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Satirical Hip Hop / Meme Rap

Satirical Hip Hop / Meme Rap

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Updated Aug 13, 2020 at 03:30AM EDT by ohmyjosh.

Added Dec 13, 2014 at 12:51AM EST by James Blunt.

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About

Satirical Hip Hop (also referred to as Ironic Rap or Meme Rap) refers to a sub-genre of hip hop that is created with the intention of becoming viral, normally as a parody of popular genres like trap music, but with lo-fi production, simplistic music videos, lazy rhymes, and intentionally stereotypical lyrics. The satirical nature of an ironic rap song is often intentionally left out of its title, cover image, and/or description, in order to catch listeners by surprise.

History

Weird Al Yankovic

Satirical hip hop music has existed since at least the 1990s, when satirical pop stars like Weird Al became popular for direct parodies of specific popular hip hop songs.

Lil B

However, meme rap as a fully-formed subgenre only became popular with the success of "Wonton Soup", the first single from American rapper Lil B, released on August 11th, 2010.



The song's original video received over 12 million views, 50k likes, and 54k comments by December 2014. It also received 30k dislikes, and many negative comments describing the stealthiness of the parody. The song features lines that would be considered stereotypical of the hip hop genre, as well as poor rhymes and a lazy flow.[9] This style has defined Lil B's body of work as well as Meme Rap in general.

Tyler the Creator

After the success of Lil B, many other artists began ascribing to the same lo-fi self-parodying style of music. On Sep 24, 2011, Tyler The Creator,[4] under the moniker "Young Nigga", released a song named "Come Through Looking Clean"[6] which was a parody of mainstream hip hop music. The song draws heavy inspiration from Lil B's music, who is said to be one of Tyler's favorite artists.

3PAC

On May 21st, 3Pac uploaded a video titled “3Pac Freestyles After Being a Boss At Gym,” in which the rapper shows off a selection of protein-based supplements that he regularly takes for his workout regime before launching into a cringeworthy freestyle rap that can be characterized as a work of satirical hip hop. However, 3pac didn't rise to viral fame until July 2013 with the release of the song “PUSSY ASS HOES”, later rebranded as “EMINEM RAP GODBERZERK DISS”, “THE REAL RAP GOD” and eventually settling for “RAP GOD" (shown below).



Yung Lean

The Swedish rapper Yung Lean and his associates, called SADBOYS, was the next to become popular. SADBOYS released the mixtape Unknown Death 2002 with the single "Hurt" on June 13th, 2015, which featured many references to 90s and early 2000s products. The song features the same sloppy delivery that Lil B is famous for and has received more than 6.3 million views as of February 2016.



Online Presence

After a few years, the term "Meme Rap" was used as a term to insult rap music and artists, especially on the 4chan board /mu/ (Music), due to the constant spamming of said artists on the imageboard. The term has since become popular outside of the board, and is now often used as a derogatory term against popular underground artists.


"Ironic rap is a genre pioneered by the likes of Why?, El-P and MF DOOM, that emerged in the early 2000s but has not become mainstream until the late 00s Meme Rap is a form of ironic rap and is a sub-genre of hip hop music, characterized by ironic and joke lyrics, unconvetional beats, weird and ironic sampling (see: SGP), and funny catchphrases. MF DOOM is often considered the godfather of meme rap with his often called "forever alone" style of rapping. Others argue that Lil B is the one who "officially" started meme rap. In the dawn of 2010 meme rap was seeing radio play and mainstream attention with many meme rappers influenced by MF DOOM and Lil B. Death Grips, a fellow meme rap outfit well known for their "we are legion" lyrics were considered the best band of 2012 Basically, if one of the artists got BNM, is white, is surrounded by tumblr imagery, uses a voice deepener (whatever you call it), makes carefree music (Lil B, Chance, Das Racist) and parodies other rap music (Lil Ugly Mane, Yung Lean) it's meme rap. It's just all those artists which are very different in an ironic way, use the internet a lot, don't take their music seriously or they do but are enjoyed ironically A lot of meme rap is hip hop that's intended to be serious but is listened to ironically. Ironic rap is similar, but never is intended to be taken seriously. The intention of the artist is very important here Take for example Lil Ugly Mane, he is ironically rapping about things he doesn't understand and acts like a black person on his mixtapes." "Semi-conscious meme rap refers to ironic/meme rap delivered in a more serious fashion. It draws influences from conscious rap but the two don't have much in common. Semi-conscious meme rap tackles serious themes in an ironic tone, so it still manages to maintain its meme rap sensibilities." ">all these white boys mad because their whiteboy rap is being called out for what it is" "Lmfao, enjoy your meme rap pitchfork trustfund kiddies"

"Essential charts," /mu/'s version of popular music listings, were created to showcase meme rap ironically. The charts typically featured rappers and albums that were popular on the board, despite not intentionally making parodic music.


