How 15 Famous Rappers Came Up with Their Stage Names

A stage name is obligatory in the rap genre. On stage, rappers represent not only themselves, but often their entire generation, their social background and their region. A catchy name also sets them apart from society and serves as a substitute for a band name, because many rappers are solo artists and stand alone on stage.

1. Jay-Z / Shawn Corey Carter

The recipient of numerous music awards and responsible for some rap classics, Jay-Z is one of the most influential representatives of the genre. But in the beginning, the musician and producer, who is married to Beyoncé, had a rather unremarkable nickname: “Jazzy”. This means something like “the cool one”, which was certainly not unique in Brooklyn at the time. Later, this became clear to Shawn Corey Carter, who kept only the J and Z as his forename, which sounds similar to the original nickname when pronounced in American English, but distinguishes him from suit-wearing and chest-haired jazz musicians.

2. Snoop Dogg / Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.

The west coast rapper was named by his mother after the dog Snoopy because of his love for the cartoon character as a young boy. Snoopy from “Charlie Brown”. He became friends with the anarchic dog name, so that he used it, slightly modified, for his rap career and called himself “Snoop Doggy Dogg”. In the course of his life, the musician, who once started out as a gangster rapper, has undergone many personal and musical transformations. After his trip to Jamaica, for example, he called himself Snoop Lion and propagated the Rastafarian cult. Shortly before that, he released a funk album as Snoopzilla. As a porn director, he used the pseudonym “Michael J. Corleone”. However, his fans always associated him primarily with “Snoop Dogg”, under which he released the majority of his work.

3. 50 Cent / Curtis James Jackson III

Der East-Coast-Star 50 Cent hat ein bewegtes Leben vorzuweisen, welches perfekt in die Rolle des Ghetto-Gangsters passt. Schon mit acht Jahren verlor er seine Mutter durch einen Mord. Seinen Vater lernte Jackson nie kennen. Viele seiner Anhänger sehen in ihm die Erfüllung des amerikanischen Traums, denn er hat sich aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen zu einem der bekanntesten Rapper der Welt gekämpft. Sein Leben ist im Streifen „Get Rich or Die Tryin’“ verfilmt worden. Seinen ungewöhnlichen Nickname hat er selbst gewählt nach einem 80er-Jahre-Gangster namens „Kelvin 50 Cent Martin“. Jackson kann so zwei Dinge ausdrücken: Er würde wirklich alles tun, um es im Leben zu schaffen. Und er würde vor keiner Art Brutalität zurückschrecken und auch für 50 Cent über Leichen gehen. Letzteres ist natürlich förderlich für das Image eines Gangsta-Rappers.

4. French Montana / Karim Kharbouch

Born in Casablanca, Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 12. They settled in the Bronx, New York. Now he had to incorporate a third language into his knowledge, because he already spoke Arabic and French. Morocco still has many French influences today, after all, France was a colonial power in the country for a long time. So he called himself “Young French” on his first mixtapes. With his fascination for the movie “Scarface” with the main actor Al Pacino, who played the character “Tony Montana”, the naming was perfect. With his nickname French Montana, the rapper can simultaneously reflect his origin and his “predilection” for cocaine.

5. Wiz Khalifa / Cameron Jibril Thomaz

The Pittsburgh local patriot always had a good relationship with his Muslim grandfather, who called him after the Arabic word for “successor” or “heir” (Khalifa). Wiz stands for “wisdom”. He had this part of the stage name early on, when he was called “Young Wiz” by his buddies because he was good at school. Incidentally, Wiz Khalifa also lived in Germany for a short time because his two parents worked in the military and were stationed here.

6. Macklemore / Ben Haggerty

Ben Haggerty from Seattle, who has already won multiple gold and platinum records in Germany, did not get his stage name from gangster bosses or movie characters. He created it completely on his own. In junior high school, he was supposed to create a superhero character, which he named “Professor Macklemore”. He liked to go to thrift stores and dress up crazy, preferably drunk and high. Whenever he did that, he called himself by his superhero character. That's how his nickname was born. Later, he dropped the “Professor” so as not to come across as too presumptuous.

