Afroman

Afroman

Afroman in Daytona Beach, Florida, October 11, 2009
Background information
Birth name Joseph Edgar Foreman
Born (1974-07-28) July 28, 1974
Palmdale, California, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active 1992–present
Labels
Website www.afromanmuzzicc.com
Notable instruments
Gibson EDS-1275
Fender Jazz Bass
Pearl Drums

Joseph Edgar Foreman (born July 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper and musician. He is best known for the hit single "Because I Got High". He was nominated for a Grammy award in 2002.

Music career

He began his career in 8th Grade, when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates.[1] "The first tape I made was about my eighth-grade teacher," he once recalled. "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."[2] Foreman also performed in his church at a young age, playing both the drums and guitar.[1]

In 1998, Afroman released his first album, My Fro-losophy; and later relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi,[1] where he met drummer Jody Stallone, keyboardist/bassist Darrell Havard, and producer Tim Ramenofsky (aka "Headfridge").

Ramenofsky produced and released Afroman's second album Because I Got High in 2000 on T-Bones Records; it was distributed primarily through concerts and the file-sharing service Napster before its title track was played on The Howard Stern Show. Afroman was inspired to write the song's lyrical content by his unwillingness to clean his room, and he ran with the idea of everyday tasks being derailed by drug use.[1] In late 2001, the song became a worldwide hit and was featured in the films Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Perfect Score, and Disturbia later in the 2000s. "Because I Got High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002.[3]

After the single's success, Afroman joined the lineup of Cypress Hill's fall festival "Smoke Out" with the Deftones, Method Man, and others.[4] 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 some new tracks.[1]

Afroman started releasing his music independently and mostly through the Internet in 2004,[1] and that year, he recorded Jobe Bells, which satirized traditional Christmas songs.[5]

Afroman was part of the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos lineup.[6]

In October 2014, Afroman released a remix of his song "Because I Got High," to highlight the usefulness of marijuana as part of the fight to legalize its sale across the United States.

Arrest

On February 17, 2015, Afroman was midway through his performance at a live music venue in Biloxi, Mississippi when a female individual walked on stage. It is unknown whether she was invited up or not but Foreman was aware of her presence. Shortly after, she casually approached Foreman, drink in hand, from behind and began dancing in his vicinity. When the individual allegedly made contact with Foreman he whirled around and evidently knocked her down with a blow to the head. He was subsequently escorted off stage by security where he was arrested and peacefully taken into custody and charged with assault. He was released on bond shortly thereafter.

There were reportedly 12 to 15 security guards on duty to manage a crowd in excess of 500 people. When interviewed, Foreman's representative claimed that the act was a reactionary, involuntary reflex caused by the individual irritatingly infringing upon his stage space. He also stated that Foreman mistook the individual for someone who had been consistently heckling him just off stage. Foreman has since publicly apologized and is actively seeking anger-management rehab.[7][8]

Discography

Main article: Afroman discography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nimmervoll, Ed (2008). "Afroman Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  2. ↑ Afroman | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's. Myspace.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  3. ↑ Evans, Rob (January 4, 2002). "Grammy nominees led by U2, India.Arie, Alicia Keys". LiveDaily. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  4. ↑ Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (September 28, 2001). "Cypress Hill's Oakland Smoke Out Bumped By A's". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  5. ↑ "For The Record: Quick News On Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, Snoop, Good Charlotte, Afroman, Chingy & More". MTV News. October 28, 2004. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  6. ↑ GOTJ 2011:::Buy Tickets Now!. Juggalogathering.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  7. ↑ Afroman punches woman during performance at a Biloxi nightclub WLOX News. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Afroman apologizes for incident TIME News. Retrieved 18 February 2015.

External links

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