Flavor Flav is a multifaceted American entertainment personality; he is a musician, rapper, comedian, actor, and television personality. As a musician, Flavor became famous for being a member of the hip-hop group, Public Enemy. Public Enemy took over the hip-hop world with albums like It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Yo! Bum Rush the Show. After falling out of the limelight for some years, Flavor reappeared as the star of several VHI reality series. The American musician has also had an eventful romantic life.
How Old is Flavor Flav?
Flavor Flav was born William Jonathan Drayton Jr. on 16th March 1959, making him 60 years old as of 2019. He was born to William Sr. and Anna Drayton in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York. Flav however, grew up in Hempstead, Nassau County where he attended the Freeport High school but dropped out at the 11th grade.
As a little boy, Flavor was a troubled child. Among other mischievous acts, he set a house on fire while playing with a lighter. Before he could finish high school, he had been in and out of jail for burglary and robbery. Despite all these, Flav began to play the piano all by himself at five. he subsequently joined the youth choir in his local church where he also learned how to play drums and the guitar.
After dropping out of high school, Flavor Flav attended culinary school in 1978. He subsequently enrolled at Adelphi University in Long Island where he met Carlton Ridenhour who later took up the stage name, Chuck D. Both of them had a corporate work on Chuck’s hip-hop radio show before they started rapping together. According to Chuck D, Flavor is an expert in fifteen different instruments.
Flavor Flav’s Professional Career
In 1984, Flav formed the hip-hop group, Public Enemy which brought him out to the spotlight. In 1987, Def Jam Recordings released the debut album of Public Enemy, Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Another of its album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back went double platinum in 1988. The following year, the group released a political single, “Fight the Power” which was a call to rise and fight injustice. In 1990, Flav had his first rap solo, “911 Is a Joke”. He subsequently released the hit single, “1,_2,_3,_Rhymes_Galore” with DJs Grandmaster Flash and DJ Tomekk.
Moving on in his career, Flavor, in 2004 took part in the VHI reality show, The Surreal Life. It was during the show that he met and started a relationship with actress Brigitte Nielsen. Then, in 2005, VHI created a show for the duo titled Strange Love which detailed their romantic adventure. Following the show’s end, Brigitte whop was already engaged to Mattia Dessi, resumed her relationship with him. Flavor Flav in 2006 returned to music, releasing his first solo album, Hollywood. From 2008 to 2009, he appeared as Calvester Hill on MyNetworkTV sitcom, Under One Roof.
In 2011, he in collaboration with Nick Cimino opened Flav’s Fried Chicken in Iowa with the aim of creating a nationwide chain of restaurants. However, the restaurant business flopped just after a few months of its opening owing to a lack of proper management. Later in 2012, Flav, with two others started Flavor Flav’s Chicken and Ribs in Michigan. Then again, his landlord shut it down for failure to pay rent after a little over a year.
How Many Children Does He Have?
Flavor Flav has engaged himself in numerous romantic relationships, some of which produced kids. He has, however, never wedded any of them. Among the women he had children with are Karen Ross, Angie Parker, and Elizabeth Trujillo, whom he engaged in 2008.
As of 2019, Flave has seven children and they are Shaniq, Dazyna, Quana, William, Jasmine, Kayla, and Karma. He had his first three kids with Karen Ross, another three with Angie Parker, and the last one with Elizabeth Trujillo. In October 2019 however, a lady called Gammel filed a paternity case naming Flavor as the father of her two months old baby. Should Flav be confirmed the father, the rapper will be credited with a total of eight kids?