Happy Birthday, Waka Flocka Flame!
If 2015 in hip-hop wasn't already good enough, there's still a Waka Flocka Flame album and maybe an EDM project on the way. Neither have definite release dates, but at least Waka Flocka is still here - and he's 29 today (May 31).
Flocka, whose real name is Juaquin James Malphurs, may be originally from Queens, N.Y., but his sound is very much Atlanta. It caught on fire pretty quickly, too. The Brick Squad member teamed up with Lex Luger for a sound that was aggressive yet club-ready.
In 2009, "O Lets Do It" and "Hard In da Paint" established him as an upcoming star. The latter song was bullish and Flocka's presence - full of yelps and ad-libs - was as memorable as his dreadlocked appearance. Although "Hard In da Paint" didn't make it into the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, it's one of the decade's best singles. Flocka's debut album Flockaveli was pretty good, too.
The Atlanta rhymer scored one more hit with "Round of Applause," which featured Drake. Triple F Life: Fans, Friends & Family wasn't as successful as his debut LP, but Flocka was too chill and entertaining of a personality to fade into irrelevance.
In addition to releasing mixtapes, he appeared on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and is getting ready to appear on a VH1 spinoff. He even declared that he was going to run for president in 2016.
If he does get elected into office, Flocka intends to legalize marijuana. His motto is “A blunt a day, take the pain a way.”
Good luck Waka Flocka!