Scam Rap / Michigan Rap / Detroit Rap

About

Scam Rap refers to a subgenre of hip-hop in which artists rap about modern types of fraudulent crimes, such as using Bitcoin, VPNs, the Dark Web, etc. to steal money. The genre is most associated with the rapper Teejayx6, however, scam rap is associated with the Michigan Rap and Detroit Rap scenes in general, encompassing multiple artists such as BabyTron, Rio Da Yung Og, Tee Grizzley, Kasher Quon, KrispyLife Kidd and others. Michigan rappers became known online and in memes for having elaborate, rambling bars with humorous lyrics, often rapping "behind the beat" in a lazy, triplet form.

History

Vice^[1] traced the origin of Scam Rap back to the 2017 song "Juggin Ain't Dead" by Bossman Rich, which premiered March 9th of that year (shown below, top left). Other artists in the genre include Teejayx6, Selfmade Kash, Guapdad4000, and City Girls. Of note, Selfmade Kash has been indicted for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of unauthorized access devices.^[4] City Girls member JT is in prison on fraud charges.

Teejayx6

On July 17th, 2019, Detroit rapper Teejayx6 uploaded his mixtape Fraudulent Activity to YouTube. Over the course of the summer, he released several music videos, including "Dark Web" (shown below, left) and "Swipe Story" (shown below, right). Teejayx6 has been praised for the hyper-specificity of his lyrics.^[2] After growing popular over the summer, he had been dubbed the face of Scam Rap by publications like Vice^[1] and Genius.^[3]

BabyTron

BabyTron (real name, James Johnson III) is a rapper based in Detroit, Michigan who came up in 2017 as a part of the scam rap group ShittyBoyz.^[5] As of October 2022, BabyTron is 22 years old and was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He became well known on TikTok, garnering a fanbase that included him in multiple memes such as Doesn't Need Autotune and Does X Finally Have Competition?

Rio Da Yung OG

Rio Da Yung OG (real name, Da'mario Horne-McCullough) is a Flint, Michigan-based rapper who came to prominence in 2019 alongside fellow rapper RMC Mike.^[6] Rio made a name for himself in the rap game due to his raucous lyrics that embedded jokes and puns, often rhyming words with the same word. As of October 2022, Rio is 28 years old and is incarcerated, facing five years in prison for "intent to distribute controlled substances." ^[7]

Michigan Rappers are Disrespectful

The concept of "Michigan Rappers" has trended online and in memes. For instance, on August 14th, 2022, Twitter^[8] user PBSImpulse9 tweeted, "Michigan rappers are just hilariously disrespectful dawg," gaining roughly 15,100 likes in two months. PBSImpulse9's tweet received over 2,700 replies and 1,800 QTs which were filled with other Twitter users sharing videos of their favorite Michigan rapper bars. On August 16th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user xnasty3500 replied with a Rio bar, gaining roughly 1,300 likes in two months (shown below).

Free rio he da the goat pic.twitter.com/6ovRQE7yss

— Pauly walnuts (@xnasty3500) August 16, 2022

Also on August 16th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user JustSayDet quote retweeted it with a different Rio bar, gaining roughly 40,800 likes in two months (shown below).

This my favorite bar😭💀 https://t.co/oy5aKGLEBU pic.twitter.com/mVmhK8TnC9

— 4-2 (@JustSayDet) August 17, 2022

Various Examples

🤣 lmfaoooo not her showing Jazmin Renae eviction notice on her salon, Detroit just messy pic.twitter.com/rovRc5xS5P

— 🎈 (@TeeChereaa) September 4, 2022

Search Interest

External References