Feature: Understanding the Enigmatic Lil B

That's right folks, Lil B just covered XXL. Are you really surprised though? Okay perhaps, you are. Perhaps you don't quite understand dude. That's okay, you are not alone. To help you out, 38thnotes decided to weigh in on what makes Lil B the success he is. Take a gander and then let us know what you think about him and his movement. 

Lil B is brilliant because Lil B is an enigma. In a genre that is obsessed with categorizing artists, Lil B thrives on being random, nonsensical and impossible to pin down. Off top, he sucks by most people's standards. This perplexes the fuck out of hip-hop heads trying to figure out how he has managed to grace the covers of both The Fader and XXL, been featured on MTV and positively reviewed in The New York Times.  This dumbfounded confusion leads us to dig deeper– to see what it is we're missing. Because the last thing any intelligent person wants is to feel like they can't understand an imbecile. Even the media outlets that grant him coverage don't really get it, but his massive online movement somehow validates him, forces their hands and further fuels his movement. 

Lil B covers The Fader

Through this process of trying to figure Lil B out, we become amused by him, leading us to become tongue-in-cheek sarcastic fans. And even though our fandom is a rouse in our own minds, we are paying attention, forever hoping for the day that we can make sense of him and dismiss him. This whole time the Based God is laughing his ass off all the way to the bank.

And lets face it, Lil B isn't just moderately successful, he's changing the game. He's a one man PR machine that has turned young kids into followers of a #Based sub-genre/ lifestyle that no one can define. He's taken a generation of hip-hop fans who are damn near too cool to clap at shows, into girlfriend-sacrificing zealots in chef hats and aprons. Have you not seen the footage? Lil B is damn near a cult leader. He even has written a self-help book on Based positive living–the perfect set-up to the founding of a cult.

When has a rapper ever started rumors that he himself is gay!? When has a rapper ever called himself a pretty bitch, and then convinced other men to do the same? When has a rapper ever owned up to wearing tiny jeans, women's shirts and the same shoes for hella years? Lil B not only did these things, but somehow spun them into positives, forever proving that any press is good press.

People who don't even know who Lil B is are doing the cooking dance and exclaiming "swag." Perhaps more importantly, people who don't even like Lil B are doing the cooking dance. As hard as it is to say, he is a genius, because he's killing the game when most artists are treading water at best. He started with 130+ myspace pages and a myriad of youtube pages. Now he's killing the game on twitter and tumblr, posing the question, how many of his crazy fans are really him under other accounts? More importantly, does it even matter? Buzz kills, regardless of who generates it. I can't help but respect dude, even though I don't understand him.

The Vice Guide to Everything - MTV Shows

Lil B is not a great emcee by any stretch, but he is better than his music lets on. He is also quite intelligent. And even if you hate on him on those fronts, you have to acknowledge that he is a PR and marketing genius. He even has the already successful Souljah Boy remixing his life in The Based God's image.

Based music may merely be an excuse for bad freestyling, but it has been a phenomenon from the cooking dance to the “hoes on my dick” lines. And again, just when you think you can define and dismiss him, he throw's you another curve ball. With his recent Red Flame mixtapes he has shelved the "Won Ton Soup" and "Pretty Bitch" anthems for darker and more serious fare. It way still sound a bit abstract and random, but it shows his versatility and keeps listeners on their toes. When most artists find a sound that works, they ride it out. Not Lil B. He just pivots and keeps it pushing.

His weirdness is not unprecedented in Bay Area music, lest we forget that this is the land of Sly Stone and Humpty Hump, but Lil B seems to have upped the ante this time around. I am not a fan of most of his music, but I respect the fuck out of him and his movement nonetheless, because he has laid a new blueprint for success as the record industry crumbles. What will really bake our noodles though, is that we watched his whole movement unfold, and still have no idea how the fuck it happened. 

If you're interest has been piqued, download Lil B's most recent mixtape, Red Flame: Devil Music Edition and keep it #BASED. Thank you #BASEDGOD! You are a true Bay Area renegade and American original. #SWAG!