Juaquin James Malphurs – aka Waka Flocka Flame – was born in Queens, N.Y., but grew up in the hip-hop scene of Atlanta, where his mother worked in the music industry. It was there that Waka made his name (a mashup of Muppet Fozzie Bear’s catchphrase and a moniker bestowed by an early collaborator and friend, rapper Gucci Mane) and where he eventually produced the studio album that catapulted him to fame, 2010’s “Flockaveli.”

“On his debut, Waka reduces hip-hop to a carnival-barker routine, blasting out exclamations (“Yay!” “Bang!”) over bristling beats .. Waka barely bothers to write rhymes, but ‘Flockaveli’ is hypnotic, focusing attention on the details beneath the bombast,” read the review in Rolling Stone.

It’s been a busy and productive year for Waka, who headlines Saturday at The Black Sheep after opening performances by three Colorado rap/hip-hop artists. He released back-to-back mixtapes in the spring, he’s touring and – even though, at 29, he’s constitutionally too young for the office – he’s running for president on a pro-marijuana platform. In addition to making marijuana legal throughout the U.S., President Waka would ban dogs from restaurants, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and wear a tank top and flip-flops to all meetings of Congress.

With SplYt, Pizzie and Sampson, doors open 7 p.m. Saturday, The Black Sheep, 2106 E. Platte Ave.; $25 general admission, blacksheeprocks.com, 227-7625