Joseph Edgar Foreman still rising. In a makeshift curtained green room at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Afroman, as he’s known, takes a deep breath from his videographer, dressed in a tight cocktail dress and sky-high clear heels. The 51-year-old rapper doesn’t seem to care that several thousand people are waiting for him, in a room much bigger than the bars he played in twenty years ago.
Foreman is wearing the same American Flag ensemble he wore during his recent court appearance (and is now worn everywhere). In 2022, police raided his home in Winchester, Ohio, on suspicion of drug and kidnapping charges. They found nothing but a pot full of “green leafy plants,” THC wax, pipes, and more than $5,000 in cash. After the raid, Foreman released a series of songs mocking the police, singing about sleeping with their wives and receding their hair, among other insults. Seven police officers sued him for $4 million for defamation and invasion of privacy. Foreman won, both in court and on the Internet, when clips of the rapper on the stand spread like wildfire.
Going viral is Foreman’s luck, after all. He says his biggest hit, the 2000 kegger hit “Because I Got High,” introduced the concept; it’s questionable, but you have a knack for getting attention. As his lawsuit against the police continued, Foreman’s moral and proselytizing of free speech brought millions of listeners to his music. It didn’t hurt that the videos showed police security camera footage of his home. The most famous cake, “Lemon Pound Cake,” lights up a person, who during the attack, looked longingly at the cake in the kitchen. It has been viewed nearly 10 million times on YouTube, and the officer, now known as the “Labor Pound Cake,” said he has been sent hundreds of cakes as a form of harassment.
The rapper’s court victory has also turned him into a freedom fighter, which is why he’s in Vegas to sing to a bunch of crypto-lite heads. The event’s programming director, Craig Deutsch, says that “Foreman’s recent victory in defending his right to sing songs about police officers who wrongfully raided his home is perfectly aligned with Bitcoin’s mission.” The annual Bitcoin conference draws industry members but also middle-class American couples who bought bitcoin when it was cheap and QAnon followers who don’t trust anything too connected to the government. Recently, it has become a popular tourist destination for politicians who want to reach voters. President Trump commented during his 2024 presidential campaign; JD Vance spoke the following year. Now in its second year in Vegas, the event seems to be more popular than ever, despite the price of a single bitcoin dropping by nearly $33,000 since last year.
The star of the show, Gregg Davis, enters the green space, now full of smoke, and finds Foreman surrounded by his dignified entourage: former bishop Don “Magic” Juan, Foreman’s assistant in an emerald suit, a few other men passing by, and two young women in tight, shiny dresses.
“Is there anything you want to say so I can let you know?” Davis asked.
“Say what’s in your heart,” replied Foreman, “and you know, the hungry, hustling American dream—if you can remember that—is Afroman.”
The governor thanks Foreman for “making this room smell good.” All of a sudden, the manager of the Foreman came in to announce that the hotel staff had gone mad, and threatened to call the police.