7. Eminem / Marshall Bruce Mathers III

The rapper, whose career rise was immortalized in the film “8 Mile”, also likes to be called “Slim Shady” and has a simple explanation for the name “Eminem”. His real name, Marshall Mathers, corresponds to the initials “M. & M.” – which led to the creation of his nickname early on, which stuck in people's minds because of the candy. He then changed it, however, by pronouncing it as a single word. As a result, the Detroit rapper has been spared from any trademark disputes with the chocolate company Mars, which produces the sugar candies, to this day.

8. T.I. / Clifford Joseph Harris jr.

As one of the most important rappers from the southern states, he modestly calls himself “King of the South”. Atlanta-born Clifford Harris had an easy time choosing his royal name: like his grandfather, he was called “Tip” from an early age. He simply kept this nickname for his artistic career. However, to avoid confusion, he had to change his name to “T.I.” at the urging of his then record company, Atlantic Records. There was a rapper called “Q-Tip”, which is why “T.I.” was more original.

9. M.I.A. / Mathangi „Maya“ Arulpragasam

The political crossover artist M.I.A. grew up in Sri Lanka, India and London. And that's exactly what her music sounds like. However, her stage name refers to her cousin, who went missing during the civil war, as well as to the district in London where she lived in poverty. M.I.A. can therefore be understood as “Missing in Action”. This refers to the cousin who is missing in military jargon. But she also flirts with the London district of Acton – “Missing in Acton”. Both have great significance for her.

10. Tupac / Lesane Parish Crooks

2Pac was born Lesane Crooks. His parents, especially his father, were active in the Black Panther movement. This movement, with its socialist guiding principle and nationalist undertones, campaigned against rampant racism and for the liberation of the black population. At the age of one, Tupac's mother officially had her son rechristened “Tupac Amaru Shakur”. The name goes back to an 18th-century Inca freedom fighter who organized an (unsuccessful) revolt against the Spanish colonial rulers. The name was intended to be a revolutionary one. Tupac also retained the name on stage. He died on September 13, 1996, at the age of 25, after a shootout in the hospital.

11. A$AP Rocky / Rakim Mayers

A$AP Rocky was born into the rap scene, as his mother named him after hip-hop artist Rakim Allah. However, his mother didn't just give him his official name, but also the nickname “Rocky”. This name can be understood as an allusion to his full name. Rakim Meyers owes the “A$AP” to his rap collective called “A$AP Mob”. It stands for “Always Strive And Prosper” – in other words, “strive and succeed”.

12. 2 Chainz / Tauheed Epps

For ten years, 2 Chainz was a member of the duo Playaz Circle. At that time, he still called himself “Tity Boi” – a reference to his love for his mother. Not many men refer to themselves as a mama's boy. But when he started his solo career, Tauheed Epps from the backwater of College Park, Georgia, changed his mind and has been calling himself “2 Chainz” ever since – that is, “two chains”. The exaggerated chain jewelry has distinguished him ever since, serving as a role model for subsequent generations of rappers. He himself sees his now more family-friendly stage name as a nod to the second chance that everyone deserves in life.

13. Notorious B.I.G. / Christopher George Latore Wallace

The superstar of the rap scene in the 90s named himself after a character from “Let's do it again (Drehn wir noch'n Ding)”. Actor Calvin Lockhart played the role of “Biggie Smalls” in the 1975 crime comedy. Wallace adopted this name. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that the name was already being used by someone else, so he modified it to “B.I.G.” and added the suffix “notorious”. His fans also called him “Big Poppa” or just “Biggie”.

14. Childish Gambino / Donald Glover

The multi-award-winning all-rounder Donald Glover is an actor, director, author, comedian and, last but not least, a musician. While he leaves nothing to chance as a versatile artist, he owes his stage name to a coincidence. By his own admission, he came up with the words Childish Gambino using a Wu-Tang Clan name generator on the internet. So there is no deeper meaning.

15. The Game / Jayceon Terrell Taylor

Taylor didn't have to think about his nickname for long, because even as a child, his grandmother called him “game” because he was athletic as a young boy and played a lot of sports. You can't go wrong with the name – it's memorable and commonplace. However, he became famous more for his diss tracks against 50 Cent after Taylor, who grew up in Compton, was kicked out of his crew “G Unit”.