Afroman is back — Bitcoin’s newest freedom fighter

Joseph Edgar Foreman Still rising. In a makeshift green room made of curtains at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Afroman, as he is known, inhales a sharp object rolled by his videographer, who is wearing a tight cocktail dress and see-through high heels. The 51-year-old rapper seems indifferent that several thousand people are waiting for him, in a room much larger than the bars he has played for the past two decades.

Foreman is wearing the same American flag ensemble he wore during his last court appearance (and now wears everywhere). In 2022, police officers raided his home in Winchester, Ohio, on suspicion of drug use and kidnapping. They found nothing but a jar filled with “green leafy plants,” THC wax, pipes, and more than $5,000 in cash. After the raid, Foreman released a series of songs mocking police officers, talking about having sex with their wives and letting their hair down, among other insults. Seven officers sued him for $4 million for defamation and invasion of privacy. Foreman won the trial and the Internet, where clips of the rapper on the platform spread like wildfire.

Going viral is Foreman’s forte, after all. He claims his biggest success is the 2000 college anthem “Cause I Got Orgasmic,” which first introduced the concept. It’s questionable, but he has a knack for attracting attention. As his case against the cops developed, Foreman’s calm demeanor and preaching of freedom of expression attracted millions of listeners to his music. It didn’t hurt that the videos showed security camera footage of officers at his home. The most famous is “Lemon Cake,” which mocks a person who, during a raid, was looking longingly at pastries on the kitchen table. It has been viewed nearly 10 million times on YouTube, and the cop, now known as “Officer Poundcake”, said he received hundreds of cakes as a form of harassment.

The rapper’s victory in court has also turned him into a freedom fighter, which is why he’s in Vegas about to perform for a group of libertarian cryptocurrency heads. “Furman’s recent victory in defending his right to write songs about the police who unfairly raided his home aligns perfectly with Bitcoin’s mission,” says event programming director Craig Deutsch. The annual Bitcoin conference attracts members of the industry but also couples from Central America who bought bitcoin when it was cheap and QAnon followers who distrust anything linked to the government. More recently, it has become a popular tourist stop for politicians looking to reach voters. President Trump gave a keynote speech during his 2024 presidential campaign; J.D. Vance spoke the following year. Now in its second year in Vegas, the event appears more popular than ever, despite the value of a single bitcoin being down about $33,000 from last year.

The show’s director, Greg Davis, enters the makeshift green room, now filled with smoke, and finds Foreman surrounded by his modest entourage: former pimp Bishop Don “Magic” Gowan, Foreman’s emerald-suited assistant, a couple of other men making sharp moves, and two young women in tight, shiny dresses.

“Is there anything you’d like me to say to introduce you?” Davis asks.

“Say what’s in your heart,” Forman responds, “and then, you know, the hungry, racing American dream — if you can remember that — Afroman.”

The manager thanks Foreman for “making this room smell great.” Shortly thereafter, Foreman’s manager entered to gently announce that the hotel staff had smelled weed and were threatening to call the cops.

Joseph Edgar Foreman, better known as rapper Afroman, first rose to fame with “Because I Got High”, a comedy anthem about the consequences of smoking weed. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2002.

Photo: Gabriella Angotti Jones