Satirical hip hop in many ways is a parody and a criticism of the whole genre of hip hop, but more specifically to subgenres like gangsta rap, trap rap, and mumble rap. According to Know Your Meme, the genre was created with the intent of becoming viral. Some common characteristics of satirical hip hop include lo-fi production, simplistic music videos, lazy rhymes, and intentionally stereotypical lyrics/topics. Another major characteristic associated with meme rap is the use of alternate personas, which is also a staple in comedy. Internet personalityGeorge "Joji" Miller, for example, occasionally performed under the alter ego "Pink Guy," a main character in his now-defunct Filthy FrankYouTube series. The character of Pink Guy is known for performing many absurdist comedy rap songs.
History and examples
The earliest example of satirical hip hop can be traced back to the works of "Weird Al" Yankovic, who has made parody tracks of popular hip hop songs since the 1990s. Another early example is with Southern California-based rapper Afroman, with his two well-known tracks "Crazy Rap" and "Because I Got High," both released in 2001, featuring comedic lyrics. The Lonely Island are an American comedy trio who released their first comedic rap song in 2001. They rose to fame after joining Saturday Night Live in 2005 where they made many satirical songs that they described as "fake rap". One of their first videos to air "Lazy Sunday" became an internet sensation and was the first video to go viral on YouTube, garnering over 5 million views. The Lonely Island's brand is to make songs that sound macho but actually parody masculinity. They have collaborated with numerous mainstream artists including Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and more. Their YouTube channel has exceeded 1 billion views, they are Grammy nominated, their albums have charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and they've won an Emmy award for their song "Dick in a Box". Some of their most popular songs are "I'm on a Boat", "I Just Had Sex", "Jizz in My Pants", etc. Since leaving SNL, they have continued to make satirical albums and are currently still active. In 2008, Odd Future members Tyler, the Creator and Jasper Dolphin released the sole EP under their short-lived comedy group name "I Smell Panties." The duo utilized elements of gangsta rap and Southern hip hop in a comedic way when performing as I Smell Panties. Tyler then released a track in 2011 called "Come Through Looking Clean", a joke song performed under a character named "Young Nigga." It's a parody of the "Bling Era" of hip hop that was popular during the 2000s and draws heavy inspiration from the music of Lil B. The Young Nigga character would later be re-used on various skits in the 2012 Adult Swim program Loiter Squad, which was created by and starred members of Odd Future. In February 2016, Tyler revealed that his 2011 breakout viral single "Yonkers" was made as a joke song attempting to parody the style of New York rappers. Michigan-based Internet celebrity and rapper Rucka Rucka Ali became famous in the late 2000s/early 2010s for creating pop song parodies containing lyrics for shock value. He often includes juvenile references to ethnic stereotypes, topical subject matter, and dark humor. His music also tends to make use of comedic portrayals of celebrities and his several alter egos espouses stereotypical qualities of specific ethnic groups. Some critics have labeled Ali as a racist as a reaction to his songs, although his humor seems to be heavily influenced by mainstream comedy television shows, such as South Park, Family Guy, and Chappelle's Show, and has jokingly defended his brand of humor by claiming that he's stating objective facts when he references stereotypes in his songs. His videos and YouTube channels are frequently removed, but are reuploaded by his fans. In the mid-2010s, Ryan Harryman, a San Jose State University student and member of the school's water polo club team, became a viral sensation on the Internet under the stage name "3PAC." He was known for his self-produced music videos, bombastic and aggressive comedic rap songs, and diss tracks targeting mainstream rappers like Eminem and 2 Chainz, as well as YouTube gaming channel PewDiePie. 3PAC made a guest appearance on The New CALassic, a comedy hip hop mixtape performed by Internet music criticAnthony Fantano that was released in August 2015. Harryman died at the age of 24 in October 2015 after suffering severe brain damage during a water polo practice. In 2017, YouTube personality Filthy Frank released a music project titled Pink Season, the second album performed under the name "Pink Guy", with some songs poking fun at hip hop music as a whole, among other things. The track "Hand On My Gat" for example, features a character named PolitikZ that acts as a caricature for hardcoreunderground rappers; that character's previous appearance was on the Filthy Frank video "BAD INTERNET RAPPERS", where he performed a song called "Real Hip Hop" that directly parodied the stereotypical anti-mainstream and politically charged attitudes of underground rappers. The Pink Season album reached number one on the iTunes charts and peaked at 70 on the Billboard 200. In April 2018, Internet personality and music critic Anthony Fantano began releasing more satirical hip hop tracks under his Cal Chuchesta alter ego, releasing the tracks "Coin Star" and "Don't Talk To Me."
