2015 In Rap, By A White Kid Who's Been A Rap Fan Since At Least 2014
Kid Zoom has not seen this movie.
[contextly_sidebar id="Ig2qIwGYbsISrsT2liKilfIlzC8xJFCF"]Since we at Wonkette are notorious lie-berals who don’t know nuffin about nuffin because we are so stupid and liberal, and since you all belong to the demographic of “Olde,” we decided that some nice outrage would be just the thing to bridge the generational gap, as we begin our look at politics and The Rap in 2015. It wasn't all about oppressing Sean Hannity! Though that was one of the highlights, certainly.
Exhibit A: David Burd, stage name Lil Dicky, who released his debut album Professional Rapper in late July 2015, fits the bill nicely. As an upper-middle class white man, Lil Dicky felt that he, well, he just didn’t have enough representation in pop culture, darn it, and that needed to change! Tears were wept, and he set out on a mission to just be him in rap. So began an epic celebration of frat bro culture, including casual racism hiding behind the mask of “Just A Joke™” and explicit sexism defended by “Why Are Women So Crazy #OnHerPeriod.”
The worst part, though, is how he thinks he’s elevating the medium by not being egotistical, when Lil Dicky makes Kanye (Praise Yeezus) look like he has the modesty of a nun. In this hilarious and rage-inducing interview, Dicky seems hurt that anyone could imply his struggle is not just as noble as that of a young black man trying to get out of a ghetto, if not more so. Following your dreams is so easy when you don’t have anything to lose, whereas he might not get as many job offers because his shitty excuse for comedy didn’t pan out as well as he had hoped. Hey Dicky, maybe tell those young impoverished black men you disparage about you not being able to get a job at a law firm just like that. They’d definitely admire your bravery. The poor soul.
As further evidence of his shit-headery, Dicky raps in his song “White Dude” about how awesome white male privilege has worked out for him, how "Daquan" is a stupid name, and also how women aren’t logical, are scared by serious movies, and can’t get along with their friends because hormones. So yeah. He’s a douche.
Sorry, Wonketteers, I started to get too unironically outraged and to top it all off, didn’t even have any fart jokes to add levity, which Dok Zoom (thank glob for nepotism!) informs me is Original Sin. Too much negativity for Wonkette, you know? So instead, I thought we could talk about something nice and non-controversial: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, an album dealing with such lighthearted topics as race relations in the United States, sexuality, depression and suicide, crises of faith, classism, racism (both institutionalized and internalized), and police brutality. Every track on the album deals with heavily charged themes, and manages to be both insightful social commentary and entertaining music. And to top it all off, it still manages to terrify white people!
The album has been on Billboard’s charts since it came out 40 weeks ago, and is first on many people’s Hip Hop Album of the Year lists. The song “Alright,” the hook of which is often chanted at protests, managed to earn Geraldo Rivera’s stamp of “Latest thing that’s worse for black people than racism":
Or maybe it makes more sense to listen to it yourself than to take Fox News's word for it, because irony and nuance and stuff:
Another Kendrick song, “The Blacker the Berry,” sparked tremendous discussion about the relationship between systematic oppression of black men and gang culture. And his “How Much A Dolla Cost,” with its raw and emotional description of faith and classism was listed as Barry Bamz’s favorite song of the year. It's not really about economics. Basically, Kendrick is the best, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong, just wrong (talking to you here, Evan).
[contextly_sidebar id="IFarL9iVDmdg874QXfFWiNJOI1u07K2Y"]Actually, Evan’s pick for best modern rapper is the next and final topic I will be talking at you about today. Michael Render, a.k.a Killer Mike, half of veteran hip-hop duo Run The Jewels, has begun to make a name for himself politically, especially with regards to police brutality. Run The Jewels went into Ferguson, Missouri, when everyone else was fleeing, and he gave an emotional speech about fearing for his sons, which went viral on YouTube. He also delivered an epic reply to Bill O'Reilly's claim that rap music "glorifies depraved behavior." Asked about that in an interview with Tavis Smiley, Killer Mike had a simple answer: "I’ve never hit my wife." Mike drops mic.
Recently, though, Killer Mike's political fame has come from his passionate endorsement of Bernie Sanders, who as all Wonketteers know, is either Jesus, MLK, and Noam Chomsky wrapped into one adorable socialist grandpa with weird hair, or the literal bane of progressivism who is trying to stop the rise of our dear leader Hillary “Second Coming of Elizabeth Cady Stanton” Clinton (and Martin O’Malley is there too, I guess). Killer Mike met with Bernie in Atlanta and gave a powerful introduction for a Sanders speech (which, according to rando columnist H.A. Goodman, has already won Bernie the presidency). Later, he released an hour-long, six-part interview with Bernie. In Killer Mike's barber shop in Atlanta, no less. Here's the first segment:
I'm half ready to vote for Killer Mike now.
As you can see, I have learned in my year of being a white dude listening to The Rap Music, there is much more to this genre than The Enema Man and Snoopy Poopy Poop Dog, and I hope you’ll consider giving it a listen, since it's some of the most important, politically engaged ...
Uh, OK. I’ll get off your lawn now, but can I at least have my Frisbee back?
Kid Zoom is a young person in the wilds of Idaho. He is the spawn of Doktor Zoom. He is being paid for this article in "exposure."