The Overlooked Originator: Lil B’s Impact On Rap Music
It’s circa 2011 and, per usual, I’m surfing through YouTube in hopes of finding new music to add to my already somewhat expansive library. Mind you, this was around the time I was going through my obsessive Odd Future phase, so I’m searching for something especially brash and different to fulfill my angst-driven motive. After a few minutes of bearing through some forgettable garbage, I stumble across a thumbnail that immediately grabs my attention. A glasses-sporting black dude in what I presumed to be an extra small T-shirt with a Pikachu-esque character on the front catches my eye and, of course, I have no choice but to click on the video. The absurdity of the screenshot combined with the ridiculous, overly-exaggerated title was far more than enough to peak my interest. By this point, you should know the song that I’m referring to is “Wonton Soup” by Lil B.
The seemingly nonsensical rhymes about resembling a warm Asian liquid weren’t the only thing that initially intrigued me about this character. I couldn’t just attribute this strange, newfound interest to the incomparable dance the guy performed throughout the entirety of the video. After all, I felt as though this was something I had seen and heard a thousand times before (albeit not quite as hilariously). It was as I leisurely scrolled down to the comment section that I realized Lil B was not just another mediocre joke rapper. There were hundreds — literally thousands — of commenters pledging allegiance to this man — vowing to protect him at all costs, shamelessly offering their female counterparts for him to engage with, praising him amongst the irrefutable greats of music. There seemed to be some kind of Chuck Norris-esque running gag going on — one that built Lil B as an actual god, all-powerful and unable to be defeated. In retrospect, he might as well have been.
Lil B. The Based God. Brandon McCartney. You may know him from his impressive catalog of music. You may know him as that guy that was somehow successfully able to curse both Kevin Durant and James Harden. You may know him from his overbearingly high-strung, outlandish Twitter account. Whatever the case may be, there’s a large chance that you are familiar with the legend known as Lil B.
Over the years, he’s become somewhat of an enigma. His Twitter bio classifies him as a “historical online figure” — three words that could not be more appropriate in describing the Based God. He’s transcended way past just a rapper. Ever since his humble beginnings in 2006 with The Pack, Lil B has been able to solidify himself as a revered cultural icon — a walking meme of sorts. Saying “thank you Based God” at any given moment has become as second-natured as saying “bless you” after someone sneezes for many devotees. While it may be taken as a joke for some, there are actually quite a few legitimate reasons as to why everyone should be eternally grateful for the presence of Lil B in the culture of hip-hop.
Many accredit (legendary Atlanta rapper) Soulja Boy to being the first artist to use the Internet and social media to his maximum disposal. Let’s be real, the “Crank Dat” dance did unite the entire planet for a short period of time. “Turn My Swag On” is arguably in the discussion for top ten hip-hop songs of all time. “Kiss Me Thru The Phone” undoubtedly had grown men crying over their significant other. While he may have been the first to successfully break through on a large commercial scale, he wasn’t the only one. Around the same time Soulja was coming up, Lil B was dropping progressive bangers like “Like A Martian” and “Paris Hilton”.
Lil B honestly deserves his proper recognition for having a hand in pioneering and helping usher in the wave of Internet rappers that are so prevalent in today’s game. Not only is he one of the originators of what could be dubbed “YouTube rap”, he is also responsible for the styles of many current up-and-coming and well-established artists alike. As quoted from his recent Complex interview, there are an influx of rappers borrowing from his “swag, woop” formula (which he definitely created) and not giving credit where it’s due. There would be no OG Maco without Lil B. No ILoveMakonnen. No Riff Raff. Hell, even A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, and Odd Future owe him some kind of debt for their earlier work. Despite not being especially popular on a mainstream level, Lil B has undoubtedly influenced those who are. He paved the way for dozens of successors that took his blueprint and ran with it.
