Music has a stronghold on today’s young generation. Although we may not have any world-renowned artists or groups such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson or The Beatles, the music industry is still continuing to grow and evolve. Hip-hop has taken over as the genre of music most young adults, especially teenagers, identify with and listen to.
As hip-hop has become more mainstream and extravagant with its music and lyrics, so have the names of the artists. While some artists choose to stick to their birth names like Drake and Kanye West, most artists like Lil’ Wayne, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj and Jay-Z have embraced an “alter ego” to enhance their image and easily identify with fans.
Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham in Toronto, Canada, took the music industry by storm after signing to record label Birdman and Lil’ Wayne’s music label, Young Money Entertainment. Last summer, singles such as “Best I Ever Had” and “Find Your Love” were among the most frequently played songs on the radio before and after the release date of his much anticipated first album, “Thank Me Later,” which has since gone platinum.
Drake continues to release popular new music and appear in other artists’ songs to gain further exposure before the spring release of his sophomore effort titled “Take Care.” While Drake may be his middle name, wouldn’t you use it if you were a guy with a first name like Aubrey? C’mon, Mr. and Mrs. Graham!
Let’s move onto Chi-town native Kanye Omari West. I am going to put it out there right now that we’re not going to discuss Taylor Swift, so please “let me finish.” Believe it or not, controversial rapper West was actually born with the name Kanye West. Let’s be honest here though, West doesn’t need a stage name to draw any more attention to himself.
On the other hand, we have artists with stage names that, to the average fan, seem to come out of nowhere. Lil’ Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been around for quite some time, joining the group “Hot Boys” with rappers Juvenile, B.G. and Turk in 1997. So where did the “Wayne” come from? Well according to Lil’ Wayne, he feels that “Wayne” is a more fitting name that gets rid of unwanted family history.
“I dropped the D because I’m a junior and my father is living and he’s not in my life and he’s never been in my life. So I don’t want to be Dwayne, I’d rather be Wayne,” he said in a CBS interview with Katie Couric.
We also have popular artists Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj and Jay-Z whose birth names are Tramar Dillard, Onika Tanya Maraj and Shawn Corey Carter, respectively. What we can learn from this is that with colorful legal names like Tramar and Onika, interesting stage names like Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj seem to follow. Jay-Z? I guess that’s okay – but maybe it’s time for something new, something more creative. Maybe with a new nickname he’ll break the $500 million net worth mark.
