Hit & Miss: Rap Transformations

Andrew 'Hazard' Hickey takes us through rap's greatest—and worst—transformations in this week's Hit & Miss

Words Andrew Hickey

Scroll through the gallery to see the hits and misses of rap transformations

HIT: Dr Dre - If we’re talking rap transformations you can’t forget the good doc himself, Andre Young. Before he was the dick that deprived the world of Detox and before he was a Nigga Wit Attitude, Dr. Dre wore sequins. As a member of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru he produced unmemorable electro-rap and was even known to sport a stethoscope and call himself “the doctor of love.” Then he became the man that scared the shit out of Middle America with NWA and Death Row Records. Now that he’s sitting comfortable with that Aftermath money he has undergone a mid-life crisis, which appears to involve either lifting a lot of weights or getting special product from another kind of doctor.

MISS: MA$E - The rapper/preacher has had more career turns than the Indy 500. Originally Murda Mase he traded in his violent temperament for a sing-songy flow when he signed to that bastion of good taste, Bad Boy Records. Invading airwaves with his mumbly karaoke for two glorious years he became a Creflo Dollar-style preacher after 1999’s Double Up tanked. All that shiny suit tomfoolery and gaudiness would be enough to send anyone into a shame spiral. If anyone was looking for proof that Diddy was the devil incarnate you can look no further than Mase’s conversion. Rather than stay in church he made two failed comebacks, one with Diddy again and another with 50 Cent. Some rappers just can’t resist.

HIT: Kool Keith - One man who has made a career out of reinventing himself, whether fans wanted him to or not, is hip-hop’s favourite fruitcake Kool Keith. Since reinventing hip-hop lyricism with Ulramagnetic MCs in 1986, the oddball rapper, who may or may not have had a stint at an asylum, has taken on more personas than Eddie Murphy could dream of. Rather than become the token bitter old school rapper he decided to become a gynaecologist, known as Dr. Octagon. I’m not a woman but I probably would steer clear of his practice. Pseudo medical aspirations weren’t enough though. He wanted to become an intergalactic rock star, thus he became Black Elvis. Makes sense.

MISS: Ice-T - Before Andre 3000 and the like, Ice-T was one of the first rappers to have delusions of grandeur. Looking to capitalise on his love of heavy metal and the controversy surrounding it at the time, Ice formed Body Count. The five-piece and their brand of watered down hybrid music would have been completely forgotten if it wasn’t for the controversial Cop Killer. In what could be considered the ‘curse of Body Count’ the group left their label and only one other member other than Ice is still alive. On a positive note the band, in a way, paved the road for Ice to play a cop on Law & Order. Go figure.

HIT: Jay-Z - With his boundless wealth, hot wife and endless string of hits the Jigga man is the epitome of hip-hop capitalism. From the projects to the penthouse Jay-Z is a self-made success. In the late ‘80s though, Sean Carter was an aspiring rapper with terrible fashion sense and a double-time flow. Following in the footsteps of his now-estranged mentor Jaz-O, Jay spit every verse like his life depended on it, with more focus on sheer speed than on clarity or word selection. On Big Daddy Kane’s 1994 posse cut Show & Prove he started to switch up before fully transforming to his conversational street hustler style on Reasonable Doubt. The rest is rap history

MISS: Lil Wayne - Mr. Weezy has experienced the good and bad when it comes to rap transformations. Plugging along as a rather non-descript southern rapper he blossomed into a fully fledged lyricist almost out of the blue. In the game since age 15 he worked his way up to becoming the boss. Like most artists with power he used this influence to indulge in his pretensions. Clearly not learning anything from the Body Count example, Wayne decided to release an album of rap-rock hybrids. Surprisingly, or not, The Rebirth flopped. At least now he can focus his energy on transforming into hip-hop’s first vampire.

HIT: Eminem - In a rare case Eminem managed to transform the rap game as he went through his own personal transformation. At a time when hip-hop was still reeling from the Caucasian assault of Vanilla Ice, the idea of someone like Em succeeding had a lot working against it. Graduating from battle rapper to artist he dropped the little known Infinite album. While the skill was evident his earnest Nas-inspired rhymes didn’t leave much of an impression. It wasn’t until he channelled his inner-trailer trash and hooked up with Dr. Dre that Eminem truly realised his potential. The likes of Mac Miller and MGK have him to thank.

