Rappin' Granny
| Rappin' Granny | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Vivian Lee Smallwood |
| Born | June 18, 1933 |
| Origin | Castaic, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician Actress |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1989–present |
Vivian Lee Smallwood (born June 18, 1933), known by her stage name Rappin' Granny, is an American grandmother who performs hip-hop music. She lives in Castaic, California, near Los Angeles.
Smallwood was a contestant on the NBC television series America's Got Talent during the 2006 season.
Smallwood was employed as a postal worker and began rapping in the mid-1980s. She took first place in a rap contest at a South-Central Los Angeles roller rink with an anti-drug themed rap. By 1988 she had formed a group with her son called Rappin' Granny and DJ Len. She won a Granny of the Year contest in Pasadena in 1988, performing a rap version of the song "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena". In 1989, she released a little-known, self-titled music video called "Rock-n-Soul". Smallwood was signed to Tandem Records in 1992. She released the single "You Didn't Use Your Blinker Fool" as a response to the DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song "You Saw My Blinker". A brand of soda, Rappin Granny's Slammin Strawberry Hip Hop Pop, was named for her in 1995.
Smallwood has been a working Hollywood actress since the mid-1990s. She has appeared in numerous television shows with small parts and a few feature films. Some of her credits are, Everybody Hates Chris, Malcolm in the Middle, The Shield, and The Ladykillers. In Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) she is credited as Vivian 'Rappin Granny' Smallwood. She also played "Nano" in Big Bad Beetleborgs, a show on the former Fox Kids network. In 2012, she appeared on the How I Met Your Mother episode "The Magician's Code: Part 1".
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