Bizarre (rapper)

"Rufus Johnson" redirects here. For the football player, see Rufus Johnson (American football).
Bizarre

Bizarre in May 2008
Background information
Birth name Rufus Arthur Johnson
Born (1976-07-05) July 5, 1976
Origin Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres Hip hop, comedy rap, horrorcore
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 1995–present
Labels Red Head, Koch, Presto, AVJ, Shady Records
Associated acts Outsidaz, D12, King Gordy, The Davidians, Something Awful, Blind Insanity, Tech N9NE, Jeremiah Ferguson, Fuzz Scoota, Shiloh

Rufus Arthur Johnson (born July 5, 1976),[1] better known by his stage name Bizarre, is an American rapper, best known for his work with the Detroit-based hip hop group D12.

Early life

Bizarre was born Rufus Arthur Johnson on July 5, 1976 in Detroit, Michigan. Bizarre grew up living with his single mother. He started rapping when he was in fifth grade. His teacher thought he was talking to himself, and began calling him 'Bizarre'.[2] In 1995, he joined the rap group D12 with neighborhood friends DeShaun "Proof" Holton, Carnail "Bugz" Pitts, and Von "Kuniva" Carlisle. He also met Marshall "Eminem" Mathers through Proof. Bizarre used to attend a club on Friday nights called 'The Shelter' in Saint Andrew's Hall, where rap battles were held.

Career

1990s

Bizarre featured on D12's first EP in 1996 entitled The Underground EP, before going on to release his debut solo EP entitled Attack of the Weirdos in 1997. In 2001 D12 released "Devil's Night" the debut album by D12. In 2004 he was apart of the second studio album of D12 titled "D12 World". Bizarre then released his first official studio album in 2005 entitled Hannicap Circus. Hannicap Circus received mixed reviews, however they were mostly bad. He also appeared on Eminem's compilation album Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, on a track called "Murder" that also featured Kuniva, released in December 5, 2006. Following the death of rapper Proof in April 2006, D12 became inactive for some time.

In 2007, Bizarre released his second studio album called Blue Cheese & Coney Island.[3] In 2008, Bizarre and D12 recorded their first official mixtape entitled Return of the Dozen. A sequel entitled Return of the Dozen Vol. 2 followed in 2011.

2010s

In 2010, Bizarre released his third studio album on Average Joes Entertainment AVJ, entitled Friday Night at St. Andrews.[4] The album is more reality-based on actual situations throughout Bizarre's early life and career, thus the album is more conscious than his previous releases. The album features guest appearances from Seven the General, Royce da 5'9", Tech N9ne, Yelawolf, Kuniva, and more.

The first single released was "Believer" with Tech N9ne & Nate Walker.[5] The second official single for the album was "Rap's Finest" featuring Kuniva, Seven the General, Royce da 5'9" & Redman.[6] However, for unexplained reasons, Redman would not appear on the album version of the single or the video.[7]

Bizarre, along with King Gordy, formed a hip hop duo called The Davidians. The Davidians were featured on Esham's mixtape, The Butcher Shop. The duo is currently seeking a record label.[8] Bizarre was featured in Snowgoons's music video with Swifty McVay, King Gordy, Sean Strange and Meth Mouth.

In 2010, Bizarre was featured on the single "Be a Legend" with Russian hip-hop group Red Family MC'z. In 2011, Bizarre was featured on the track "Shock Em" with underground rap group Bankrupt Records for the album Double Vision. In 2012, Bizarre released his fourth mixtape, entitled This Guy's a Weirdo, which includes a song entitled "Justin Bieber" featuring King Gordy that was released along with a music video via Reel Wolf. In the song, Bizarre fantasizes about raping and murdering Canadian singer Justin Bieber.

In 2011, Bizarre claimed D12 mate Eminem hired people to investigate fellow D12 member Fuzz Scoota social media accounts because of comments he made about Bad Meets Evil This led to Fuzz leaving D12.

In 2014, he released a song called "Pray for Me" for his upcoming album. His Lace Blunts 2 mixtape was released in March 2014, with nineteen tracks featuring guest artists such as Fuzz Scoota of their group D12, Rittz, Young Zee, King Gordy, and Big T.[9]

Bizarre was featured on an international collaboration track called "Fuck the DJ" by UK rapper Blacklisted MC also featuring Coolio, Adil Omar (from Pakistan) and Uzimon (from Bermuda) the song was premiered on music website Noisey from Vice magazine in October 2014.

Later in the year he wrote a verse alongside Detroit artists Mastamind and Jeremiah Ferguson for their song "Whats Right".[10][11]

In 2014, he was featured on the single "Open Heart Surgery" by rapper Lazarus.[12][13] It was released under All Def Digital and it won the award for "Song of the Year" at the 12th Underground Music Awards in New York City.[14][15]

He has also made an appearance on a track titled "In Yo Behind" by Struggle Da Preacher which was released on Struggle's album Ups'n'Downs on June 30, 2014.[16] In July 2015 they shot a video for it in Moscow, Russia.[17][18] Mike ADHD "Frag Out" featuring Young Dirty Bastard, Baby Eazy E and Bizarre.

Discography

Main article: Bizarre discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Mixtapes
Discography With D12
Discography With Outsidaz
Discography With Something Awful

References

  1. ↑ Di Bella, Michael. "Bizarre biography - Allmusic". Allmusic Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Hip Hop News, Rumors, Rap & Music Videos | Allhiphop »Return of the Weirdo: An AHH Exclusive Video Interview with Bizarre of D12 - Hip Hop News, Rumors, Rap & Music Videos". Allhiphop .com. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  3. ↑ Bizarre Detnews.com - D12's Bizarre celebrates new album with a release party - 25 October 2007
  4. ↑ Paine, Jake (2010-04-02). "D12's Bizarre Talks About "Friday Nights At St. Andrews," Drake | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  5. ↑ "Blogs | Detroit Metro Times". Metrotimes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bizarre f. Kuniva, Royce Da 5'9" & Seven The General - Rap's Finest". HipHopDX.com. 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  8. ↑ "The Davidians". Wearedavidians.com. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  9. ↑ Hardy, Jasmine (March 6, 2014). "Bizarre "Lace Blunts 2" Release Date, Cover Art, Tracklist, Download & Mixtape Stream". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  10. ↑ "Jeremiah Ferguson – "Whats Right" [Official Video". Faygoluvers.net. 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  11. ↑ "Whats Right Ft. Bizarre of D12, Mastamind of Natas". YouTube. 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  12. ↑ "Russell Simmons Breaks New Ground in Hip-Hop with "Open Heart Surgery"". All Hip Hop. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Pologod (29 December 2014). "RUSSELL SIMMONS AND RAPPER LAZARUS USE HIP HOP TO FIGHT HEART DISEASE". The Source. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Nominees for The 12th Annual Underground Music Awards 2015". MyMusicMyLife.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Raf, DJ (27 October 2015). "Lazarus Wins 'Song Of The Year' at the Underground Music Awards in NYC". desihiphop.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Bizarre D12 to Struggle da Preacher". Dai.ly. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  17. ↑ "Adventures of D 12 in Russia with Struggle da Preacher [Life News Report". YouTube. 2015-08-14. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  18. ↑ "Struggle da Preacher - In Yo Behind (ft. Bizarre D12, Blaze Stack Up) [Official Teaser". YouTube. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2016-04-14.

Further reading

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