DJ Biz Markie
Biz Markie Just A Friend from Lamont Wanzer on Vimeo.
The legendary DJ Biz Markie has been beat boxing his way into hip hop fans’ heads and hearts for more than 26 years. With work that includes the Billboard Top 10 hit “Just a Friend,” Biz delivers humorous, witty rhymes that make him loveable and admired by music fans all over.
He currently DJs in club and concert venues all over the world and boasts a fan base that stretches from New York City to Japan to Europe.
Born to embrace hip-hop, Biz is originally from Harlem. He later moved to Long Island, where he gained notoriety by his early teen years for beat boxing and rhyming. At the age of 14, Marcel Hall dazzled his neighborhood under the alias of Biz Markie. His made his music scene debut in 1985 beat boxing for Roxanne Shante of the Juice Crew. From then on, Biz began blazing a trail and building his reputation within the world of rap and hip-hop. Now 26 years older—and immensely wiser—Biz is the definition of longevity. He is universally praised by the ever-fickle and unforgiving hip-hop industry and has remained once of the most notable and memorable artists and DJs within that industry.
You can find Biz spinning and performing for major celebrities in America and abroad. He has under his belt such mega-events as The Grammy’s After Parties, The Pre-Oscar Party, Will Smith Movie Premiere Events, the Essence Festival, and events hosted by the Magic Johnson Foundation, State Farm (50 Million Pound Challenge), and ESPN. He has also appeared at such occasions as the Super Bowl, NBA Allstar Weekend, CIAA Weekend and many more.
Biz Markie shows no signs of stopping! He consistently books over 200 shows a year. He is still pioneering innovative works and has no creative constraints, moving with ease through multiple genres outside of hip hop—for example, he just finished projects with the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips.
Biz’s television credits include VH1′s “Celebrity Fit Club,” “Nick Cannon’s “Wild N Out” on MTV, and recently, Nick Jr’s “Yo Gabba Gabba,” doing the beat box of the day. Fresh off the “Yo Gabba Gabba” national tour, Biz has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.