Meanwhile, public opinion on Iggy Azalea, the Australian female best known for a song called “Pu$$y,” is still undecided. Even more hate has been directed at V-Nasty, who’s been criticized for using the N-word in her music. Also, though, Kreayshawn, the diminutive Bay Area MC whose internet hit “Gucci Gucci” landed her loads of attention, a big fat record deal with Columbia - and, very quickly, as people realized she maybe wasn’t that much better at rapping than, say, a grapefruit, a mountain of mean-spirited derision. The greatest musical comedians of our time, the Lonely Island, belong here. (For more, consult the essential FratRap Tumblr). Frat rap is a large umbrella, but most of its stars share an affinity for usubtle pop sounds, an inability to rap on the beat, and a willingness to piss off millions. There’s also guys like Hoodie Allen, a former Google employee, Chris Webby, OnCue, and Cam Meekins, who sample the likes of La Roux, Jason Mraz, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Someone like Sam Adams, who was the captain of the soccer team at Trinity and likes to rap about stuff like how he’s partying so hard he’s always late for class, probably best embodies the vibe. Miller possesses the basic fundamentals of the frat-rapper - a penchant for soft beats, a flow somewhere between lazy and weak, a deep appreciation for snapbacks - but he’s not actually all that collegiately minded. Its most successful practitioner would be Mac Miller, the Pittsburgh rapper who just saw his debut, Blue Slide Park, top the Billboard 200 earlier this month. To recap: Asher Roth invented the subgenre in 2009 with his single “I Love College” (Sample lyrics: “keg stand / keg stand”), then watched it develop and mutate at a freakish rate. The stereotypical frat bro, he of the impeccable shotgun technique and the extensive flip-flop collection, is, of course, a white dude. Herewith a field guide to today’s white rappers.Īrguably no subgenre of hip hop has ever been so thoroughly dominated by white people as frat rap, which makes sense. But with all due respect to Eminem and Yelawolf - the 31-year-old Alabama rapper who released his debut, Radioactive, via Em’s Shady Records this week - we here at Grantland can’t be the only ones still “thinking about any of that shit.” These past few years, with so many rising Cracker Nuts and Beige Sheep emcees, it’s been nearly impossible not to think about. Patiently explaining to interviewers that a rapper’s race should not be an issue is the cross every white emcee has to bear. As I was listening to his music, I am not even thinking about any of that shit. Eminem, what advice do you offer, if any, on being scrutinized for being a white rapper?Įminem: We make jokes about it, but I don’t think we talk about it in depth.
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