Afroman's Real Name: Joseph Foreman

Quick answer: The rapper is known professionally as Afroman. AllMusic and BlackPast independently identify him as Joseph Foreman and date his birth to July 28, 1974, in Los Angeles. BlackPast uses the longer form Joseph Edgar Foreman, which AllMusic does not, so that middle name is recorded below rather than used in the title (AllMusic; BlackPast).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Afroman. AllMusic lists him as also known as Joseph Foreman, dates the birth to July 28, 1974, in Los Angeles, CA, and says he was born Joseph Foreman in East Palmdale, Los Angeles. BlackPast independently says Afroman, born Joseph Edgar Foreman, was born on July 28, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, and later dropped out of Palmdale High School in 1991. Because "Edgar" appears in BlackPast but not in the AllMusic listing, this page titles him Joseph Foreman and records the longer form below. Both say he played drums in church and began making homemade tapes as a teenager.

Career highlights

AllMusic says that in 1999, while still living in Los Angeles, he released Sell Your Dope, then moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. BlackPast independently dates Sell Your Dope to 1999, after a 1998 debut album, My Fro-losophy, which it calls a flop, a first-album credit AllMusic does not use in the biography. AllMusic says that in the spring of 2000 he recorded the album Because I Got High, and that the title track became a worldwide hit by the end of 2001, peaking at No. 13 in the United States, topping charts in several other countries, and later receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. BlackPast independently dates the single "Because I Got High," from the album The Good Times, to 2001. AllMusic describes The Good Times as his first Universal album, a compilation of earlier LPs with new tracks, and names "Crazy Rap" as a later multi-platinum follow-up.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Afroman or Joseph Foreman are looking for the same Los Angeles-born rapper, later known for "Because I Got High." BlackPast's longer form, Joseph Edgar Foreman, is recorded here but is not used in the title.