If you’re a fan of rap music, then you obviously know most of the rappers’ real names. For the uninitiated and uninformed, here’s an article with the real names of some of the most popular rappers of all time. Have fun!
Loose, baggy clothes. Long and heavy chains dangling from their necks. A baseball hat worn lopsided. Colors and bling in their finger rings and earrings. An arrogant sense of self and a very strong vocabulary to match it. That’s your typical rapper! A factor that plays an important role in their popularity is the stylish, funny, quirky or downright outrageous names that some of them have.
Some may do it because they do not like their real names. Some may do it to be creative. Some do it because they probably think that having a name other than their own makes them seem more ‘with it’. Some have just shortened or modified their real names into fancy stage names. Whatever the reason may be, the tactic of having another name has definitely proved beneficial for these rappers. That is a reason why the ones mentioned in this article are as popular as they are. What I’m going to do in this article is, list rappers’ real names against the names that they are popularly known by. Check if you knew these were their real names. Here we go!
Rappers’ Real Names and Stage Names
| Stage Name | Real Name |
| Jay Z | Shawn Carter |
| Dr. Dre | Andre Romelle Young |
| Ice Cube | O’Shea Jackson |
| P Diddy | Sean John Combs |
| Slick Rick | Ricky Walters |
| Eminem | Marshall Mathers |
| Vanilla Ice | Robert van Winckle |
| Snoop Dogg | Cordazer Calvin Broadus |
| 50 Cent | Curtis James Jackson II |
| Akon | Aliaune Thiam |
| Busta Rhymes | Trevor Tahiem Smith |
| Q-Tip | Jonathan Davis |
| 2pac | Tupac Shakur |
| Kanye West | Kanye Omari West |
| Chuck D | Carlton Ridenhour |
| Lil Wayne | Dwayne Carter Jr. |
| DMX | Earl Simmons |
| T.I. | Clifford Harris Jr. |
| Notorious B.I.G. | Christopher Wallace |
| R Kelly | Robert Sylvester Kelly |
| Ray-J | William Raymond Norwood, Jr. |
| Nelly | Cornell Haynes Jr. |
| Beanie Sigel | Dwight Grant |
| LL Cool J | James Todd Smith |
| MC Hammer | Stanley Kirk Burell |
| Missy Elliot | Melissa Elliot |
| Suge Knight | Marion Hugh Knight Jr. |
| Camron | Cameron Giles |
| Cassidy | Barry Adrian Reese |
| Ice T | Tracy Marrow |
| Queen Latifah | Dana Owens |
| Ol’ Dirty Bastard | Russell Tyrone Jones |
| Eazy E | Eric Lynn Wright |
| Lil Kim | Kimberley Jones |
| Coolio | Artis Ivey Jr. |
| Ja Rule | Jeffrey Atkins |
| Xhibit | Alvin Nathaniel Joiner |
| Chamillionaire | Hakeem Seriki |
| Eve | Eve Jihan Jeffers |
| Da Brat | Shawntae Harris |
| Method Man | Clifford Smith |
| Everlast | Eric Schrody |
| Chingy | Howard Bailey Jr. |
| Drake | Aubrey Graham |
| Fabulous | John David Jackson |
| Flavor Flav | William Jonathan Drayton Jr. |
| Master P | Percy Miller |
| The Game | Jayceon Terrell Taylor |
| Lady Sovereign | Louise Harman |
| Foxy Brown | Inga Fung Marchand |
| Timbaland | Timothy Zachery Mosley |
| Ms. Dynamite | Niomi MacLean-Daley |
| Redman | Reginald Noble |
| Big Boi | Antwan Andre Patton |
| Rev Run | Joseph Ward Simmons |
| Common | Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. |
| Mack 10 | Dedrick Rolison |
| Nas | Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones |
| Insane Clown Posse: Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J | Joey Ustler and Joe Bruce |
| Lil Bow Wow | Shad Gregory Moss |
| KRS One | Lawrence Krisna Parker |
| Juvenile | Terius Gray |
| B-Real | Louis Freeze |
| Trina | Katrina Laverne Taylor |
| Too Short | Todd Shaw |
| RZA | Robert Diggs |
| GZA (aka The Genius) | Gary Grice |
| Mos Def | Dante Terrell Smith |
| Ne Yo | Shaffer Chimere Smith |
| Lupe Fiasco | Wasalu Mohammed Jaco |
| M.I.A | Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam |
| Roots Manuve | Rodney Smith |
| Twista | Cart Mitchell |
| Wiley | Richard Kylea Cowie |
| Grandmaster Flash | Joseph Saddler |
| Guru | Keith Edward Elam |
| Dizzee Rascal | Dylan Mills |
| Pras | Samuel Praskazrel Michel |
| Flo Rida | Tramar Dillard |
| Lethal Bizzle | Maxwell Ansah |
How many could you guess? Some may be well-known, but some were really hard to guess, I’m sure! Or maybe it’s just me who finds it weird that some of them have stage names that have no real connection with their real names. Like I said, only they can tell! Let’s just thank them for the wonderful gift of music that they have given us!
