Ex-Rappists

You have your Fresh-Prince-turned-Will-Smiths and Marky-Mark-turned-Mark-Wahlbergs, but here I whipped up a quick and exclusive list of some unexpected former-rappers.

Justin Warfield

Warfield, of She Wants Revenge fame, was quite the musical connoisseur early on in his career. Long before his current involvement with the popular darkwave duo, Warfield released a hip hop album titled My Field Trip to Planet 9 in ’93, which featured production from QDIII and the legendary Prince Paul. A highly underrated album from the golden era, Planet 9 allowed Warfield to gain mention in “WAOK (AY) Roll Call”, an interlude off of Phrenology that gave “respect and love to the architects who designed this culture” by name. Despite this lone LP, Warfield also put out a few hip hop singles, including “Steppin’With the Sound" and “Season of the Vic”, which charted on the Billboard charts in ’91.

Scott Caan

Son of the legendary James Caan, Beverly Hills born and raised Scott Caan started out in a hip hop group with The Alchemist. By performing and gaining recognition in Los Angeles, the teen duo of Mudfoot (Alchemist) and Mad Skillz (Caan) caught the eye of B-Real and became members of the well-renowned Soul Assassins. They eventually struck a record deal with Tommy Boy Records, releasing Make Way for the W, with which QDIII was also involved. This album would be their first and their last, as the two parted ways to successful careers; Caan is now a Golden Globe-nominated actor currently starring in Hawaii Five-0 and Alan “The Alchemist” Maman is now a prominent hip hop producer currently working as a DJ under Eminem.

"Put Your Handz Up", "Whooliganz (Ft. B-Real)"

Tom Green

Early in his career, comedian Tom Green had a brief stint as a rapper in the Canadian hip hop group Organized Rhyme. “Check the O.R.” (Green’s verse at 1:27) became a popular hit in Canada and even became nominated for a Juno Award in ’93 and won the MMVA for Best Rap Video. However, like Warfield and Caan, the rap career of “MC Bones” only brought forth one album and was short-lived. Though not as a legitimate comeback, the bizarre funnyman released The Not Tom Green Show, a comedy rap album by Green’s alter-ego, MC Face. In addition, Green has shown flashes of his former profession on his numerous shows and other media appearances, as shown here and here.

The Black Eyed Peas

Long before “Boom Boom Pow”, the Black Eyed Peas sans Fergie were doing tracks with Primo. And a little more before that, they were known as the Atban Klann and were signed to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records. Yes, I am aware that they still do rap, but the Black Eyed Peas of old showed a much more traditional style of hip hop, in stark contrast to their current pop-sound, and even spit rhymes like:

“We gon' tell the world why hip-hop is haunted 
Money is a drug and MC's is on it”

Oh, the irony. The strong disparity of style over the years is nothing at all to criticize, but it is, at the least, intriguing.