Biz was born in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey in ’64. He started out as a beatboxer and as well as rapping, he DJs, sings and produces. He has been called “The Clown Prince of Hip Hop” because he is a comedian too. “There are kings and queens of Hip Hop, but theres only one jester.. Where would King Lear be without the fool? The fool is often the wisest man, and Hip Hop would be a different kingdom without Biz. He kept it real by not taking life too seriously. He wasn’t a playboy, slickster, or hard-rock type of MC. He was a jokester, a kid that would get up on stage and talk about picking his nose. He was funny, disgusting (in a silly way), and maybe a certifiable genuis” –Justin Bua.
His career started in Long Island with beatboxing and rapping, and he collaborated with Marley Marl’s Juice Crew by beatboxing on Roxanne Shante’s underground hit “Def Fresh Crew” in ’86:
Biz’s debut album Goin’ Off was released in ’88 and it had underground hit singles like “Nobody Beats The Biz”, “The Vapors” and “Pickin’ Boogers”
“Nobody Beats The Biz”:
“Nobody Beats The Biz” was a play on the well-known advertising commercial and slogan, “Nobody Beats The Wiz”, for an electronics chain.
“The Vapours” (original video):
“Pickin’ Boogers”:
In this song, “Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz” also from ’86, he raps about beatboxing:
In ’89 Biz’s second album, The Biz Never Sleeps, was released and his third, I Need a Haircut, in ’90.
Wikipedia explains that this album forever changed the Hip Hop industry ‘because of the album’s 12th track, “Alone Again.” Biz was served a lawsuit by Gilbert O’ Sullivan because it featured an unauthorized sample from his song “Alone Again (Naturally)”.
The resulting case was Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc., in which the court granted an injunction against the defendants; to prevent further copyright infringement of the plaintiff’s song by sampling, and referred them for criminal prosecution. The judgment meant that any future music sampling, be pre-approved by the original copyright owners, to avoid a lawsuit.
Warner Bros., the parent company of Cold Chillin’, had to pull I Need a Haircut from circulation, and all companies had to clear samples with the samples’ creators before releasing the records. This development reflected the increasing popularity of hip-hop and the financial stakes over which releases were set.’
Biz would poke fun at his misfortunes, titling his next album “All Samples Cleared!“‘ in ’93
There are comments on this YouTube video discussing the lawsuit over “Alone Again”:
Ten years later Biz released Weekend Warrior, his fifth studio album.
As well as studio albums, he also released compilations like Biz’s Baddest Beats in ’94,
which included this track,
“Just Rhymin’ with Biz (feat. Big Daddy Kane):
He also released two mix albums – On The Turntable and On The Turntable 2 – in ’98 and ’00, as well as featuring on other compilations.
Some critics said that after ’91, his career had been hurt by the publicity emanating from the lawsuit.
However he made numerous guest appearances including with the Beastie Boys in the ’90s, and rapped on the song “Schizo Jam”, on Don Byron’s 1998 release, “Nu Blaxploitation”.
In ’96, Biz appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, which was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine. The CD was released to to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men.
“No Rubber, No Backstage Pass”:
Biz also teamed up with Frankie Cutlass on “The Cypher Part 3” with some of Marl Marl’s Juice Crew veterans
“The Cypher Part 3”:
He’s also made very many appearances on television as a TV personality.
His website is here: http://www.bizmarkie.com/
And more info is in this in-depth interview with Biz here: http://nerdtorious.com/2009/03/15/american-original-interview-with-biz-markie/
1ncredible 