{"id":1047650,"date":"2022-07-22T18:13:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1047650"},"modified":"2022-07-22T18:13:56","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:13:56","slug":"issa-raes-rap-sht-is-having-fun-with-the-less-glamorous-parts-of-hip-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1047650","title":{"rendered":"Issa Rae\u2019s *Rap Sh!t* Is Having Fun With the Less Glamorous Parts of Hip-Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Columns<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Issa Rae\u2019s Rap Sh!t<\/em> Is Having Fun With the Less Glamorous Parts of Hip-Hop<\/h1>\n
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A review of one of the more promising TV shows about rappers<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Alphonse Pierre<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Aida Osman and KaMillion in Rap Sh!t<\/em>. Graphic by Callum Abbott, photo by Alicia Vera\/HBO Max<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Pitchfork writer Alphonse Pierre\u2019s<\/em>rap column<\/em>covers songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, weird tweets, fashion trends<\/em>\u2014and anything else that catches his attention.<\/em><\/p>\n

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At first glance, scripted television shows about rappers are everywhere. Lil Dicky\u2019s Dave<\/em> is ostensibly the story of a rising emcee, but the genre is used more as a springboard for the comedian\u2019s true ambitions to pen a Curb Your Enthusiasm<\/em> and Louie<\/em> hybrid. Also, it stinks. Donald Glover\u2019s Atlanta<\/em> was originally billed as \u201cTwin Peaks<\/em> with rappers,\u201d though as its most recent season went on the rapper part of that equation started to feel like an afterthought. ABC\u2019s Eve and Brandy-led melodrama Queens<\/em> took a decent swing but was quickly given the axe\u2014at least it gave us a Cam\u2019ron cameo before the lights went off. On Starz\u2019s P-Valley<\/em>, J. Alphonse Nicholson\u2019s breakout role as Lil Murda, an emerging Mississippi street rapper with an unexpected tender side, is really<\/em> good, but he\u2019s the show\u2019s C-plot at best.<\/p>\n

Enter Issa Rae\u2019s Rap Sh!t,<\/em> an HBO Max series where the genre is not merely an aesthetic backdrop or the catalyst of a secondary storyline, but rather its pulse. Conceived during the development of Insecure<\/em>\u2019s final season, Rae loosely based Rap Sh!t<\/em> on the come-up of the City Girls, who are credited as producers. There are a few questionable choices: Most specifically, the contrived visual style that attempts to emphasize the importance of social media by placing scenes through the lens of Instagram Live and Stories, FaceTime, and social-media interactions. The look becomes less of a distraction as the first season goes on and the true tone of the show\u2014a light, fun deep-dive into the crooked ecosystem of rap\u2014grows more pronounced.<\/p>\n

Set in Miami and shot on location, the story follows high school friends who reconnect in their twenties to form a rap duo. Mia (rapper KaMillion) is a single mother with a five-figure IG following, who gets by doing makeup and stripping on OnlyFans but still feels the weight of her responsibilities. Shawna (comedian Aida Osman) is a struggling rapper who spends her days working the counter at a South Beach hotel. Her politically charged rhymes in the style of Noname (only without her humor and playful flows) haven\u2019t taken off, while her ex-producer (Jaboukie Young-White) has made it big by shaping the sound of Reina Reign (an Iggy Azalea stand-in). At one point in the pilot a man gives Shawna\u2019s music the backhanded compliment, \u201cWe need more rappers like you, sistahs with self-respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After a drunken night in the city, Shawna lays down an off-the-dome freestyle on IG Live while Mia does her thing on the ad-libs. The clip goes viral and Shawna pleads with Mia to capitalize on their buzz with an actual song. Their ideologies about what type of rap women should make quickly clash: Mia wants to make \u201cfine bitch shit\u201d while Shawna is concerned about the line between sexual empowerment and playing into the male gaze. They talk it over and don\u2019t find a magic solution, but Mia is able to broaden her friend\u2019s narrow view of art. Their first song, a City Girls-esque anthem, is a leap for Shawna, who goes from conscious punchlines that might make Joyner Lucas cringe (she writes a rap from the perspective of student loans) to having Megan Thee Stallion\u2019s mannerisms down.<\/p>\n

Once the premise is established, the show gets to work on what sets it apart: digging in the weeds of the rap world, from its commentary on streaming success to the Southern-rap soundtrack and thoughtful original songs. The snippet of Shawna and Mia\u2019s second single, as revealed in episode six, is probably the most I\u2019ve been interested in a rap song performed by original characters since 2005 when DJay (Terrence Howard) dove into the struggles of pimping in Hustle & Flow.<\/em> Over a beat that taps into the \u201900s Cash Money revival, Mia\u2019s assertive \u201cmy bitch so bad\u201d hook gives off the feel of Trina, while Shawna\u2019s flow is now a breezy bounce that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in Memphis. It\u2019s pointed and regionally specific, notes that are helped by having the real-life influence of the City Girls as a foundation.<\/p>\n

