All Articles Tagged "mc hammer"
That’s NOT Your Name…Part II! 10 MORE Celebs Whose Government Names Were A Big Surprise
We already threw 10 names your way a few weeks back that we saw surprised some, was a refresher course for others, and got folks talking in general. Fortunately for you, there are a great deal of celebrities with interesting names that they tried to keep on the low-low. After doing some digging and reading, we’ve got 10 more names to share. Some that are very exotic, some that are just completely different from their stage names, and some that just don’t make any kind of sense. No matter what though, they’re interesting indeed. Let’s check them out shall we?
Photo Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com
Frank Ocean – Christopher “Lonny” Breaux
I know you didn’t think Ocean was a real last name like that (apologies for anyone who truly was born with the surname, Ocean)…? Even singer Billy Ocean was actually born Leslie Charles. I know, I know, we’ve clearly been bamboozled for way too long, folks. Maybe it’s the fact that the name is just as calm, cool and collected as what it actually represents, but the New Orleans-born singer liked it enough to not only make it his stage name, but to also legally change his own name from Christopher “Lonny” Breaux to Christopher Francis Ocean. He once talked about his excitement over giving himself a new name in 2010, while talking with Complex:
“I went on LegalZoom and changed my f**king name…On the change Ocean adds: “It just felt cool. None of us are our names. If you don’t like your name then change your name. I’m only a few steps into the process, so I probably shouldn’t even be talking about this, but by the beginning of summer I’ll be straight. I’ll be boarding planes as Christopher Francis Ocean.”
Still Can’t Touch This: Hammer Performs At The American Music Awards
There wasn’t an abundance of color at last night’s American Music Awards. But there was a moment where Psy, the South Korean creator of the internationally popular song and dance “Gangnam Style” performed the song that made him famous. In the midst of the high energy performance Psy introduced a special guest, the one and only MC Hammer. Check out the performance below.
The audience was certainly feeling it. Looking at this video, it’s hard to believe that Hammer is 50 years old. He hasn’t missed a step.
Petty Much? 7 Celebrity Beefs That Get The Side-Eye
neontommy.com
I’ll be honest with you, I’m usually behind on a lot of pop culture things. I’d never heard of the word “ratchet” until I started writing for this site; I’m still not sure if I’m working my twitter correctly (but I’ll pub it ’til no tomorrow though @kkoger!), and I honestly just found out who Kat Stacks was 6 months ago.
So when I was taking a break from work and scrolling on the internet, I came across the Chris Brown and Drake bar brawl. Feeling exasperated that I was late again, I looked at the time and saw that these reports were posted just 20 minutes before I saw them. Sadly, I was excited that I was finally first in the know, but then when I started reading more and more about what happened, I got really disappointed. But, don’t cry for me, Argentina. I was more sad for these talented men who allowed something that I’m pretty sure could have been settled without bottles thrown; and to realize that innocent people were hurt in the cross hairs of such… irresponsibility on all parties who were concerned.
But, seeing all of this made me wonder, what other beefs have I missed out on? While researching, I found some of the most side-eye beefs ever. A caveat, this isn’t a normal list of beefs. Some of these beefs are ideals, some of these are people vs. their own situations, and so on. But, I hope you enjoy this trip down down beef lane.
Lifestyles of the Dumb and Famou$ – Infamous Celeb Bankruptcies
We’ve all seen the lifestyles of the rich and famous–celebrities spending more money in a day than most people see in a year. Same old story–they’re rich, you’re not. Got it.
That is, until news of a bankruptcy breaks and it looks like Mrs. Rich and Mr. Famous were spending money faster than a crackhead with an IRS refund check. Most people have horrid financial sense to begin with, and celebrities are no different. Especially those ones who go from rags to riches.
There’s a pitch for a new reality show if I’ve ever heard one: What happens when the famous stop being rich, and start being bankrupt. I would revel in guilt while taking pleasure watching Lindsay Lohan’s car repoed.
Plus it’s a win-win. Cash-strapped celebrities get a few more paychecks and viewers at home, learn some hard lessons at someone else’s expense. Public education. You too can learn financial success while being entertained by fiscal failures.
Granted, claiming bankrupt is a smart fiscal strategy to keep money-grubbing hands out your pocket. But at the end of the day, making millions only to end up losing it all like you’ve been betting big in Vegas, is one thing, and one thing only: dumb. Oh yeah, and entertaining.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite, and financially dumb, super stars:
MC Hammer launching his own search engine
(CNN) – You can’t Google this. OK, maybe you can. But MC Hammer doesn’t want you to.
The venerable rapper, who helped usher hip-hop into the pop mainstream in the early ’90s, has rolled out a search engine he hopes will outperform Google, Bing and other established tools.
The project, called WireDoo, has been two years in the making, said Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) Wednesday at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.
MC Hammer Headed to Silicon Valley
(Wall Street Journal) — Rapper MC Hammer has done a lot of things since breaking into the neon limelight of the mid-‘80s. The entertainer also became an ordained preacher, a reality TV show producer, a record label CEO, the co-founder of start-up DanceJam.com, and most recently an angel investor in Square Inc., Bump Technologies Inc. and a handful of other tech start-ups. Now the Bay Area native is helping a batch of start-ups get it started through a new summer mentoring program for start-ups.
8 Inspiring Celebrity Career Comebacks
In the fickle entertainment industry, as quickly as someone can rise to the top and become a beloved figure, they can fall off even faster, be subjected to scrutiny and exiled from the public’s embrace. But everyone loves a good comeback story. Check our some of our favorite over-comers:
Will Smith
Before he arguably became the biggest movie star in the world earning around $20 million per film, Will Smith was one half of the hip hop duo, The Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff, who won the first Grammy for best rap duo in 1989. Though he was earning million of dollars (and underpaying his income taxes), at age 19 his splurging days came to an abrupt halt when the Internal Revenue Service assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against him. Nearly bankrupt, Smith got a break when Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack approached him with an opportunity to star in his own television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Though the show was successful, for the first three years, the IRS was taking 70 percent of Smith’s paychecks to repay his debt. Once he was cleared, Smith’s acting career propelled to new heights and has since made him more money than his rap career ever did.
