1. Marcel Theo Hall, known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer who gained prominence during hip hop's golden age.
41 Facts About Biz Markie
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Biz Markie was particularly recognized for his humorous and comedic style within hip hop, often leading to his nickname, the "Clown Prince of Hip Hop".
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Biz Markie continued performing and making media appearances until health complications related to type 2 diabetes limited his activities in 2020.
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Biz Markie was born in Manhattan in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York City, on April 8,1964.
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Biz Markie was raised on Long Island in the hamlet of Brentwood and the village of Patchogue, where he spent his teenage years and where, on September 25,2021, the intersection of South Street and West Avenue, across the street from his then-home, was dedicated as Biz Markie Way.
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Biz Markie graduated from Longwood High School in Middle Island in 1982.
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Biz Markie began his career in New York City nightclubs and later gained regional recognition by performing at colleges in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
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Biz Markie was interviewed in the 1986 cult documentary Big Fun in the Big Town.
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Biz Markie appeared briefly in the music video for Rob Base's single "It Takes Two".
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Biz Markie made numerous guest appearances with the Beastie Boys on Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty, and their anthology The Sounds of Science.
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Biz Markie rapped on the song "Schizo Jam" on Don Byron's 1998 release, Nu Blaxploitation and worked with Canibus on the first track on the Office Space soundtrack.
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Biz Markie rapped on the track "So Fresh" alongside Slick Rick on Will Smith's 1999 album Willennium.
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In 1996, Biz Markie appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others.
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Biz Markie teamed up with Frankie Cutlass on his third single and music video titled "The Cypher Part 3" with some of Marley Marl's Juice Crew veterans.
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In 1999, Biz Markie appeared on Len's song "Beautiful Day" on their album You Can't Stop the Bum Rush, as well as on Alliance Ethnik's album Fat Comeback.
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In 2000 and 2001, Biz Markie participated in the Spitkicker Tour, which hosted alternative hip-hop acts like De La Soul and Common.
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In 2002, Biz Markie appeared in Men in Black II, with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, playing an alien parody of himself, whose native language sounded exactly like beatboxing.
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Biz Markie provided rap vocals and sang the hook for the remixed version of Mario's single "Just a Friend 2002", which sampled his own song from 13 years before.
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In 2005, Biz Markie detoured from his recording duties to appear on the first season of the television show Celebrity Fit Club, which challenged celebrities to lose weight by a combination of diet and exercise.
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Biz Markie lost more weight than anybody else in the competition.
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Biz Markie was a special guest on Nick Cannon's Wild 'n Out on season 1 and a cast member on season 4.
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Biz Markie began opening in 2008 for Chris Rock on the comedian's "No Apologies" tour.
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Biz Markie's act included spinning records ranging from old school hip hop to Lynyrd Skynyrd and then performing "Just a Friend".
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In 2010, Biz Markie appeared on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, providing commentary throughout the series.
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On November 11,2010, Biz Markie sat in with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and performed "Just a Friend" with actor Jeff Goldblum.
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Biz Markie appeared on the Cartoon Network show Mad, as the Hip Hop Hobbit.
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Biz Markie voiced Rudd Rhymez's DJ Tiny Timmy Scratch It in the Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja episode "Hip Hopocalypse Now".
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Biz Markie guest starred in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Kenny the Cat" in the episode's title role.
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Biz Markie's voice acting work includes the voice of Snorlock the Beatboxing Slug in an episode of Adventure Time.
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In 2014, Biz Markie appeared in the Syfy network film Sharknado 2: The Second One.
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Biz Markie made an appearance in the song "The Noisy Eater" off the album Wildflower by the Avalanches.
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Biz Markie was the DJ on the VH1 game show Hip Hop Squares between 2017 and 2019, a spin-off of the popular game show Hollywood Squares.
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Biz Markie rapped alongside singer Ke$ha on the Flaming Lips song "2012 ".
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Biz Markie made an appearance in the season 3 finale of the ABC series Black-ish in 2017.
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Biz Markie performed a personal version of the song "Just a Friend", in which he added the names of the characters.
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In 2020, Biz Markie started hosting a radio show on SiriusXM on LL Cool J's Rock the Bells Radio every weekday from 1:00 to 4:00 EST.
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In 1991, Biz Markie was sued for copyright infringement by Gilbert O'Sullivan.
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In December 2020, it was reported that Biz Markie was staying in a rehabilitation facility as a result of a stroke he had suffered after going into a diabetic coma.
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Biz Markie was buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboreum in Farmingdale, New York.
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The documentary, All Up in the Biz Markie, was directed by Sacha Jenkins.
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In June 2023, Hall announced the Just A Friend Foundation and confirmed All Up in the Biz Markie was premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.