Rappin' Granny
Vivian Smallwood, known by her stage name Rappin' Granny, was an American grandmother who performed hip-hop music. She lived in Castaic, California, near Los Angeles.
Outside of being known for portraying "Nano" Williams in Big Bad Beetleborgs, Smallwood was a contestant on the NBC television series America's Got Talent during the 2006 season.
Career
Rapping
Smallwood was employed as a postal worker and began rapping in the mid-1980s. She took first place in a rap contest at a South-Central Los Angeles roller rink with an anti-drug themed rap. By 1988 she had formed a group with her son called Rappin' Granny and DJ Len. She won a Granny of the Year contest in Pasadena in 1988, performing a rap version of the song "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena". In 1989, she released a little-known, self-titled music video called "Rock-n-Soul". Smallwood was signed to Tandem Records in 1992. She released the single "You Didn't Use Your Blinker Fool" as a response to the DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song "You Saw My Blinker". A brand of soda, Rappin Granny's Slammin Strawberry Hip Hop Pop, was named for her in 1995.Acting
Smallwood had been a working Hollywood actress since the mid-1990s. She has appeared in numerous television shows with small parts and a few feature films. Some of her credits are, Everybody Hates Chris, Malcolm in the Middle, The Shield, and The Ladykillers. In Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood she is credited as Vivian 'Rappin Granny' Smallwood. She also played Roland Williams' grandmother "Nano" in Big Bad Beetleborgs, a show on the former Fox Kids network.In 2012, she appeared on the How I Met Your Mother episode "The Magician's Code: Part 1".
Smallwood was featured in the Apollo Theater's Apollo Circus of Soul in 2007.