Artimus Lamont Bentley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Los Angeles with his mother, Loyce, who wished to pursue a career as a professional singer. He began his career as a child actor appearing in television commercials and guest spots on various television series before landing a role on the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series South Central in 1994. In 1995, South Central creator Ralph Farquhar cast Bentley in the series Moesha, which ran for six seasons on UPN. After Moesha ended, Bentley continued acting while pursuing a career as a rapper. In 2001, he appeared as C-Money in The Wash opposite Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. That same year, he portrayed Tupac Shakur in the television biopic Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story. Bentley made one of his last onscreen appearances in Spike Lee’s crime drama Sucker Free City.

Shortly after midnight on January 19, 2005, Bentley was driving alone when he was killed in a single-car accident in southern California’s Ventura County. He was driving on Highway 118 near Simi Valley (30 miles northwest of Los Angeles). Witnesses to the accident stated that Bentley’s vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed towards the Rocky Peak Fire Road off ramp. After running through a stop sign, the vehicle went through a chain-link fence situated across the street and rolled down an embankment. Bentley was ejected from the vehicle into traffic where five cars struck him before help could arrive. He sustained multiple blunt force injuries and was pronounced dead at 12:23 a.m. Bentley left behind two daughters and his mother with whom he lived with in Granada Hills, Los Angeles. A memorial service for Bentley was held at the Serenity Funeral Home in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 24, 2005. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.