The things that you think about when you’re bored. This weekend while making the 6 hour drive from Phoenix to San Diego, David and I were listening to Wiz Khalifa and a random thought popped in my mind. “I wonder what his real name is?” The answer was slightly underwhelming.
So I had to discover the names of other rappers. Some were surprisingly boring and some were completely off the wall. A lot of these names are a mouthful, it’s no wonder so many of these artists choose to go by a single name.
Here’s what I learned in alphabetical order so you can easily find your favorites :
2Chains- Tauheed Epps, he was also formerly called Tity Boi
21 savage- Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph
50 cent – (you should know this) Curtis James Jackson III
Afroman- Joseph Edgar Foreman
Akon – Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam
Andre 3000- Andre Lauren Benjamin
A$AP Ferg- Darold D. Brown Ferguson Jr.
A$AP Rocky- Rakim Mayers
Baby Bash- Ronald Ray Bryant
Big Boi – Antwan André Patton
Bird Man- Bryan Christopher Williams
Biz Markie – Marcel Theo Hall
BowWow- Shad Gregory Moss
Busta Rhymes- Trevor George Smith Jr.
Cardi B- Her friends used to call her Bacardi but she was born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar
Chamillionaire- Hakeem Seriki
Common- Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn
Coolio- Artis Leon Ivey Jr.
Da Brat- Shawntae Harris
Desiigner- Sidney Royel Selby III
Diplo- Thomas Wesley Pentz Jr.
DJ Khaled- Khaled Mohamed Khaled
DMX- Earl Simmons
Dr. Dre- Andre Romelle Young
Drake – Aubrey Drake Graham
E-40 – Earl Stevens
Easy E- Eric Lynn Wright
Fabolous- John David Jackson
Fergie- Stacy Ann Ferguson
Fetty Wap- Willie Maxwell II
French Montana- Karim Kharbouch
Future- Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn
G-eazy- Gerald Earl Gillum
The Game- Jayceon Terrell Taylor
Ghostface Killah- Dennis Coles
Ice Cube – O’Shea Jackson Sr
Ice-T- Tracy Lauren Marrow
Iggy Azalea- Amethyst Amelia Kelly Did you know her stage name came from her dogs name and the street she lived on? I wonder how many online quizzes it took to come up with that.
Ja Rule- Jeffrey Bruce Atkins
Jamie Foxx- Eric Marlon Bishop
Jay-Z – Shawn Corey Carter
Juvenile- Terius Gray
Kid Cudi- Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi
LL Cool J- James Todd Smith
Logic- Sir Robert Bryson Hall II
Macklemore- Benjamin Hammond Haggerty
Nas- Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Nipsey Hu$$le- Ermias Asghedom
Obie Trice – (real name no gimmicks)
Offset- Kiari Kendrell Cephus
Pitbull- Armando Christian Pérez
Post Malone- Austin Richard Post
Riff Raff- Horst Christian Simco
Shaggy- Orville Richard Burrell
Sir-mix-lot- Anthony Ray
Snoop Dogg- Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.
T-Pain- Faheem Rasheed Najm
Tech N9ne- Aaron Dontez Yates
Travis Scott- the most surprising seemingly normal stage name, he was born Jacques Bermon Webster II
Waka Flocka Flame- Juaquin James Malphurs
The Weeknd- Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
Wiz Khalifa- Cameron Jibril Thomaz, not sure why I thought Wiz was short for something
Xzibit- Alvin Nathaniel Joiner
Which one was the most surprising to you? Was there any great ones that I missed?