Lil B
Lil B | |
|---|---|
 Lil B in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brandon McCartney |
| Also known as | The BasedGod, Lil Bars |
| Born | August 17, 1989[1][2] Berkeley, California, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, author |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | BasedWorld, Amalgam Digital |
| Website | www |
Brandon McCartney (born August 17, 1989), known by his stage name Lil B or The BasedGod, is an American rapper and author from Berkeley, California. Lil B has recorded both solo and with The Pack. He is noted for his extensive use of social media websites such as MySpace and Twitter to build an online following.[3][4]
Music career
Early career
Brandon McCartney grew up in Berkeley, California, and attended high school at Albany High in Albany. He adopted the name Lil B, and began rapping at age 16 with San Francisco Bay Area based hip hop group The Pack. After two locally successful mixtapes, at the peak of the Bay Area's hyphy movement, the group's song "Vans" became a surprise hit. The song was ranked as the fifth best of 2006 by Rolling Stone magazine.[5] The strength of "Vans" led the group to release Skateboards 2 Scrapers, featuring a "Vans" remix with Bay Area rappers Too $hort and Mistah F.A.B.. In 2007, Lil B and The Pack released its first album, Based Boys.
Solo success (2010–present)
Aside from his involvement with The Pack, Lil B garnered popularity through the use of social media Web sites. He created over 155 MySpace pages in order to upload all of his music. He recorded over 1,500 tracks as of July 2010, including hits "Like A Martian," "Wonton Soup," "Pretty Bitch," and "I'm God.",[6] all of which were released for free.
Lil B had apparently signed with Amalgam Digital in 2010 for a multiple album deal.[7][8] However, he appears to have only released one record through the label, and his subsequent records were released independently either through mixtape hosting website DatPiff, or iTunes, published under "BasedWorld Records".
In November 2010, Lil B was featured in his first cover on the publication The FADER, in its 71st issue.[9]
Slate columnist Jonah Weiner labeled him as one of a "growing number of weird-o emcees", calling him a "brilliantly warped, post-Lil Wayne deconstructionist from the Bay Area".[10]
Lil B released Angels Exodus, on January 18, 2011, through Amalgam Digital, although he had previously released Rain in England on CD and Vinyl through Weird Forest Records in September 2010.
On August 11, 2012, Lil B stated through his Facebook that the only official album he has released was the album Choices and Flowers under his alias "The BasedGod." He said that all other releases by him are mixtapes and that he is currently working on his first official Lil B studio album.[11] Before the first Lil B album comes out he will release a rock album.[12] He has since stated he is working on a new album as "The BasedGod" called "Tears 4 God", which was released on December 30, 2012.[13]
Other ventures
Author
Takin’ Over by Imposing the Positive! is a book written by Brandon McCartney and published through Kele Publishing in 2009.[14] The book is a collection of and written in the form of e-mails and text messages, and is written in such a way that the author is e-mailing the reader. Subjects include positivity, optimism, and living what he calls a "Based Lifestyle".[15] The book was passed out in an unscripted NYU lecture on March 2012.[16] On March 30, 2013 McCartney announced that he was in the process of writing his second book.[17]
Controversy
I'm Gay album
When Lil B released his fifth album, titled I'm Gay, he received several death threats. Although he is heterosexual, he says the title is a message of support to the LGBT community. Referring to the original definition of gay, he says he is gay because he is happy.[18]
Feud with Joe Budden
In 2010, a number of exchanges between Lil B and Joe Budden were had over Twitter. Joe Budden had been seeming to speak mockingly about Lil B's "Based" movement and his tweets, to which Lil B responded, initially friendly but then with insults.[19] Lil B went on to release a diss track called "T Shirts & Buddens",[20] which was then featured on his "Everything Based" mixtape. Lil B later apologized for his insults and noted his respect for Budden, calling him a "legend".[21]
Feud with Game
In 2011, after hearing a verse from Lil B on the Lil Wayne mixtape Sorry 4 the Wait, Compton rapper Game referred to Lil B as the "wackest rapper of all time." Lil B responded by calling Game "irrelevant," to which Game then threatened to knockout Lil B.[22] Game targeted Lil B in his verse in his track "Martians vs Goblins" featuring Lil Wayne and Tyler the Creator, with the line "Tie Lil B up to a tank full of propane, swag, now watch him cook". Lil B addressed this on his track "Tank of Propaine" on his "White Flame" mixtape. Several weeks later, the two settled their differences through Twitter after which Lil B urged fans to purchase Game's The R.E.D. Album.[23]
