40 Rappers Who Changed Their Names

Intro

The artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg made a big announcement yesterday during his press conference at Miss Lily’s in NYC. For the time being, the West Coast rapper has changed his name to Snoop Lion and is fully embracing the new reggae persona seen in his latest song produced by Diplo.

While Snoop Lion is currently undergoing an artistic transformation, plenty of other MCs have opted for a name change at some point in their career. From rappers who've publicized their amateur monikers to those who made the decision well after achieving fame, here are 40 hip-hop artists who made the switch.

chainz

Tity Boi to 2 Chainz

diddy

Puff Daddy to P. Diddy to Diddy

common

Common Sense to Common

tip

TIP to T.I.

pusha

Terror to Pusha T

baby

Baby to Birdman

fat joe

Fat Joe Da Gangsta to Fat Joe

big pun

Big Moon Dawg to Big Punisher to Big Pun

j. cole

Therapist to J. Cole

Nas

Nasty to Nas

q-tip

MC Love Child to Q-Tip

andre 3000

Dre to Andre 3000

biggie

Biggie Smalls to The Notorious B.I.G.

kendrick

K. Dot to Kendrick Lamar

odb

Ol' Dirty Bastard to Dirt McGirt

mos def

Mos Def to Yasiin Bey

2 pac

MC New York to 2Pac to Makaveli

Danny

Dee Luciano to Danny Brown

killer mike

Killer Mike to Mike Bigga to Killer Mike

game

The Game to Game

mac miller

Easy Mac to Mac Miller

Exquire

Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire to MFN eXquire

ro ransom

Nero to Ro Ransom

kwame

Kwame to K1 Mil

sean price

Ruck to Sean Price

bow wow

Lil Bow Wow to Bow Wow

jeezy

Lil J to Young Jeezy to Jeezy to Young Jeezy

mase

Murda Ma$e to Ma$e

eminem

MnM to Eminem

macklemore

Professor Macklemore to Macklemore

ghostface

Ghostface Killah to Ghostface to Ghostface Killah

Slug

Sluggo to Slug

timbaland

DJ Timmy Tim to Timbaland

MF Doom

Zev Love X to MF Doom to DOOM

lil zane

Lil Zane to Zane

malice

Malicious to Malice to No Malice

romeo

Lil Romeo to Romeo

Tha Alkaholiks

Tha Alkaholiks to Tha Liks

peedi

Peedi Crakk to Peedi Peedi

MC Hammer

MC Hammer to Hammer