BOBBY Ray Simmons Jr. is once again blowing up as rumours swirl on social media.
The rapper, known as B.o.B, took the music world by storm last decade but has been largely out of the limelight since – so who is he, and why is he trending?
Who is Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. aka B.o.B?
Born in 1998 and raised in Decatur, Georgia, B.o.B is a rapper who started gaining recognition around 2007.
He enjoyed a golden run between then and 2011, releasing and featuring on a series of chart-toppers.
He continues to make music, although not to the same level of fanfare as early in his career.
Off the stage, B.o.B has raised eyebrows for some of his views, including that the earth is flat. The Flat Earth Society in 2016 claimed the celebrity as a member.
He even attracted the attention of Neil deGrasse Tyson on Twitter, now X, who tried in vain to convince him that the earth was in fact spherical.
B.o.B then rapped in song Flatline that “Stalin was way worse than Hitler” and to “do your research on David Irving”, an English author found to be a Holocaust denier.
Why is ‘B.o.B death’ trending?
Rumours on Tuesday started to swirl suggesting the rapper had died.
One post to X said: “The government killed B.o.B.”
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Another said: “Y’all heard B.o.B died?”
But some seeked to clarify the rumours, with one insisting: “The man is not dead.”
It’s unclear how the trend started, although one tweet blamed it on “a lying ass TikTok account”.
The rapper’s Instagram account has been highly active in the last 24 hours, with numerous stories posted.
What are some of B.o.B’s biggest hits?
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B.o.B gained worldwide fame in 2009 with the huge debut hit “Nothin’ on You” featuring an early-career Bruno Mars.
A year later he released Airplanes, the hit he is best known for, featuring Paramore singer Hayley Williams.
It ranked no.6 on Billboard’s 2010 end-of-year charts, having chalked up nearly 800 million Spotify plays since.
B.o.B is also well known for featuring on Jessie J’s “Pricetag”, another tune synonymous with the beginning of the 2010s.
He has dwindled from music attention in recent years but keeps his 823,000 Instagram followers and 1.8 millions X fans updated with frequent posting.
His profile grew thanks to his support of the flat-earth moment.
In 2016, he lead a fundraiser to send a satellite into space in a bid to prove the planet was flat.
Back then, the campaign was trending on GoFundMe.
He said in a video on the page: “I’m starting this GoFundMe because I would like to send one, if not multiple satellites, as far into space as I can, or into orbit as I can, to find the curve.”
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More recently, he released a single called “Steve Harvey” at the start of May, raising anticipation for an upcoming album called “Space Time”.
He has continued to beef up his discography, including two albums last year alone.
Despite the rumours, it appears the rapper is planning to keep busy for a while yet.