Philip Brandon Martin (born October 31, 1978), better known as Bishop Lamont, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

. He was signed to

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, ...

record label and released one project under the label, eventually leaving in 2010.

Biography

Born in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

,Interview with Bishop Lamont January 2006
. AftermathMusic (January 13, 2006). Accessed August 10, 2007. Martin started rapping at age 13. Dr. Dre met Martin while filming The Game's music video for "

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

".Paine (February 7, 2007)
Bishop Lamont: The Platinum Backpacker
. AllHipHop. Accessed August 12, 2007. After giving him praise on an L.A. radio station, Dr. Dre signed Martin in 2005. Martin was featured in ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'''s

Unsigned Hype ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the magaz ...

section, but he had already signed to Aftermath by the time the issue hit stands. Martin appeared in the soundtrack for the video game '' True Crime: Streets of LA,'' performing "True Crime" and "Let's Get It Poppin". He can be heard on three

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

video games. Tracks "The Best" and "We Got Next" are included in '' Madden 2007'' and ''

NBA Live 06 ''NBA Live 06'' is a 2005 installment of the '' NBA Live'' series released on the Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Mobile. It was developed by EA Sports. The game features several game modes, i ...

'' respectively. "I'm a Soldier" was included in ''

NFL Street 2 ''NFL Street 2'' is an American football video game developed by EA Tiburon and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox on December 22, 2004. It features th ...

''. Martin has the title track "Welcome to Havoc", featured in ''

Havoc High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) is a set of crewed NASA mission concepts to the planet Venus. All human portions of the missions would be conducted from lighter-than-air craft or from orbit. Background Venus is a planet with a r ...

'', a film starring

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

. Together with his War Doggz crew, Martin owns a record label called Diocese Records. Martin is featured on Dr. Dre's album, ''

Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

.'' According to Martin, Dr. Dre stated that along with

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

, Martin is the only other rapper that made him uncomfortable, due to his

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

's controversial and political lyrics. Martin's mixtape ''N*gger Noize'' was released on March 2, 2007, mixed by

DJ Skee Scott Keeney (born 15 November 1983), better known by his stage name DJ Skee, is an American artist, television host, radio personality, and entrepreneur. Skee rose to fame as the first DJ to discover and play superstar artists on the radio incl ...

.Bishop Lamont & DJ Skee - N*gga Noize
Dubcnn. Accessed August 12, 2007.Nima (December 2006)
Bishop Lamont Interview
Dubcnn. Accessed August 12, 2007. On SkeeTV, Martin and DJ Skee described ''N*gger Noize'' as being a "street album". Martin stated that after ''The Reformation'' and ''Detox'', he will be working on ''The Impossible Possible,'' entirely produced by Dr. Dre and Scott Storch. The album was to be released in 2011. In 2005, Bishop Lamont was credited to seven songs on

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and ...

's studio album In the Mid-Nite Hour. Production credits include Battlecat,

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

, The RZA, and

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ ...

. According to Martin, the album is about "rebellion, revolution, the positive and negative things in life and organized chaos". He also released ''Caltroit 2: Metropolis,'' containing music not included in the first release of the Caltroit mixtape. In 2008, Martin appeared in

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

' music video for " We Made It", and

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the countr ...

's music video for " Set It Off". In 2009, Bishop was featured on Rob Dyrdek's track "Lights Out: Dirty Girl Part 2." In January 2010, Bishop confirmed his amicable split from Aftermath/Interscope after five years on the label. Lamont, who walked away with over 700 songs he recorded there, said he still has a relationship with Dr. Dre. He said: "Dre is still my big bro, but after five years of just sitting there, it is kind of unfair to the fans and my family and myself that the release date has changed."

Discography

Studio albums

*''Caltroit'' (with

Black Milk Curtis Eugene Cross (born August 14, 1983), better known by his stage name Black Milk, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Career In addition to Slum Village, Black Milk has worked with J Dilla, Elzhi, Phat Kat, Frank-N-D ...

) (2007) *''The Shawshank Redemption/Angola 3'' (2010) *''The Reformation G.D.N.I.A.F.T'' (2016) *Just Don't Die (2022) *''Mad/Bishop'' (TBD)

Mixtapes / Street Albums

*''Who I Gotta Kill to Get a Record Deal, Vol. 1'' (2004) *''Welcome 2 L.A.'' (2006) *''Nigger Noize'' (with

) (2007) *''Pope Mobile'' (2007) *'' The Confessional'' (2008) *''Team America Fuck Yeah: Special Forces (With Indef)'' (2009) *''The Layover'' (2012) *''The (P)reformation'' (2013)

References

External links

*
Dr. Dre's New Medicine: Bishop Lamont Interview with TheKoalition.comBishop Lamont Breaks Down Everything - RimeMag.com Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamont, Bishop African-American male rappers American male rappers Aftermath Entertainment artists Living people Musicians from Inglewood, California Rappers from Los Angeles West Coast hip hop musicians 1978 births People from Carson, California Gangsta rappers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people