Essential Meme Rap Lil B God's Father Das Racist Sit Down, Man Cannibal Ox The Cold Vein Yung Lean Unknown Death 2002 ASAP Rocky - LONG.LIVE.ASAP LIL B DAS RACIST SIT DOWN, MAN GOD'S FATHER TNEEA Death Grips-The Money Store Slick Rick - The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick Three 6 Mafia - Mystic Stylez Lil Ugly Mane - Mista Thug Isolation Danny Brown 2XX0 THREE-MAFIA Danny Bown. Aesop Rock - Skelethon Kitty Pryde - Haha, Im Sorry Tyler, the Creator Bastard Chance the Rapper Acid Rap Viper - You'll Cowards Dont Even Smoke Crack ACEDRAP e 芽 Die Antwoord -TenSion BASTARD Riff Raff- Rookie Of The Future Kreayshawn Somethin 'Bout Kreay clipping. midcity Clipse Lord Willin' VIPER= You Cowards Doa't Even SroCrack C Earl Sweatshirt-Doris Eminem- The Eminem Show Madvillain Madvillainy Kanye West Yeezus Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus Fe HI comPant FLOW EMINEM Essential ironic/meme hip hop artists Honorable mentions: Lil B "The BasedGod" ane Chance The Rapper Yung Lean The original meme rapper The inventor of ironic rap who paved the way for all the other ironic meme rappers to come. White meme rapper from an upper class background. Notable for mocking the "90s memphis rap sound" through irony. Known for his "Acid Rap" mixtape and for ironically encouraging people to take acid and other mind-altering substances. Ironic Swedish meme rapper with "ironically bad" pictures and videos. Some say that he's the Lil B without the realness or ng. Clams Casino Buzzproducer who helped pioneer the sound of ironic hop. Proto-ironiccore rapper and a former member of cLOUDDEAD, notable for his stream of consciousness verses. SpaceGhostPurrp Tyler, The Creator Recognized by some as "the last trunigga" SGP is a meme rapper from Miami, famed more for Twitter rants and hatred for "fake ass n-----' than for his mildly successfl revival of "Memphis rap. Once known as the de facto member of the A$AP Mob crew Leader of the post-ironic self proclaimed "art buzzcollective Metro Zu. Among others, he collaborated with a fellow contemporary ironic rapper Yung Lean. Tends to write purposely dumb" lyrics. Pitchfork approved rapper from Harlem and a slightly more serious version of Lil B Known for ironically shouting "I be that pretty Leader of a hip hop tumblcore collective Odd Future. Best known for writing "edgy lyrics and his gimmicky image of a rebellious teenager. His fanbase mostly consists of teens who are trying to rebel against their parents by playing his music. Was involved in a beef with indie legend Steve Albini in 2011 MF DOOM Meme rapper best known for his intentionally goofy and corny personas and overly-dramatic lyrics. Killer Mike P4kcore meme rapper, some claim that he is the Alex Jones of hip hop calling on and betraying SGP. Some argue that his music is only worth listening to because of El-P White ironic rapper and a frequent Killer Mike collaborator Joey Bada$$ Up-and-coming buzzrapper who tried to make a name for himself by dissing the god of ironic meme rap UCC Vi Ironic rapper and the leader of the now defunct altemative hip hop p4kcore buzzgroup Das Racist. "Das Racist, we kinda like rap-noise-pop Member of the Odd Future collective, also known as the edgy teen version of MF DOOM Highly prolific meme rapper from Houston. Praised for his ironic hyrics regarding various aspects of the world of the Houston drug dealer and for his tireless work ethic. Pitchfork approved meme rapper anda self-proclaimed genius. Known for taking his music very seriously Riff Raff Riff Raff is a tumblcore rapper with interesting hooks and ironic lyrics. Keyboard Kid Ironic rap producer and one of the most loyal followers of Lil B. Ethel Wulf MC Ride Da Up-and-coming meme rapper from Miami, best known for the ironic use of Japanese characters and anime imagery in his music. Once described by his former mentor SGP as "the ungrateful ass hipster n---- who bit the hand that fed him Former member of SGP's Raider Klan, Three 6 Mafia worshipper and one of the best friends of another ironic rapper, Lofty305. "N64 will change the rap game Meme rapper and a felilow Lil B appreciator, Danny Brown combines self-deprecatory wit with ironic stereotypical braggadocio punchline rapping. Best example of the ironic parody of modern hip hop culture. MC of the popular meme buzzband Death Grips. Some say that he is just a grown-up version of Tyler, The Creator. Note: The main difference between "ironic rappers" and "meme rappers" is that "meme rappers" don't necesarily make ironic music, but people listen to them ironically whereas "ironic rappers" are just that- ironic rappers. The two are not mutually exclusive but inextricably intertwined

Youtube has created a playlist titled "Meme Rap" featuring an assortment of satirical rappers.[8] The satirical site Encyclopedia Dramatica includes an article on Ironic Rap.[11]

Notable Examples

Other popular meme rappers include Riff Raff,[3] Die Antwoord,[5] Das Racist,[12] Lil Ugly Mane, and Viper the Rapper.





Search Interest

External References

[1] Wikipedia – Gangsta Rap

[2] Wikipedia – Trap Music

[3] Wikipedia – Riff Raff

[4] Wikipedia – Tyler the creator

[5] Wikipedia – Die Antwoord

[6] Youtube – Young NIGGA – Come Through Looking Clean

[7] Youtube – YOUNG NIGGA – I Just Bought a Bugatti

[8] Youtube – Meme rap official youtube playlist

[9] The Campanile via WaybackMachine – Satirical artists bring humor to the hip hop musical genre

[10] Last.Fm – Last.Fm Meme rap tag

[11] Encyclopedia Dramatica – Ironic and Meme Rap

[12] Wikipedia – Das Racist

[13] Wikipedia – Cloud Rap

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