About

Eli Porter is an amateur rapper who is best known for his performance in a high school rap battle that later became a viral video on YouTube. Several video remixes and image macros were inspired by his odd lyrics and mannerisms. While it has been speculated that he is mentally retarded, he has publicly denied this accusation.^[1]

Origin

In 2003, Eli appeared on the Chamblee High School freestyle rap program "Iron Mic" to engage in a rap battle against fellow amateur rapper "Envy." Eli's stunned expressions, lyrics like "I'm the best mayne- I diiid it", and long pauses made his performance rather memorable. The battle ended in a 2-1 decision resulting in a win for Envy.

Lyrics

Yo, I got one question man, tell me who next,
This nigga salt like the nigga done get it the best,
See I'm the best maaaayne, I did it.

(Longest Pause Ever)

Yeah, I'm a let you know who the best, by the hour,
He's like Rosie O'Donnell at a bisexual bridal shower,
It ain't nothing to me man, I keep it fo' real,
Look at his dental man, with… dent on the grill,
See, I'm the best, I told you that, this dude like that,
He ran then from the cat, no, I messed up,
But I'm a stay on top they told me man,

But you know man, I'm never gon' flop, look at this dude,
He need to stay in the shade, ain't no wonder why he came out,
He already in the gay parade, I told you man, I got you,
Roasted like ever you dont know, but my rhymes,
They straight up clever, so you step down, off the pedastle.
I'm the best mayne, you need to go.. to the fuckin' dental.
I said "friggin," yo.

Spread

The video wasn't uploaded to YouTube until November 27th, 2007, and saw a steady increase in views since April of 2008.

Documentary

A documentary about Eli called "People's Champion" by Walker Warren & Trent Babbington is set to be released in early July ^[2]. The first 5 minutes of Part 1 are currently available on YouTube, and additional videos can be seen on the Facebook page.^[3] On July 20th, the full-length documentary became publicly available on Vimeo:

Mixtape

Eli has a mixtape available for download called No Pen No Pad, made in collaboration with DJ Krispy Kreme.

Eli Porter is in the building. Eli Porter one of the best artists in the streets right now.Word play is stupid. He is not retarded he is stupid with the flow.^[4]

Watch the Throne Mention

Jay-Z and Kanye West released the collaborative album Watch the Throne, and mentioned Eli Porter in the single "H•A•M" where Kanye says, "Like Eli I did it, jokes on you motherfucker and I get it."

Salon writer Drew Grant wrote about the lyrics in an article titled "Hip-hop stays current by mining Internet memes"^[5] published on August 16th, 2011.

That would be the same Eli Porter, who failed so miserably at a high school rap battle that he became famous enough to warrant a documentary about his life. Now immortalized in a Kanye West song, Eli has done it. And so has the Internet, which has managed to take even the dorkiest people and trends and elevate them to the coolest status symbol out there: fodder for a Jay-Z or Kanye West song.

Tosh.0 Appearance

Eli Porter appeared on an episode of the Internet culture television series Tosh.0 during a "Web Redemption" segment on September 20th, 2011. Porter explained how he felt after discovering his rap high school rap battle went viral online, and revealed that he would be releasing an album in the near future titled "Intelligently Retarded." At the end of the segment, Porter performed the rap from the original viral video battle in a duet with singer/songwriter Skylar Grey.

Search

Google insights results conforms to the YouTube view counts with a sharp rise in search queries from April 2008.

External References