Editor’s note: The
views expressed inside this editorial aren’t necessarily the views of
AllHipHop.com or its employees.The name change. It is the ultimate form of reinvention. Artists have long held variety of monikers to seemingly symbolize changes in
persona or accentuate progress. Prince even took it a step farther and made his
name an unpronounceable symbol, deemed “The Artist.” Hip-Hop heads,
by and large, have dramatically change their government names into these
otherworldly personalities to begin with. But, taking things further, artists
change their entertainment names to change their entertainment personas. And
some change for no apparent reason. Oh yes…it is deep.
Some of these changes are preferred and others…not so
good. Here are the good name changes and the bad moniker changes are coming up tomorrow.
1) The Game to Game
The Game has been around for quite some time and he’s firmly
entrenched in the game. Even his logo is appeasing to the eye at this point.
So, point was he trying to make when he changed his name and dropped
“The” from Game? The Game never gave a reason for dropping
“the” from his name and the Compton native has opted to leave us
hanging. We need a reason and we need it bad.2) Lil Bow Wow to Bow Wow
Why? That’s what I said when Lil Bow Wow dropped the
“lil.” Think about it. Lil Bow Wow was started as a tiny tot on the
Arsenio Hall show and since then, he’s grown a lot. No doubt. But, somewhere
along the line, he physically actually stopped growing in height. He really
did! He’s not getting any taller. In an era, where “lil” is so
popular, why would one of the founders of the popularity just drop it? He’s
still little and, as far as I am concerned, he’s always be LIL Bow Wow!
3) Puffy Daddy to P. Diddy
We really like Puffy, didn’t we? We felt like we knew Puff.
He was the dude that we grew up with and saw build an empire from nothing. This
P. Diddy dude was somebody that seemed a bit confused. He didn’t have The
Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack and some of the more powerful stars of Bad Boy’s
early era. Simply put, Puffy Daddy > P. Diddy.
4) MC Hammer to Hammer
Hammer was the precursor to all this mess. Don’t get it
messed up, Hammer is beloved around these parts, but he must be called out on
this one! I took it personal when he dropped the “MC” from his name,
especially after selling zillions of records! As a die-hard Hip-Hop head, I felt
he was disassociating himself from Hip-Hop in search of greener pastures in
Hollywood. Fortunately. Hammer didn’t hurt us too much and he re-assumed the
“MC.” Ever since then, I’ve been one happy camper.5) Biggie Smalls to The Notorious B.I.G.
I’m still looking for the j####### that owned the rights to
the name Biggie Smalls. That is the reason why Christopher Wallace was forced
to adopt the name The Notorious B.I.G. Clearly, that bum was unable to stop us
from saying “Biggie Smalls is the illest,” but still… At the end of
the day, there is only one Biggie Smalls and I’ve gotten used to The Notorious,
but I wouldn’t mind giving that other dude a knuckle sandwich.