Afroman

Joseph Edgar Foreman (born July 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, comedian and musician. He is best known for his songs "Because I Got High", released in 2000, and "Crazy Rap", which was released in 2001 and both were featured on his album The Good Times. Afroman was nominated for a Grammy award in 2002.

Afroman
Afroman performing in 2011
Background information
Birth nameJoseph Edgar Foreman
Born (1974-07-28) July 28, 1974
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • comedian
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • drums
Years active1997–present
Labels
  • Cosmic Wire
  • Hungry Hustler
  • Federal
  • Fontana North
  • Universal Records
  • Uptown
  • T-Bones
Websiteafromanofficial.com

Early life

Born in Los Angeles, Afroman initially grew up in South-Central Los Angeles. He later lived in Palmdale in the High Desert of Southern California, and then Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[1]

Career

Afroman's musical career began in the eighth grade, when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates.[2] "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."[3] Foreman also performed in his church at a young age, playing both the drums and guitar.[2]

In 1998, Afroman released his first album, My Fro-losophy, and later relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi,[2] where he met drummer Jody Stallone, keyboardist/bassist Darrell Havard and producer Tim Ramenofsky (a.k.a. Headfridge).

Ramenofsky produced and released Afroman's 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.[2] In late 2001, the song became a 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.[4]

After the single's success, Afroman joined the lineup of Cypress Hill's fall festival "Smoke Out" with the Deftones, Method Man, and others.[5] 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.[2]

Afroman started releasing his music independently and mostly through the Internet in 2004,[2] and that year, he recorded Jobe Bells, which satirized traditional Christmas songs.[6]

Afroman was part of the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos lineup.[7]

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.

Personal life

Religion

In 2003, Afroman declared himself a Christian.[8]

Assault case

On February 17, 2015, Afroman was midway through his performance at a live music venue in Biloxi, Mississippi, when a woman walked on stage. She approached Foreman from behind, drink in hand, while dancing. When she touched Foreman he spun around and punched her off the stage. He was subsequently escorted offstage by security and was arrested and 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 an involuntary reflex caused by the woman invading his space. He also stated that he mistook the woman for another audience member who had been consistently heckling him. He publicly apologized and sought assistance with anger management.[9][10]

Raid on Ohio home

On August 23, 2022, TMZ reported that Afroman had taken to social media and posted images and videos of his home in Adams County, Ohio being raided by the sheriff's department. He reportedly asked for attorney Ben Crump.[11] Local news media reached out to law enforcement who declined to give any information about the warrant and search. Afroman posted the raid was about a marijuana vape pen. 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 didn't have time.[12][13]

Discography
  • My Fro-losophy (1998)
  • Because I Got High (2000)
  • Sell Your Dope (2000)
  • The Good Times (2001)
  • Afroholic... The Even Better Times (2004)
  • Jobe Bells (2004)
  • 4R0:20 (2004)
  • The Hungry Hustlerz: Starvation Is Motivation (2004)
  • Drunk 'n' High (2006)
  • A Colt 45 Christmas (2006)
  • Waiting to Inhale (2008)
  • Frobama: Head of State (2009)
  • Marijuana Music (2013)
  • The Frorider (2014)
  • Happy to Be Alive (2016)
  • Cold Fro-T-5 and Two Frigg Fraggs (2017)
  • Save a Cadillac, Ride a Homeboy (2020)
  • Lemon Pound Cake (2022)[14]

References
  1. Stinson, Liz (November 7, 2008). "Afroman makes music from what he knows". Lincoln Journal Star. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  2. Nimmervoll, Ed (2008). "Afroman Biography". allmusic. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  3. Afroman | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's. Myspace.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  4. 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.
  5. Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (September 28, 2001). "Cypress Hill's Oakland Smoke Out Bumped By A's". MTV News. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  6. "For The Record: Quick News On Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, Snoop, Good Charlotte, Afroman, Chingy & More". MTV News. October 28, 2004. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  7. GOTJ 2011:::Buy Tickets Now! Archived August 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Juggalogathering.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  8. "Rapper now gets high on his faith". Chicago Tribune. May 30, 2003. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  9. "Afroman punches woman during performance at a Biloxi nightclub". Archived February 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine WLOX News. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  10. Regan, Helen (February 18, 2015). "Afroman Apologizes for Punching a Woman Onstage During a Performance". Time. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  11. "Afroman's Home Raided by Cops in Ohio, Says He Needs Ben Crump". TMZ. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  12. Goffinet, Jared. "Afroman's Adams County home raided by sheriff's office: TMZ". fox19.com. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  13. Schramm, Molly (August 24, 2022). "Rapper Afroman's Ohio home raided by Adams County Sheriff's Office". WCPO. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  14. "Afroman - Lemon Pound Cake". Apple Music. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
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