Plus, the duo\u2019s conversations about rap feel similar to the ones that fans have in reality: What does selling out look like? Who gets platformed and why? And what does hip-hop stand for? Rap Sh!t<\/em> isn\u2019t the first scripted comedy to foreground rappers, but with its critical eye towards power dynamics in the industry, it just might be the most in-touch with the genre.<\/p>\n

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GloRilla: \u201cTomorrow\u201d<\/strong><\/div>\n
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GloRilla and her friends went from doing donuts in Infinitis and waterfalling bottles of Hennessy in Memphis parking lots, to twerking inside private jets with stacks of money in their hands. Since her music video for \u201cFNF (Let\u2019s Go),\u201d arguably rap\u2019s song of the summer, hit the internet, GloRilla has become an instant star\u2014even inking a deal with Yo Gotti\u2019s CMG. She didn\u2019t fall from the sky, though. Last year, she formed a supergroup with four other Memphis-bred women\u2014Aleza, Gloss Up, Slimeroni, and K Carbon\u2014who released a run of posse cuts so good that the idea of one breaking through felt inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow\u201d is how you follow up a phenomenon like \u201cFNF (Let\u2019s Go).\u201d There\u2019s nothing too complicated about it; just hard-nosed bars over brooding piano lines and a mean bassline. GloRilla\u2019s voice is heavy, delivering lines with the aggression of stomping on a roach. Despite the song\u2019s viciousness, it\u2019s not angry music. All the drama slides right off GloRilla, and from the opening lines her only concern is how fly she is: \u201cPoppin\u2019 shit, you would think I went to school for chiropractin\u2019\/Lookin\u2019 good as hell today, just sent my nigga five attachments.\u201d This feels like the start of something exciting, and now that she\u2019s steamrolled through the doors, her similarly fun-spirited group members can strut right in, too.<\/p>\n

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Yeat<\/strong>tells all<\/strong><\/div>\n

The details about Yeat\u2019s life are so scarce that anytime we learn anything it feels revelatory. In a new two-and-a-half-minute interview, which feels like it belongs in the Tim and Eric<\/em> universe, Yeat opens up by telling us that he eats 13-14 bowls of Frosted Flakes a day, wants to be \u201cnothing\u201d when he\u2019s older, and believes kids should be allowed to hit Juuls in school. He\u2019s so uninteresting that he\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n

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Certified Trapper: \u201cWhen I Sneeze\u201d<\/strong><\/div>\n
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As of this writing, Certified Trapper has dropped about 20 music videos in the past two weeks. Most of them are self-recorded in one of two rooms, with only blunts and weapons as props, and featuring occasional guest appearances from his uncle who dances like a stiffer John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever<\/em>. \u201cWhen I Sneeze\u201d takes the action outside of his home for once: the Milwaukee rapper and his crew head to a convenience store to do some sort of pigeon dance and pat each other down like they\u2019re security guards outside of a club.<\/p>\n

His music is as minimalist as his videos, with pianos and percussion that sound like they come with the free version of production software and offbeat raps that were surely laid down in one take. He\u2019ll stumble over his words and just keep going. But the songs are sometimes good, or at the very least interesting. On \u201cWhen I Sneeze,\u201d one of his best tracks yet, the beat is a mesmerizing but odd mix: robotic handclaps, a basic piano line, and an eerie background noise that I can\u2019t quite place. His raps are similarly bizarre\u2014it sounds like he may have recorded his verse on a delay, so even when he lands in the pocket it feels unintentional. It\u2019s hard to know if this is supposed to be funny or if he\u2019s dead serious (I like to think it\u2019s both), but either way, Certified Trapper\u2019s YouTube page is worth checking out every day.<\/p>\n

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Mixtape of the week: DaeMoney\u2019s<\/strong>Slayer\u2019s Coming<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

Of the many rap pros in Detroit with extremely laidback, conversational flows, World Tour Mafia are the G League team who are ready for a call-up. DaeMoney is the most consistent member of their roster. On Slayer\u2019s Coming<\/em>, he continues that streak in a short but punchy seven songs. Exclusively produced by Trees, DaeMoney woozily drops in his trusted blend of lifestyle raps, life lessons, and IG caption-ready punchlines on top of the chill backdrops. I particularly like \u201cLemon Cherry,\u201d with its sweet instrumental and his silky flow, as well as \u201cWayne Perry,\u201d which features the type of brooding and busy piano-driven beat I look forward to on Detroit tapes. \u201cAndrew Wiggins\u201d is his best rapping, a little on the melodramatic side but in a way that gives his deadpan cadence a bump. And it\u2019s all packed into a runtime shorter than a network sitcom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/rap-shit-hbo-max-review\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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