Before Trevor George Smith Jr. was known as Busta Rhymes, he went by the moniker Chill-O-Ski.
The name change would come when his rap group at the time, Leaders of the New School, opened up on tour for Public Enemy. Chuck D had given Chill–O–Ski the name Busta Rhymes after the ’80s NFL wide receiver George “Buster” Rhymes. People would ask Busta Rhymes to “Bust-a-rhyme” so he made the choice to keep the name.
Before Russell Tyrone Jones was known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard or ODB, he went by the moniker Ason Unique.
Before the Wu-Tang Clan founding member passed away on November 13, 2004, he changed his stage name again from Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Big Baby Jesus and then to Dirt McGirt and then he passed away in a Manhattan studio, two days before his 36th birthday.
Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s posthumous and third album was titled A Son Unique but it got canceled by and was never released after ODB was posthumously dropped from Roc-A-Fella Records.
Before Tauheed Epps was known as 2 Chainz, he went by the name Tity Boi.
During a 2011 interview with Vibe, 2 Chainz revealed how he got the name Tity Boy saying; “The name Tity Boi actually came from my big mama, from me being spoiled and an only child—breastfed. My mama called me Tity Boi, my dad called me Tity Man, my hood called me Tit so when we was trying to rap I had been going by Tit my whole life, Tit, Tity, Tity Man —it’s just like a country nickname —term for being an only child.”
2 Chainz still goes by Tity Boy, he never changed it but 2 Chainz stuck “2 Chainz made it lady and kid friendly. In my 8th grade yearbook picture I had on 2 chains. I had always been into like jewelry so 2 Chainz just stuck” – 2 Chainz told Vibe.
Before Jordan Terrell Carter was known as Playboi Carti, he went by the name Sir Cartier (styled as $ir Cartier) around the same time he started working with Awful Records collective. In 2011, Playboi Carti released music under the moniker ‘$ir Cartier.’
Playboi Carti released his first mixtape ‘Young Mi$fit’ on his bandcamp, the 9-track mixtape was released on November 12, 2012 and features a song called $TEEZE, which he shot a music video to. A lot of his early work has since been deleted from the Internet.
Before Gary Maurice Lucas, Jr, was known as Joyner Lucas, he first started rapping under the name G-Storm in 2007. He then changed his moniker to Future Joyner and started making music with his uncle, Cyrus tha Great.
Joyner Lucas and his Uncle, Cyrus tha Great formed a group called “Film Skool Rejekts”. They released their collaboration mixtape, ‘Workprint: The Greatest Mixtape of All Time’ in 2007.
Before Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was known as just Kendrick Lamar, he went by the name K. Dot from 2003 to 2009. Under the moniker, he released his first mixtape titled ‘Youngest Head Nigga in Charge’ at the age of 16, he then released a mixtape called ‘C4‘ still under K-Dot. Kendrick Lamar released four mixtapes under the moniker K. Dot. Kendrick occasionally calls himself K-Dot in songs.
During a 2011 interview with Hard Knock TV, Kendrick Lamar spoke on his name change saying: “The name change was just me basically developing myself, When people heard the name K. Dot, they were like, ‘The kid is dope, he can rap; but who is he?’ That went on for years, just another kid in the streets that can rap good, right? So I was like, ‘Y’know what? I want people to know who I am as a person and what I represent.’”
According to Kendrick, the worst song he ever made is the fifth song from his C4 mixtape called “Bitch I’m In The Club”.
Before Malcolm James McCormick was known as Mac Miller, he went by the name Eazy Mac (sometimes styled as Ez Mac). Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the age of 15, Mac Miller released his first project; a 9-track mixtape titled ‘But My Mackin’ Ain’t Easy‘ in 2007.
Mac Miller’s Easy Mac nickname was given to him by his grandfather.
Before Jonathan Lyndale Kirk was known as DaBaby, in 2015 his first rap name was Baby Jesus, he then changed it to DaBaby. DaBaby performed under the moniker, Baby Jesus, until 2017. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, DaBaby took off after he released his debut album Baby on Baby in 2019.
During an interview with XXL, DaBaby talked about his name change: “shows me the amount of love and respect people have for me. To change the name and not lose any traction, that’s something a lot of people have trouble doing.”