Feud with Joey Bada$$
Lil B took offense to the lyrics in the song "Survival Tactics" by late rapper Capital STEEZ, a founding member of the group Pro Era. In this, he raps, "They say hard work pays off / Well, tell the BasedGod don't quit his day job." Lil B responded with a song titled "I'm The Bada$$". Joey Bada$$ then responded with a song titled "Don't Quit Your Day Job!".[24] When the feud became public on twitter, Joey became a target of a lot of attacks from Lil B's fans, which ended up with Joey deleting his Twitter account,[25] though restoring it later. Later, in an interview with WWPR-FM, Joey Badass denied that he deleted his Twitter account because of Lil B's fans.[26]
Artistry
Rapping technique
Pitchfork contributor Mike Powell notes that "The issue isn't whether or not Lil B fans are "indentured to the idea of ironic fulfillment," but whether or not Lil B haters are indentured to outmoded ideas of artistic credibility. He's not making art designed to last the test of time, so holding him to the standards of timeless art is pointless. Ultimately, my take with Lil B is that he keeps the price of entry to his world so low that complaining about him is a waste of energy. He offers himself to his audience for nothing—giving him nothing shouldn't be hard. Furthermore, I don't even know what "ironic" means in the context of Lil B. If he really didn't think that the world was a beautiful and endlessly amusing place, where does he find the energy to keep rapping about it for free?"[27]
Musical critic Willy Staley described Lil B's work as "variegated", because it ranges from critical parodies of the hip-hop genre to "half new age, half spoken word". He further notes that Lil B draws from a large variety of genres, especially those not commonly used by other rappers. In an interview with Staley, Lil B agrees with this analysis, saying, "I can do 'Swag OD' but then my favorite musical artist right now could be Antony and the Johnsons. That's the difference between me and these other rappers, and other musical artists in general."[4]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Heat | US R&B | US Rap | ||||||||||
| I'm Thraxx[3] |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 6 Kiss[3] |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Rain in England[28] |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Angels Exodus[28] |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| I'm Gay (I'm Happy)[29][30][31] |
|
— | 20 | 56 | — | ||||||||
| Choices and Flowers[28][32][33](as The BasedGod) |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Tears 4 God[34](as The BasedGod) |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| S.S. Mixtape Vol. 1 (with Young L as Young World)[35] |
|
| S.S. Mixtape Vol. 2 (with Young L as Young World)[36] |
|
| Dior Paint[37] |
|
| Base World Pt. 1[38] |
|
| Pretty Boy Millionaires (with Soulja Boy)[39] |
|
| Roses Exodus[39] |
|
| Paint[40] |
|
| Everything Based[39] |
|
| Blue Flame[39] |
|
| MF Based[39] |
|
| Gold Dust[39] |
|
| Where Did The Sun Go[39] |
|
| Red Flame[39] |
|
| Red Flame: Evil Edition[39] |
|
| MM..Christmas[39] |
|
| The Myspace Collection[41] |
|
| Red Flame: Devil Music Edition[39] |
|
| Illusions Of Grandeur[38] |
|
| Bitch Mob: Respect Da Bitch Vol.1[39] |
|
| I Forgive You[38] |
|
| Black Flame[38] |
|
| The Silent President[38] |
|
| BasedGod Velli[38] |
|
| Blue Eyes[39] |
|
| Goldhouse[39] |
|
| White Flame[38] |
|
| God's Father[38][39] |
|
| #1 Bitch[39] |
|
| The BasedPrint 2[39] |
|
| Trapped In BasedWorld[39] |
|
| Water Is D.M.G. Pt. 1[39] |
|
| Green Flame[39] |
|
| Based Freestyle Collection[42] |
|
| Rich After Taxes[39] |
|
| Task Force[39] |
|
| Obama BasedGod[39] |
|
| Based Jam[39] |
|
| Frozen[39] |
|
| Illusions of Grandeur 2[39] |
|
| Halloween H2O[12] |
|
| Crime Fetish[39] |
|
| Glassface[39] |
|
| Pink Flame[39] |
|
| P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thug)[39] |
|
| 100% Percent Gutta[43] |
|
| 05 Fuck 'Em[44] |
|
| Basedworld Paradise[45] |
|
Albums with The Pack
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat | US R&B | US Ind | |||||||||||
| Skateboards 2 Scrapers (with The Pack) |
|
— | — | — | |||||||||
| Based Boys (with The Pack) |
|
14 | 57 | 46 | |||||||||
| Wolfpack Party (with The Pack) |
|
13 | 65 | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "30 Thousand 100 Million"[46] | 2010 | Soulja Boy | The DeAndre Way |
| "Bad Captain Swag"[47] | Sole and the Skyrider Band | Hello Cruel World | |
| "Grove St. Party Freestyle" | 2011 | Lil Wayne | Sorry 4 the Wait |
| "Bird Talk Remix"[48] | 2013 | Fredo Santana | — |
| "Make It Work Remix" | 2014 | Soulja Boy | — |
| "I Got That Sack" | Soulja Boy | King Soulja II |
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Basedworld[49] | as Himself | Documentary |
References
