Music is all about self-expression. To that end, we've seen artists take on new characters or alter-egos who have their own unique personas and, in some cases, discographies.
Take for example Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA, who is also known as Prince Rakeem, but not limited to that: there’s also RZArecta, the Abbot, Zig Zag Zig, Bobby Steels, Bobby Digital, and so on. In 1998 he released “Bobby Digital in Stereo” as an experimental album under that moniker, featuring an unofficial anthem, "B.O.B.B.Y."
While such subterfuge appeals largely to hip-hop (and dance music, for that matter – a genre with so many side projects and pseudonyms, it might require its own playlist), alter-egos have been part of the musical sideshow at least since Hank Williams billed himself as Luke the Drifter in the early 1950s. Jazz musicians also adopted the practice, often to work around label restrictions, from Charlie Parker's Charlie Chan to Cannonball Adderley's Buckshot La Funke (an alter-ego which in turn inspired Branford Marsalis's Buckshot Lefonque group with DJ Premier). The game continued with George Clinton's Dr. Funkenstein and Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk and, of course, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.
Meanwhile, the whole of Green Day (along with some other friends) occasionally perform under their Foxboro Hot Tubs moniker, and Lady Gaga has a song personifying her Mary Jane Holland character. We’ll also explore tracks starring characters ranging from 2Pac's Makaveli and Eminem's Slim Shady to Lil Uzi Vert’s extraterrestrial alter ego, Baby Pluto, and J. Cole’s as kiLL edward, which was revealed after a mysterious feature showed up on a track. No need to disguise it: We’ve created a list of great music by alter-egos that will have you doing double takes.
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Lil Uzi Vert, “Baby Pluto”
To announce their 2020 album “Pluto x Baby Pluto,” Uzi and Future discussed leaving Earth for another planet. Someone should have told them that Pluto was demoted from full-planet status when Uzi was still in middle school.
J. Cole, “The Cut Off” (feat. kiLL edward)
Fans were baffled when J. Cole announced his fifth studio album, “KOD.” He’d vowed “platinum with no features,” so who in the world was kiLL Edward? Turns out it was Cole himself with his voice doctored.
RZA, “B.O.B.B.Y.”
When Wu-Tang kingpin RZA released his solo debut in 1998, he presented himself as “Bobby Digital.” It was a play on his birth name, Robert Diggs. It was also the product of his lifelong interest in comic books and one more key resource: “a really good bag of weed.”
Viktor Vaughn, “Vaudeville Villain”
Inspired by the Marvel supervillain Victor Von Doom, the late MF Doom created the alter-ego Viktor Vaughn, who got the artist credit on the rapper’s third studio album. He’s a “time-traveling street hustler” who’s stuck in New York in the early ‘90s.
Eminem, “The Real Slim Shady”
“I’m Slim Shady, yes I’m the real Shady/All you other Slim Shadys are just imitatin’.” Though Eminem’s career was just getting started when this song came out in 2000, it was already evident: There is no imitating Marshall Mathers.
Dr. Dooom, “Apartment 223”
Keith kept the grisly party going with his third solo album in 1999. This time he adopted another alias, as Dr. Dooom. The album title, “First Come, First Served,” takes on new meaning when you understand that Dooom is a cannibalistic serial killer.
Madlib, “Low Class Conspiracy”
Before he found fame with Dilla, Doom, and more of hip-hop’s finest, the producer Madlib signed to Stones Throw Records as the side project Quasimoto. Not thrilled with his deep rapping voice, Madlib sped it up to give us the high-pitched satire of “Lord Quas.”
Deltron 3030, “3030 (feat. Dan The Automator, Del The Funky Homosapien & Kid Koala)”
In the year 2000, these three Bay Area hip-hop mainstays put their heads together to create the supergroup Deltron 3030. Del gave us Deltron-Zero, the Automator was the Cantankerous Captain Aptos, and Koala took the form of Skiznod the Boy Wonder.
Lady Gaga, “Mary Jane Holland”
It’s been a decade since that time when Gaga dyed her hair brown. “The world owns my blondeness,” she explained to her stylist, and she didn’t want to feel “owned.” The change inspired an alter-ego, Mary Jane Holland, created after a night in the Amsterdam clubs.
Makaveli, “Hail Mary”
Tupac Shakur intended his Makaveli alter-ego as a side project. Two months after his 1996 murder, however, the album came out as Pac’s fifth studio album. It peaked at Number One and is now considered an essential part of the rapper’s larger-than-life legacy.
Flying Lotus, “The Boys Who Died in Their Sleep” (feat. Captain Murphy)
Was it Tyler, the Creator? Was it Earl Sweatshirt? When Adult Swim first introduced us to the animated Captain Murphy, it turned out to be the alter-ego of Flying Lotus, the experimental producer who is the grandnephew of the late Alice Coltrane.
Foxboro Hot Tubs, “Mother Mary”
“The only similarity between Foxboro Hot Tubs and Green Day is that we are the same band,” Billie Joe Armstrong said when fans were hotly speculating about this new, ‘60s-inspired garage band. While playing as FHT, Armstrong calls himself Rev. Strychnine Twitch.
Nas, “Nastradamus”
He’s answered to God’s Son and Nas Escobar, but for his fourth studio album, the hip-hop hall of famer fashioned himself as “Nastradamus.” Some of the tracks “have a certain sound that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve done,” he once reflected.
Logic, “Flexicution”
When he first broke out, the rapper known as Logic like to bill himself as Young Sinatra. With this single, he introduced another alter-ego, Bobby Tarantino, a combination of his given first name (Robert) and his love for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” (and its RZA score).
Nicki Minaj, “Roman's Revenge” (feat. Eminem)
Nicki Minaj has taken on various alter-egos, but she liked to say that Roman Zolanski was her favorite – until, that is, she declared him dead in 2014. Bonus points for Eminem’s guest spot, on which he showed up as his own alter-ego, Slim Shady.
Kid Cudi, “Mr. Rager”
Cudi has acknowledged that his “Mr. Rager” alias is not quite an alter-ego: “It’s just kinda talking about a certain mind state I was in, a very destructive mind state, where I wasn’t thinking clearly.” That said, there are definitely two different Cudis in the video.
Lil Wayne, “Tunechi Rollin'”
Lil Wayne is the GOAT of nicknames – Mr. Carter, Lil Weezy, Birdman Jr., and on and on. One of his favorites, Tunechi, was bestowed by his late grandmother, who called the kid Lil Tune. He later added the rest, “like Gucci.”
Dr. Octagon, “Blue Flowers”
Though Kool Keith invented the character of Dr. Octagon while still a founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, the not-so-good doctor got a complete physical on his 1996 collab with Dan “The Automator,” “Dr. Octagonecologyst.”
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