It's got close to 3 million views. About this video I need to say a few things.
1) If you can watch that silly-ass music video and not laugh and/or fall in love with the utter so-bad-it's-goodness of BANGS then I'm afraid you need to go drown yourself in the toilet cause your life is just not one worth living.
2) Where the hell did BANGS get an iPhone? And why do the parts of the video where he's on the phone have such high production values? It's like they spent all their money on the iPhone scene and then the budget ran out so they had to use the iPhone to film and edit the rest of the video. Still though, iPhone status gets BANGS mad points, cause I live in America and I still use a Motorola Razr.
Like any respectable hip hop artist, BANGS has a fairly sizable community of haters, which are quite vocal in comments on reposts of the BANGS videos on Youtube.
"good lord this dude is just downright awful. most likely one of the if not the worst rapper I've ever seen. you suck" -mrpotato623, mad cause BANGS is stylin on him
"can anyone else not see how horrible this is? and the government wonders how we get broke! you guys investing the wrong money to the wrong people GOD DAMN..." -kennyboi619, mad cause his videos never broke double-digit views
There's this type of hate, but then you get stuff like THIS, which I have a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH.
"your music is a joke but if you were 2 rap n your native language or rap about all the things that are happening over there or educate others, i think you would make a greater impact that trying to imitate what you think is going on in America ok" -caramelcutie313, RACIST
That's right caramelcutie313, you're fucking racist. And I will explain in great detail why.
To demonstrate this we're gonna look at a rapper that is very very different from BANGS... K'NAAN was born in Somalia and as a young boy lived in the Capital city of Mogadishu at the height of the brutal Somali Civil War, which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands through combat and starvation. At age 13 K'NAAN and his family were able to move to New York City and then Canada, where he learned English and began his rap career.

Themes of K'NAAN's music include the state of world affairs and current events, uplifting impoverished peoples, and reflections of his Somalian roots. He has recorded several tracks in his native Somali. He's a talented and successful rapper and I like him.
Now, what does he have to do with BANGS?
Exactly. He has nothing to do with BANGS.
Fuckheads like caramelcutie313 think that because a rapper is African he can only make cultural NPR-y hip hop about genocide and shit, and if you ask me it's downright disgusting. K'NAAN and BANGS are two people who moved from states of oppression to the free world, in which they are able to pursue their own dreams and forge their own destinies. K'NAAN has chosen to make socially conscious rap because that's how he expresses himself as an artist. But ya boy BANGS is a different guy from the sky, and he just wants to rap about taking girls to the movies, and if you think there's something wrong with that then there's something wrong with you.
I hope you enjoyed the blog post,
Cause I did too,
Anytime you wanna read again just holler at me.
Baby girl, we can make it,
To be better than before.
Anything you want me to blog,
I can blog it fo' sho.

lmao bill, you're hilarious!
ReplyDeletecaramelcutie313 can suck mah cock :P
Oof, that's intense. BANGS seems honest and simple as a little boy with his lyrics ("My Special Girl," "My Life is Hard" - "I'm Going to Da Ghetto" sounds more serious though), and comes across as more funny than anything... sure there is nothing wrong about rapping in English, but that is part of the funny novelty "aha this is a joke" stigma, and singing in his native language could lend a better sense of rhythm and lyrical comfort. He likes English-speaking rappers, but he could do what he does without as much trouble in his own language, and I'm sure that's what a lot of people seeing his videos think: that he should be embarrassed. Of course he shouldn't have shame in his choices, but he might be missing his intended mark. Unless it's a joke...
ReplyDeleteIf the entire image and personality of BANGS was intended as a joke, it would immediately cease to be funny. There are joke rappers, and they can be funny, but what makes BANGS appealing is his genuineness. BANGS' music gives me a real impression of his everyday life. Taking girls to da movies, worrying about wayward homies, BANGS raps about what he knows, which is what real hip hop is all about.
ReplyDeleteSide note: BANGS' new single "Meet Me On Facebook" drops Aug. 3rd!!
I know I'm stoked. I might even buy it on itunes rather than rip the audio off youtube.