I will now start looking at kids hard on the J train to figure out who has Lil B music on their player. Link
I could be way off here with the Lil B/Freelancer comparison, but there’s no denying that it’s B’s artistic/writerly drive, his work ethic, and the bizarre nature of his project that have made him so popular with more – shall we say – “thoughtful” rap blogs (his combination of high- and low-brow is exactly what so many better hip-hop blogs are all about, right?), and less so with blogs like 2DopeBoyz and The Smoking Section, which tend to act as conduits for press releases and e-blasts.
I find it deeply ironic that blogs like 2DB and TSS can claim to care about rap music, and dislike Lil B for that reason, but cover losers like Drake ad nauseum, which brings me to the end of my half-drunk story.
I was waiting for the J train, when this younger neighborhood kid struck it up with me, and we got to talking about music. He was listening to Drake. I was, of course, listening to 6 Kiss. I tried to explain to him that Drake isn’t actually rap; it’s pop, and it’s terrible. I am 24, I explained to him, and have been listening to rap since before he was born. “Have you ever heard of Lil B?” I asked him. He hadn’t. All I could think of to sell him on it: “He’s down with Soulja Boy”.
Our conversation fizzled after that. He eventually put his earbuds back in, and we rode together towards Manhattan in silence.