| Afroman | |
|---|---|
Afroman in Daytona Beach, Florida, October 11, 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Edgar Foreman |
| Born | July 29, 1974 East Side Palmdale, California, United States |
| Genres | Hip-hop, West Coast hip hop |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Universal Motown, T-Bones |
| Associated acts | Mr. Mixx, Lowkey, Sublime |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson EDS-1275, Fender Jazz Bass, Pearl Drums | |
Joseph Edgar Foreman (July 29, 1974), better known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper who came to prominence with his singles "Because I Got High" and "Crazy Rap". "Because I Got High" circulated around the Internet before becoming a hit worldwide. He was nominated for a Grammy award in 2002.
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Foreman originally started rapping in the eighth grade, when he began recording homemade raps 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 1999, he released his first album, My Fro-losophy; he later relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi,[1] where he met drummer Jody Stallone, keyboardist/bassist Daryl 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 initially was distributed primarily through concerts and the file-sharing service Napster before its title track was played on The Howard Stern Show. Afroman based the song's lyrical content on his inability or unwillingness to clean his room; and 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 of the single's success, Afroman joined the lineup of Cypress Hill's fall festival Smoke Out with Deftones, Method Man, and others.[3] Universal Records signed Afroman to a six-album deal; Universal released The Good Times in 2001, a compilation of Afroman's first two albums and some new tracks.[1] "Because I Got High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2002.[4]
Starting in 2004, Afroman released his music independently and mostly through the Internet.[1] He recorded a comedy album that year, Jobe Bells, mocking traditional Christmas songs.[5] Afroman was part of the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos lineup.[6]
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