What was the rapper Magoo’s real name?

Yesterday saw the sad announcement that influential hip-hop artist and producer Magoo had died at the age of 50. He was one half of Timbaland and Magoo, who released three acclaimed albums together, and he was legendarily responsible for introducing Timbaland to Missy Elliot.

However, as with a huge number of musicians, Magoo was a stage name. So, what’s his birth name?

Magoo’s real name

Magoo was born Melvin Barcliff and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia where he met Timbaland (real name Timothy Zachery Mosley) when the pair were in high school. At the time both had ambitions for fame, with the former covering Ralph Tresvant and New Edition songs in talent shows, and the latter beginning work on what would become his signature sound.

But Barcliff doesn’t seem to have been enamored by the music industry, with the Timbaland and Magoo partnership dissolving after the release of their 2003 album Under Construction, Part II. Following that, Timbaland chose to pursue a solo career, and Magoo took a bow and exited the stage, explaining he didn’t want to go solo:

“I’ve never seriously thought about doing a solo album… I’ve thought about it in passing-like if Tim decided he wanted to stop rapping. It would be really difficult for me to think about doing a record without him. We’ve been together since 1990, so [being solo] would be weird. Tim and Magoo is more a friendship than it is a group.”

Timbaland has already made a touching tribute to his friend’s death, posting an Instagram video of the pair:

“This one hits different 🥲🥲🥲 long live Melvin aka magoo !!!💔💔💔 Tim and Magoo forever 🕊️🕊️🕊️ rest easy my king ❤️❤️❤️”

For years, Timbaland and Magoo’s back catalog was unavailable to stream, though curious hip-hop fans finally got to experience it in August 2021 when Welcome to Our World, Indecent Proposal and Under Construction, Part II were finally re-released. Check them out on all the usual streaming sites and pour one out for an unsung hip-hop legend.