James Moyer Franks (born August 27, 1972), better known by his stage name Jimmy Pop (originally Jimmy Pop Ali), is an American rapper, singer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter, and one of the founding members of the rap rock band

Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career prog ...

Early life and education

Pop was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, the son of Alice Ann (born Moyer) and Richard Lee Franks. He is of German and Native American heritage, with

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry. He was raised

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, but ceased practicing as soon as his parents approved his request to do so. He graduated from

Perkiomen Valley High School Perkiomen may refer to one of the following entities, all located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, unless stated otherwise: Communities * Perkiomen Junction, a neighborhood of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in Chester County * Perkiomen Township, ...

in 1990 and commenced studies in mass communication and history at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptists, Baptist minister Russell Conwell an ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where he met future Bloodhound Gang bassist "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff.

Music career

Bang Chamber 8

Pop (then still going by his given name) played in a

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

cover band called Bang Chamber 8 with Mike Bowe (later known as

Daddy Long Legs A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

). Pop played guitar, while Bowe played bass and sang. In 1990, Bang Chamber 8 released a cassette of four original songs: "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Birthday Boy", "Ice Cubes" and "War Chimes". These songs had nothing in common, lyrically or musically, with the Bloodhound Gang. "War Chimes" was written about

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

and featured a guitar solo from Pop at the end, who also provided the lead vocals. The synth line from "Birthday Boy" would be reused on a Bloodhound Gang track, "I'm the Least You Could Do", in 2005. Bang Chamber 8 split in 1991. In 1992, Pop and Daddy started a hip hop group called the Bloodhound Gang which later became more of an alternative rock band. Daddy Long Legs left the Bloodhound Gang to start

Wolfpac Wolfpac (stylized as WOLFPAC) is an American rap rock group formed in 1997 by former Bloodhound Gang member and co-founder Daddy Long Legs. The group's musical style fuses hip hop beats and metal samples. Its lyrical style draws from horrorcor ...

in 1997.

Bloodhound Gang

Side projects

Pop collaborated with

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV realit ...

, Brandon DiCamillo, and

Jess Margera Jesse Margera (born August 28, 1978) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1997. Prior to CKY, Margera performed in the band Foreign Objects with former CKY vocalist and guitarist ...

as The DiCamillo Sisters to record a Christmas single titled "But Why's It So Cold?" along with an accompanying video. Pop collaborated with dance artist

Tomcraft Thomas Brückner (born 12 June 1975), known by his stage name Tomcraft, is a German DJ and producer. He specializes in progressive house and progressive trance music and is better known for having created the tracks "Loneliness" and "Prosac", w ...

for a song called "Broadsword Calling Danny Boy" in 2006. The song is featured on Tomcraft's official MySpace. In 2007, Pop collaborated with German group Scooter for a song titled "The Shit That Killed Elvis", which was featured on their album ''

The Ultimate Aural Orgasm ''The Ultimate Aural Orgasm'' is the twelfth studio album by Scooter. Two singles were released from it: "Behind the Cow" and " Lass uns tanzen". This is the first album released with new member Michael Simon. Its artwork is an homage to the 198 ...

''. Bam Margera can also be heard in the song's intro. The song reached number 2 in the German Hip Hop chart and remained there for two weeks. In 2010, Pop collaborated with German group Die Atzen for an English version of the song "Disco Pogo" which was featured on the ''

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May P ...

'' soundtrack. In 2022, he collaborated with Russian

Hardbass Hardbass or hard bass ( rus, хардбас(с), khardbas(s), xɐrdˈbas) is a subgenre of pumping house that originated in Saint Petersburg, Russia during the late 1990s, drawing inspiration from bouncy techno, hardstyle, as well as local R ...

group Russian Village Boys on their song “Daddy WTF?”, with its music video being released on February 22.

Acting career

Pop made an appearance in the '' CKY'' series of films, during a shopping cart race scene and slap fight in ''CKY 4''. He also appeared in an episode of ''

Viva La Bam ''Viva La Bam'' is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show is a spin-off from MTV's '' Jackass'', in which Margera and most of the main cast appeared. Each episode had a specific them ...

'' titled "Limo vs Lambo", in which Pop borrowed

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–199 ...

without telling him, causing Margera to accuse his close friends (specifically

Ryan Dunn Ryan Matthew Dunn (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011) was an American stunt performer, television personality, actor and comedian. He was best known as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show '' Jackass'' and its film franchise. Born ...

) of doing the deed. He also appeared on the ''Viva La Bam'' episode "Rockstars", in which Don Vito and Phil Margera attempt to become rock stars, leading Jimmy Pop to

French kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are se ...

Don Vito onstage. Pop has appeared on ''

The Dudesons The Dudesons ( fi, Duudsonit) are a Finnish entertainment group. They are best known for their TV shows and live performances, which are a combination of stunts and comedy. Their early TV shows were similar to '' Jackass''. Starting their televi ...

'', being one of the people throwing darts during the human dart board stunt with

Jarppi Leppälä Jarno "Jarppi" Leppälä (born 11 August 1979) is a Finnish television personality and a member of the stunt group the Dudesons. Biography Leppälä was born in Seinäjoki, South Ostrobothnia. Around 2001, Leppälä (along with childhood friends ...

. Pop appeared with fellow Bloodhound Gang member Evil Jared Hasselhoff in the film '' Minghags: The Movie'', directed by Bam Margera. They are credited in the film as Jimmy Pop Ali and Evil Jared “Hollywood” Hasselhoff. Pop also appears in Bam Margera's movie called '' Where the ♯$&% Is Santa?''. He appears in the music video for the

Oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...

’s cover of "Boys Don't Cry".

Filmography

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pop, Jimmy 1972 births Living people American male guitarists American male singers American male rappers American people of German descent American people of Jewish descent American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent American rock singers American punk rock guitarists Bloodhound Gang members Guitarists from Philadelphia People from Trappe, Pennsylvania Rap rock musicians Rappers from Philadelphia 21st-century American rappers American baritones