Lil B Rapping from the Unconscious
Look out Lil Wayne. There’s a new, even more absurd lyricist on the horizon. He is nineteen year old Berkeley California rapper Lil B. He employs a style called based freestyling, which would explain his full rap name: lil B The Based God. Based is basically “rapping from the unconscious”; only Lil B’s unconscious includes such ludicrous thoughts as “fucking your bitch”, and then eating some wanton soup.
Lil B @ Highline Ballroom, NYC
These are lyrics from the rapper’s most popular song, “Wonton Soup.” We first learned about him from last week’s show at Highline Ballroom, where he closed for Maluka. We were appalled by the frenzy of screaming fans, and couldn’t grasp what the appeal was. However, upon further listening, we discovered a track called “I’m The Devil”, in which he talks about the elements that could potentially stop him from living out his dream and becoming a superstar rapper. Next, we caught wind of the title to his upcoming album, “Angels Exodus”. It was at that point that we could tell the waters within Lil B’s soul run much deeper than the broth in his Wanton Soup. Lil B fooled us all. He is most definitely a satirical rapper, using satire to adhere to this generation of kids who enjoy that easy listening, catchy song (devoid of substance) that could be played in the club.
The satirical content goes beyond simply Lil B’s lyrics. Even in the way he dresses, he is satirizing the idea that rappers usually try to be as flashy as possible, sporting the newest trends, etc. Lil B does the exact opposite, often wearing the same clothes daily, and same ripped pair of Vans. (The Vans being a throwback to the hit song he made with his former rap group “The Pack”. Much of Lil B’s success is due in part to the internet: From his dozens of Myspace aliases to his obsessive use of Twitter and YouTube. It was actually through Twitter that he linked up with rapper Souljaboy, who announced through viral video, (around April of last year) that he would be signing Lil B. Nine months later, a deal still has not been inked, however, Lil B remains optimistic in recent interviews that he will indeed be signing wih Souljaboy.
Video by David Romanski
Listen to some MP3 tracks here:
