WHEN US rapper 2 Chainz (pictured) was in the country last year for the Miller Boomtown event at the Durban July, he held a very impressive press conference. In it, many reporters learned how intelligent the rapper was and how he chose the music business out of passion, although he had other choices in life.
On MTV Base’s 2 Chainz Unchained, you too will get to learn more about this rapper’s unusual story and get insight into his path to music.
To begin with, the name 2 Chainz comes from what in hindsight seems like a cheesy explanation but is quite intriguing. When he was growing as Tauheed Epps, 2 Chainz always had music on his mind. He formed a rap duo called Playaz Circle and he was called Tity Boi at the time.
“Tity Boi was a name that I actually got from my mother. I was an only child so I am the only one she breastfed,” he said.
As, er, sweet as that sounded, when the time came for him to hit the big time, the name Tity Boi was not going to fly. Seriously, there is nothing gangster about a moniker like that, and in rap, everyone is supposed to be hard core.
When Playaz Circle fizzled out, the rapper decided to think of another name and, voila!, 2 Chainz was invented.
At first sight, it is a name about jewellery – the rapper does wear two sets of gold chains on his neck. But that’s not what he meant when he chose the name. After Playaz Circle died out, and 2 Chainz returned to the studio for a solo career, he felt that he had got a, wait for it, second chance at doing music. “Two chances” morphed into 2 Chainz, which sounds more street, and he wears the ice to back it up. Clever right? Well, at least give him points for giving a deeper meaning to what could have been a run-of-the mill rap name. Also, looking back at Tity Boi, anything would have been an improvement because in the rap game you don’t want to be seen as some mommy’s boy.
The other thing the six-foot-five rapper will probably take us through in 2 Chainz Unchained are his basketball-playing days. He was very good, so much so that he went to university on a basketball scholarship. If he had pushed just a little harder then he might even have made it to the NBA.
Speaking of education, the rapper had been a subject of ridicule at school, with his teacher telling him that he would amount to nothing. To prove the teacher wrong, he studied hard, and came second in his class. He went on to Alabama State University and graduated with flying colours in psychology.
This is encouraging given that many rappers have sad ghetto stories behind their names and little or no education. 2 Chainz had so many options in life and still chose the rap game.
• 2 Chainz Unchained, Friday, September 12 at 2pm on MTV Base (DStv channel 322).