Happy 50th Birthday Biz Markie | The Joker With Umphrey’s
By Scott Bernstein Apr 8, 2014 • 1:20 pm PDT
Today marks Biz Markie’s birthday as the “Just A Friend” rapper turns 50. Biz has shown his versatility over the years with television appearances, DJ gigs and of course plenty of beat-boxing. It’s hard to believe the youthful and exuberant “Clown Prince Of Hip-Hop” has hit the half-century mark. 
[Photo by Jeremy Smith]
To celebrate Biz’s birthday we want to look back at the night he sat in with Umphrey’s McGee on a cover of “The Joker” by Steve Miller Band at Brooklyn Bowl. The venue’s owner, Peter Shapiro, who was celebrating his own birthday on that September 2011 night, introduced Markie with a story about how he had been drinking with UM’s Brendan Bayliss and told Brendan his birthday wish was to see Umphrey’s play a Steve Miller Band song with Biz. And just like that the rapper emerged and the crowd went apeshit.
Watch fan-shot footage of “The Joker” from September 8, 2011 featuring Umphrey’s McGee with Biz Markie and Steve Molitz via tahcofan:
