-Bones Records is a record label founded by producer Tim Ramenofsky. The label was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi when Ramenofsky was a member of the metal fusion band Loppybogymi. In 2000, Ramenofsky discovered rapper Afroman and produced the album, "Because I Got High". The record was originally released on T-Bones Records. The title track was soon posted on file-sharing service Napster and made it to The Howard Stern Show. This song was the theme song of the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and was later featured in the films Disturbia and The Perfect Score. "Because I Got High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002.
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