Krispy Kreme Reveals the Truth About the Rap Game
“Sometimes you have to say that you have things that you do not have because then people won’t listen to your music.”
Tyler Cassidy, also known as “Krispy Kreme”, was interviewed by Daniel Tosh, a well-known comedian, for his hit song “The Baddest.” In this song, Krispy Kreme raps about elaborate and wildly extravagant events that have taken place in his life. Part of his song goes as such;
I have four hundred cars
I have four hundred scars and four hundred guitars
I have four hundred mouses and four hundred houses
These lyrics are just a part of the many improbable things Krispy Kreme raps about in his song. With so many bizarre lyrics flying around throughout this song Daniel Tosh has no problem finding things to talk about. To begin with, Daniel asks Krispy Kreme how long he has been in the rap game and he answers, “Since I was first born.” It can be easily understood that something is off about the infamous rapper.
As the interview continues, Daniel Tosh proceeds to pick apart these lyrics and use them against the rapper. Krispy Kreme asks Daniel Tosh to apologize to Jay-Z for him so he does not beat him up for calling Beyonce cute. Daniel Tosh replies saying he should have no trouble beating up Jay-Z because he has already beat up two lions according to his lyrics. Krispy Kreme reveals to us that he in fact has never defeated two lions much less a house cat. As the interview continues Daniel Tosh discovers that Krispy Kreme has not actually done anything that he raps about and has only said them to please his listeners and gain respect in the so called “rap game”.
Now that the jig is up, and it has been revealed that Krispy Kreme’s raps are inherently lies, will this lead us to believe that all popular rap is filled with lies and deception? Are the raps we listen to daily and learn word for word just schemes to attract fans and attain money?
Krispy Kreme is an act. The real name behind the rapper, Tyler Cassidy, was actually Valedictorian of his high school and graduated with a 3.95 GPA. He is not who he tries to portray in his videos he is just playing the character of a rapper who will say anything to attract fans and make people listen to his music. This is the joke behind it all though, Tyler Cassidy is using this persona to mock rap culture today. A culture where artists will say anything necessary to attain a persona that people will be attracted to. They try to portray a lifestyle unattainable by an ordinary person and that is what makes them famous. In this interview, he is being mocked by Daniel but if carefully analyzed it becomes obvious that Tyler is inherently mocking rappers and rap in general. He is mocking the outrageous and unbelievable raps that this generation not only pays money to hear but believes full heartedly.
Daniel at one point during the interview asks Krispy Kreme what he has to say to the people who think he is a fraud, Krispy replies “Sometimes you have to say that you have things that you do not have because then people won’t listen to your music.” He then goes on to say that people would not listen to his music if he were completely honest. This one section of conversation from the entire skit wraps up the entire point Krispy Kreme is trying to make to the viewers. That being, rap is created based off of what will be entertaining to the audience listening. The selling point is the outrageous persona given off, the life the rapper pretends to indulge themselves in is appealing to the audience and causes them to want to listen to it and need more of it.
An example of this is Lil Wayne. A renowned and very well-known rapper all across the country falls victim to this scheme that Krispy Kreme has unveiled. Lil Wayne has several tears drop tattoos below his eyes and raps about them frequently in his songs. Tear drop tattoos are culturally known to mean that you have killed someone and the tattoo is a representation of it. But, Lil Wayne has never killed anyone and admits to it but the persona he tries to omit to his audience is that of a stern and ruthless man who would kill someone or has killed someone. Through his songs and the lyrics he raps you could and would believe that he has killed a man or two in his life time. But the truth is that he has not which proves Krispy Kreme’s whole purpose and objective of this interview.
Through this comical and light-hearted skit by Daniel Tosh and Tyler Cassidy, Krispy Kreme has been able to shed light on the true inner works of today’s “rap game”. The interview questions where Daniel asks if Krispy Kreme were honest in his raps would people listen to them, are strategically placed and timed in order to reveal the true humor and meaning behind the skit. There is humor in the different ways Krispy Kreme responds to Daniel’s interrogation, but the point of the skit or the inherent punch line is when he asks if people would still listen to your music even if it did not have the outrageous and unbelievable lyrics it did. Krispy Kreme’s response ties it all together by him responding “No I do not think people would want to listen if I said I did not have the four hundred houses.” At face value, the skit would just make someone chuckle but when it is actually fully analyzed the underlying message is obvious and the skit becomes more thought provoking and inherently funnier to watch and listen to.
In the skit, Krispy Kreme says he would want Eminem or Tupac to open up for him in a show. This is ironic because Eminem and Tupac are known for writing lyrics based of their real-life stories. Their lyrics have truth behind them and are not just outrageous combinations of words in order for the rapper to sound bad, bold, or even “savage”. Krispy Kreme by doing this, pokes fun at the idea that he is just as good if not better than those artists when really nothing in his raps are even close to true or believable. The subtle jokes throughout the skit pass by when you do not fully comprehend the bases of it. Today, rap is just put together to attract fame and money, it is not music or art anymore it is just a selling mechanism. Tupac and Eminem’s raps are real life stories with truth and substance behind them, they were not made up in order to make money they were created with purpose. This is the point that Krispy Kreme is trying to make when he says he would want Eminem or Tupac to open for him, rap now days is in no comparison to that of true artists in the past.
Krispy Kreme is a suave actor who integrates irony and humor together in order to get a point across to the audience. In this skit, he wants the audience to see his sarcastic undertone and how he is truly mocking what he repeatedly calls the “rap game”. In doing so, he creates unrealistic lyrics in his raps and allows Daniel Tosh to refute them in order to show they are exaggerated and false. He only creates these raps to attract fans just like every rapper now days and that is the point he is trying to relay. Krispy Kreme reveals the truth about the “rap game” in a well-planned out and ironic skit with an underlying meaning and purpose all the while getting a laugh out of his audience.