B.o.B., real name is Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., was one of the defining artists of the 2010s.
At one point, everyone in the world knew the words to the choruses of songs like “Airplanes (featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore” and “Nothin’ on You (featuring Bruno Mars).” Then, slowly but surely, the Atlanta rapper who made a career out of seamlessly blending hip-hop, pop, and rock, in the process amassing six Grammy nominations and four Billboard 100 top ten hits (he topped the chart for two weeks with the Bruno Mars mega-hit), faded from the spotlight.
Why did B.o.B fall out of the public eye?
Unsurprisingly, the reason behind the slow decline of B.o.B’s popularity is common to most artists that were once major and then suddenly vanished from charts and tabloids – label problems.
Following B.o.B’s first studio album, 2010’s B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, the rapper’s label Atlantic Records tried everything to replicate its success, doubling down on the hip-hop/pop formula for B.o.B’s follow-up project Strange Clouds, which included features from some of the biggest names in the music industry like Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj. The results, however, did not measure up and, with B.o.B. wanting to go back to his underground hip-hop roots, the relationship between the musician and his label became tense and stale.
B.o.B. would eventually create his own label, No Genre, in 2014 but would never match his early-career numbers again. It was also around that time that a deep dedication to conspiracy theories would put the last proverbial nail in the coffin of the rapper’s career.
B.o.B’s conspiracy theory phase
After “Airplanes” and “Nothin’ on You,” B.o.B is probably best known for his fringe beliefs. His conspiracy sprees truly took off in 2016 when he first tweeted about the Earth being flat. Most of his posts have now been deleted, but a CNN article published at the time detailed the outburst.
“No matter how high in elevation you are… the horizon is always eye level,” one tweet said, while another claimed that we had all “been tremendously deceived,” while the rapper was “going up against the greatest liars in history.” In textbook conspiracy theorists speak, B.o.B then targeted the moon landing, human cloning, the holocaust, and slavery.
When Neil deGrasse Tyson tried to use science to answer his nonconforming essentialist questions, B.o.B released a diss track, “Flatline,” where he not only told the astrophysicist to “loosen up his vest” and accused him of being paid to defend the things he defends but also promoted European Holocaust denier David Irving.
In 2017, B.o.B went one step further and started a fundraiser to launch satellites into space so that he could finally see for himself whether the planet was round. Later that year, he would make a since-deleted Instagram post where he implied slavery did not transpire because you couldn’t find vestiges of slave ships the same way you could a dinosaur bone. A categorical falsehood.
The backlash he received and the reputation he gained, which he is still trying to shake off today, led him to retreat from the public eye for a beat. Per Billboard, in 2018 and 2019, though he was still releasing music independently “he put the brakes on nearly all interviews.”
Where is B.o.B now?
B.o.B is still making music independently, snippets of which he frequently shares on his Instagram page. He’s tried other ventures like a podcast in 2020, as well as clothing lines and a DJing duo he shares with his wife Tiff Janelle called DJ Wontee Will x DJ SodaVibe. The rapper also hosts masterclasses and makes video logs of his personal and professional day-to-day on his YouTube channel. He is not concerned with fame.
As an artist, you’re always looking to get better, get more fans, more notoriety. You’re trying to challenge yourself. And sometimes you have to come to terms with whatever happens. I’ve accepted that wherever I am is where I need to be. There are no mistakes, there are no f–k-ups.”
Though he seemed regretful that his questioning turned into assertiveness in a 2020 Billboard interview, B.o.B is still using his music to question the mainstream. In a June 2024 song, the rapper wonders “Is it flat? this ain’t even Earth is it? / Why debate on the shape of the prison?.”