- ^ Lil B. "THIS IS BEAUTY AND ART THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY LOVE!! AUG 17th! HAPPY #BASED DAY!! ALL". Based World. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ Lil B. "Lil B Myspace page". Myspace. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ a b c Caramanica, Jon (26 July 2010). "A Pied Piper of Rap, Followed on Twitter". New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ a b Staley, Willy (7 September 2009). "The man behind the meme". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ^ "The Rolling Stone Magazine Top Tracks/Songs of 2006". December 2006. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ Roberts, Steven (2010-07-30). "Lil B Is Taking The Net By Storm, One Freestyle At A Time". MTV News. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ "Lil B The Based God Signs with Amalgam Digital, Preps New Albums". Amalgam Digital. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ "Lil B Signs With Amalgam Digital | Prefix". Prefixmag.com. 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
- ^ FADER, The (20010-11-30). "World Premiere! The FADER Issue #71: Lykke Li, Lil B & Young L + Odd Future". The FADER. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Weiner, Joseph (18 January 2011). "The Triumph of the Weirdo. Rapper". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/#!/LILBTHEBASEDGOD/posts/514861768531009
- ^ a b "Lil B "Halloween H2O" Mixtape Download & Stream". HipHop DX. Retrieved 29 October 2012. Cite error: The named reference "www.hiphopdx.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "https://www.facebook.com/LILBTHEBASEDGOD/posts/571451386205380". Facebook. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ "Takin' Over". Kele Publishing. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "REVIEW OF MY NEW BOOK "TAKIN OVER"". Based World. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Marantz, Andrew. "THE DUMB BRILLIANCE OF LIL B". The Newyorker. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Dior Paint". Dior Paint. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Zakarin, Jordan (2011-04-24). "Lil B's 'I'm Gay' Album Title Results In Death Threats". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
- ^ http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2010/08/lil-b-i-felt-like-joe-budden-was-making-a-mockery-of-me/
- ^ http://www.complex.com/music/2013/01/a-history-of-rappers-picking-fights-with-lil-b/joe-budden
- ^ http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=6212
- ^ http://hiphopwired.com/2011/08/23/game-wants-lil-b-to-come-at-him-video/
- ^ http://hiphopwired.com/2011/08/29/game-lil-b-end-beef-on-twitter/
- ^ http://www.complex.com/music/2013/01/video-joey-badass-says-dissing-lil-b-was-too-easy
- ^ http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/joey-badass-deletes-twitter-following-frustration-with-lil-b-fans-news.4317.html
- ^ "Interview With Joey Badass At The Breakfast Club Power 105.1 - YouTube".
- ^ Powell, Mike. "The Curious Case of Lil B"
- ^ a b c "Lil B Albums, Discography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Andrew Unterberger (2011-04-18). "A Very Straight Lil B Says New Album Will Be Titled "I'm Gay"". Popdust. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
- ^ thebottomline says:. "Lil B Announces I'm Gay Album Title | DrJays.com Live | Fashion. Music. Lifestyle". Live.drjays.com. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Lil B Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The Basedgod". iTunes. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The BasedGod Album & Song Chart History". Billboard.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The Basedgod". iTunes.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Young L & Lil B". iTunes. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Young L & Lil B". iTunes. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Lil B". BasedWorld.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h "Lil B". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Lil B". DatPiff. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Lil B". BasedWorld.com. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Lil B". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Lil B". The Fader. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2013/06/lil-b-throws-hat-into-june-18th-ring-releases-100-gudda-mixtape/
- ^ "Download Lil B's New 101-Song Mixtape, "05 F*** Em"". Complex. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.27540/title.lil-b-basedworld-paradise-cover-art-tracklist-mixtape-stream
- ^ Amidon, David (February 10, 2011). "Soulja Boy Tell 'Em: The DeAndre Way". PopMatters.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (July 18, 2011). "Sole and the Skyrider Band: Hello Cruel World". Pitchfork Media.
- ^ http://www.xxlmag.com/rap-music/new-music/2013/12/fredo-santana-featuring-lil-b-bird-talk-remix/
- ^ http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/lil-b-documentary-to-be-released-in-february-news.8749.html