MISS: Actors/Celebrities - Hip-hop has unleashed the likes of Ja Rule on the acting world so it seems only fair that thespians be given a chance to rock the mic. In the ‘80s comedian Rodney Dangerfield and punk legend Dee Dee Ramone flirted with rap but it wasn’t until the ‘90s that shit got real. 90210’s Brian Green recorded a full album with The Pharcyde’s SlimKid3. On his only single, I Told Ya, Married with Children’s David Faustino said “curiosity killed the kitty cat” and apparently led to him recording under the name D Lil’. Shaquille O’Neal had moderate hip-hop success while late pro-wrestler Randy Savage didn’t.

HIT: Busta Rhymes - As is the case of many of the artists listed here, Bussa Buss had innovative tendencies but never truly realised his potential until he let his creativity grow like his dreadlocks. A member of the underrated Leaders of the New School he always stood out and was pegged to be the breakout. In the mid-90s he graduated from an ‘educated lad’ to a true ‘Dungeon Dragon’, going wherever his moodswings took him. Always one to reinvent himself Busta shaved his dreads and signed with Dr. Dre. While the deal didn’t work out so well he did get on that famed Dr. Dre bodybuilding diet. We wouldn’t fuck with him.

MISS: Shyne - In another example of the ‘Diddy factor’ yet another of his pupils has transformed their life and career. Following in the footsteps of Mase, convicted criminal/rapper Shyne has turned to religion in one of hip hop’s most bizarre transformations. Signed to Bad Boy, almost based purely on his vocal resemblance to the Notorious B.I.G, his debut album was released while he was in jail. Serving nine years for a nightclub shooting incident, that also involved Diddy and Jennifer Lopez, Jamal Barrow was deported to his homeland of Belize. Later moving to Jerusalem he became a fully fledged Orthodox Jew and changed his name to Moses Levi. Wouldn’t have picked that one.

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While many of us like to hold hip-hop close to our hearts as an expressive art form, it has become now more than ever a business. Since money first started pouring in during the ‘80s many rappers have been switching their style up and jumping on the latest trends. This stylistic transformation is typically born out of the rapper’s instinct to survive. It’s eat or be eaten in the rap game.

One of the most blatant examples is the ‘dirty south’ outbreak of the mid-2000s where every rapper and their mother started rhyming about the ‘trap’ and ‘sippin’ lean’ over the same tired 808 drum pattern. Two years after dropping the holy bible of hip-hop, Illmatic, Nas for some damn reason tried to reinvent himself as a money-throwing, trigger pulling mobster. Whether he felt pressure to live up to his classic or he was just deluded, it took until 2001’s Stillmatic for Nas to fully realise his true path as a hypocritical street poet. Two of rap’s favourite punching bags, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, both tried to reignite the flame. The former Christian devotee Hammer attempted to go gangsta, even going as far as signing an ill-fated deal with Death Row Records. While Hammer was said to be gangsta in real life no one believed Vanilla Ice when he tried to reinvent himself as a Cypress Hill-inspired serial stoner. Cracker please!

2012 seems like the year of transformations. Everyone is either getting all confessional and emo, attempting to sound like Drake, or they’re changing their name. For some it’s more a marketing ploy in hopes of reaching renewed popularity. It’s worked for the former Tity Boi, now 2 Chainz. The jury is still out on ex-Clipse member No Malice who has seemingly just removed all references to cooking and selling crack in place of veiled references to faith and religion. Hip-hop’s all-time king of transformations however would have to be Calvin Broadus, now reborn as Snoop Lion. He has worn so many hats that it’s no surprise he has traded in his pimp hat for a Rastafarian one.

While Snoop won’t have any trouble surviving, rap transformations for the most part have been hit and miss affairs. Here we look at the successes and failures in hip hop reinvention. Did we miss anybody? Let us know!