His raps may come off as merely goofy and comical. Admittedly, it’s hard to take someone repeatedly shouting “swag” and claiming to have “a thousand bitches on their dick” seriously. His flow may seem carelessly off-beat and clumsy — filled with bizarre colloquials like “I’m a pretty bitch” and “I look like [insert very random celebrity]”. It’s almost as if a majority of his tracks are freestyled directly off the top of the head (let it be noted that all of Lil B’s songs are recorded in one take). In this sense, Lil B knows exactly what he’s doing at all times.
All of the Based God’s moves are totally calculated. His masterful trolling is both endearing and praiseworthy, and that in part has made him into the larger-than-life icon he is today. He has proven before to have actual flashes of pure (although scatterbrained) brilliance on the controversially titled “I’m Gay” album and countless other cuts like “Illusions of Grandeur”, but opts instead for massive quantity (a new video from him surfaces every other month and he once released a mixtape with over three hundred songs). Whether intentionally or not, Lil B opened the door for rappers that lack a traditional skillset per se with his complete disregard for standard lyrical tropes and his use of overwhelming shock value.
Additionally, Lil B has deeply affected hip-hop culture in other ways outside of music. Take, for example, his patented “cooking” dance. The name details it quite simply enough — it’s a wackily coordinated movement of the arms, wrist, and upper torso to give the impression of stirring in a pot and then tasting said contents. Perhaps it was maximumly popularized last spring, when Houston Rockets guard James Harden infamously began performing an incredibly similar dance as a celebration and refused to pay homage, bringing himself and the Based God to national attention. James Harden was not the first to steal the cooking dance, though.
Chedda Da Connect’s “Flicka Da Wrist” was arguably one of the hottest smash hits on the planet a couple of summers ago. It set both the radio and social media ablaze — various impressionable teenagers and twenty-somethings making Vines set to the track. However, the music video for the song featured Chedda and his entourage eagerly cooking, virtually acting as if they had created the dance themselves. In turn, many people began emulating dance without an ounce of knowledge of the true origins behind it. Lil B notably addressed this blatant disrespect via Twitter, and it just goes to show how truly influential the Based God has ultimately been. Without the creation of his wrist-dominated cooking dance, other viral dances like the “whip” would not exist.
That’s not all, either.
While short-lived rap duo The New Boyz may have had a hand in popularizing skinny jeans, Lil B helped to further push the movement onto the masses. His shameless proclamations of being a “tiny pants bitch” allowed the youth to see that, yes, it was perfectly acceptable to wear their jeans a size smaller and to trash the horrifying baggys. Lil B was one of the first to wear the skinny jeans and canvas sneakers that are increasingly prevalent in today’s fashion culture. He also was an early pioneer in boldly dressing in questionably flamboyant attire. It is never uncommon to see the Based God draped in a colorful blouse or a fishnet cardigan. His wardrobe more than likely consists of huge earrings, face jewelry, pink bandanas, tight tank tops, and floppy beach hats. Despite the negative output for his style over the years, Lil B can be compared to the hip-hop version of Prince in a way. He fearlessly showed that it is okay to wear questionable clothing all while boasting about the plethora of bitches on his dick and not giving a fuck what anyone has to say — opening the door for similar characters today like Young Thug.
At this point, it’s almost blasphemous to deny the unheralded impact of Lil B on the culture of hip-hop. While you may not like him for some reason, it’s a necessity to pay homage and give credit where it’s due. During his decade-long tenure, he has influenced the styles of numerous rappers in unprecedented ways, changed the way artists market themselves, made his mark in the field of dancing, become a fashion icon, and evolved into a historical online and pop culture figure. Not to mention he has remained “based” through all these years — a ubiquitous term (and lifestyle) that essentially embodies unashamedly being yourself and staying positive, a message he has unwieldingly pushed on his audience through his music and other forms of communications. It’s because of these reasons that I wholeheartedly believe Lil B deserves mention as one of the most important individuals to ever be apart of rap music. You can disagree and call me delusional all you want, but you can’t deny the hard truth. Ten years from now, hopefully the entire world will recognize the greatness of Lil B and, rather than refer to him as a joke rapper, appreciate all that he’s done.
Thank you, Based God.
