[10] Markie began his career in New York City nightclubs and later gained regional recognition by performing at colleges in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Grand Wizard Theodore was the DJ, and the rappers was Kevvy Kev, Master Rob and Busy Bee Starski.

[12] Markie released his debut album Goin' Off in 1988, which attracted a fair amount of attention, largely due to the lead single, "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz".

O'Sullivan's claim was upheld in a landmark ruling, Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc.[17] that altered the landscape of hip-hop, finding that all samples must be cleared with the original artist before being used.

Markie responded in 1993 with the mischievously titled All Samples Cleared!, but his career had been hurt by the publicity emanating from the lawsuit, and the record suffered accordingly.

[15] For the remainder of the decade, Markie occasionally made television appearances, including guest appearances on In Living Color; as contestant Damian "Foosball" Franklin in the recurring game show sketch "The Dirty Dozens"; as Marlon Cain in "Ed Bacon: Guidance Counselor";[18] in a 1996 freestyle rap commercial on MTV2; and in the 1993 superhero film Meteor Man.

He also made numerous guest appearances with the Beastie Boys on Check Your Head (1992), Ill Communication (1994), Hello Nasty (1998), and their anthology The Sounds of Science (1999).

[19] He also rapped on the song "Schizo Jam" on Don Byron's 1998 release, Nu Blaxploitation (Blue Note/Capitol) and worked with Canibus on the first track on the Office Space soundtrack (1999).

[20] In 1996, Markie appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others.

[22] Markie also teamed up with Frankie Cutlass on his third single and music video titled "The Cypher Part 3" with some of Marley Marl's Juice Crew veterans.

[26] In 2000 and 2001, Markie participated in the Spitkicker Tour, which also hosted alternative hip-hop acts like De La Soul and Common.

[27] In 2002, Markie appeared in Men in Black II, with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, playing an alien parody of himself, whose native language sounded exactly like beatboxing.

[28] He also provided rap vocals and sang the hook for the remixed version of Mario's single "Just a Friend 2002", which sampled his own song from 13 years before.

Markie's act included spinning records ranging from old school hip hop to Lynyrd Skynyrd and then performing "Just a Friend".

On November 11, 2010, Markie sat in with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and performed "Just a Friend" with actor Jeff Goldblum.

[35] That year, his song, "Just a Friend" was featured in Saints Row IV, which included the Pop station, 107.7 The Mix FM.

He voiced Rudd Rhymez's DJ Tiny Timmy Scratch It in the Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja episode "Hip Hopocalypse Now".

Markie's funeral in Patchogue, New York, was attended by friends and family, including Ice T, Fat Joe, Montell Jordan, and Al B.

[52] In November 2022, Paramount Global announced that Showtime in conjunction with Mass Appeal would release a documentary on Biz Markie's life.

Featured in the documentary are Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Doug E Fresh, Nick Cannon, Tracy Morgan, Tara Hall and more.