| Afroman | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Birth Name: | Joseph Edgar Foreman |
| Birth Date: | July 28, 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Origin: | Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.[1] |
| Years Active: | 1997–present |
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 2001 follow-up, "Crazy Rap". Both songs were featured on his debut studio album, The Good Times (2001). Afroman was nominated for a Grammy Award the following year.
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.
His musical career began in the eighth grade when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to his classmates. 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."[4] Foreman also performed in his church at a young age, playing both the drums and guitar.
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,[5] 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. 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.
Afroman started releasing his music independently and mostly through the Internet in 2004,[5] 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.
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.[12] [13]
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.[14]
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.[15] 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.[16] [17] 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.
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.
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.[18] Afroman tried to get the case dismissed. The court dismissed the claim that he improperly used the officer's likeness for commercial purposes, but let the claim that he defamed and placed the officers in a false light go to trial.[19]
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.[20] [21]
See main article: Afroman discography.