A Brief History Of Rappers Shortening Their Names
Young Jeezy Born 10/12/1977
Yesterday on MTV's RapFix, Young Jeezy made an earth-shattering announcement of massive proportions. Jeezy informed the world that he was dropping the "Young" from his name to take on the relatively simpler nom de plume of "Jeezy."
Of course, Jeezy is not the first rapper to drop certain unnecessary elements from his name over the years. Rap history is littered with discarded vowels, hyphens and punctuation marks from rappers who decided that there named needed to be shorter. Thus, we present a short history of rappers who decided that it was good idea to shorten their name.
MC Hammer
New Name: Hammer
Letters Dropped: M, C
When: October 1991
Why We Think: Hammer figures he can dodge a tax lien if he simply changes his name. He quickly finds out that's not how taxes work.
Was It A Good Idea: No.
T.I.
New Name: T.I. (From T.I.P.)
Letters Dropped: P
When: 2000-ish
Why We Think: T.I.P. was defeated by his split personality, T.I., in a Loser Leaves Town Match at WWE King Of The Ring 2000.
Was It A Good Idea: Yeah, sure.
Lil' Bow Wow
New Name: Bow Wow
Letters Dropped: L, I, L, '
When: August 2003
Why We Think: Bow Wow finally surpassed the height requirements to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags.
Was It A Good Idea: Nope.
Sean "Puffy" Combs
New Name: Diddy (From P. Diddy From Puffy Daddy From Puffy From Sean Combs)
Letters Dropped: P
When: August 2005
Why We Think: "The P was getting in between us" - ACTUAL QUOTE
Was It A Good Idea: Not really.
Lil Romeo
New Name: Romeo
Letters Dropped: L, I, L
When: 2007
Why We Think: Legal Reasons. In the world of basketball, "Lil" is legally registered trademark of Lil' Penny.
Was It A Good Idea: Nyet.
MF Doom
New Name: DOOM
Letters Dropped: M,F
When: March 2009
Why We Think: He left the immigration paper work for the "MF" back in the states when he relocated to England... against his will.
Was It A Good Idea: Nah.
The Game
New Name: Game
Letters Dropped: T, H, E
When: October 2009
Why We Think: It's cleaner.
Was It A Good Idea: Negative.
Jay-Z
New Name: Jay Z
Letters Dropped: The Dash... Not Dame
When: July 2013
Why We Think: I don't know. A focus group probably said the dash was not good for stock shares so it got sent the way of Amil and the Young Gunz.
Was It A Good Idea: No. No. No.
Young Jeezy
New Name: Jeezy
Letters Dropped: Y,O,U,N,G
When: Yesterday
Why We Think: 35 is a little too old to calling yourself, "Young" Anything. Hell, 27 is a little too old to calling yourself, "Young," too.
Was It A Good Idea: Absolutely not.
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