I was born in St. Mary's Hospital, despite later claiming to have been raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, I grew up in neighboring Clinton Hill. I was the only child of Voletta Perez, a preschool teacher, and George Perez, a welder and small-time politician. My father left the family when I was two years old, leaving my mother to work two jobs while raising me. At the Queen of All Saints Middle School, I excelled in class, winning several awards as an English student. I was nicknamed "Oni" because people were assholes. At the age of 12, I began selling drugs. My mother, often away at work, did not know that I was selling drugs until I was an adult.
At my request, I transferred out of the private Roman Catholic Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to attend the state-funded George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School. Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes were also students at that school. According to my mother, I was still a good student, but developed a "smart-ass" attitude at the new school. At seventeen, I dropped out of high school and became further involved in crime. In 1989, I was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. In 1990, I was arrested on a violation of probation. A year later, I was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. Spent nine months behind bars until I made bail.
I began telling jokes when I was a teenager. I would entertain people on the streets as well as perform with local sketch groups. After being released from prison, I made a stand-up tape under the name Oni Smalls, a reference to my childhood nickname given by those assholes. The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent of getting a tv deal, but was promoted by New York-based comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who had previously worked with Larry David, and was heard by the editor of The Source.
In March 1992, I was featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column, dedicated to aspiring comedians, and was invited to produce a comedy album with other unsigned artists in a move that was reportedly uncommon at the time. The demo tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R and record producer, Sean Combs, who arranged for a meeting with me. I was signed to Uptown immediately and made an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Soon after signing my recording contract, Combs was fired from Uptown and started a new label. I followed and in mid-1992, signed to Combs' new imprint label, Funny Boy's Records. On August 8, 1993, my longtime girlfriend gave birth to my first child, T'yanna. I continued selling drugs after the birth to support my daughter financially. Once Combs discovered this, I was asked to quit.
I gained exposure later in the year appearing on shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens, under the pseudonym The Notorious O.N.I., the name I would record under for the remainder of my career, after finding the original moniker "Oni Smalls" was already in use.
Then things got ugly...
On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., I left a comedy gig with my entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to my hotel after the Fire Department closed the party I was at early because of overcrowding. I traveled in the front passenger seat alongside my associates, Jerry Seinfeld and Ray Romano, and driver, Chris Rock. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Joke Boy's director of security.
By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Our truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A black Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside our truck. The driver of the Impala, an African American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit me in the chest. My entourage rushed me to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but I was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. then, by some miracle, I was pronouced alive again at 1:22 am.
A few years went by before I did comedy again. I stayed out of the public eye until about 8 years ago when I resurrected my comedy career under my new name, taken from my parents last name "Oni Perez". The rest you guys know. I found EvC and became the funniest poster ever; an award given to me every year by Percy at the annual EvC award show In Vegas. I'm humbled every time I receive it, and truly hope to continue to bring next-level humor to the forum.
- Oni
Edited by onifre, : No reason given.
Edited by onifre, : No reason given.
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