New Jersey White Boy's Rap of the Week: Best Friends by Krispy Kreme

I apologize for my absence in this column. I’m currently working on a very in-depth, long, and hopefully interesting article about a particular artist (I’m not revealing who yet). But between life, my other (bad) articles, and not trying to be a dropout, it’s been fairly difficult to find time to write it. But since the article is now 2 weeks late, I’ve decided to put a quick hold on it to do a write up on this guy. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish up that other article before I graduate, as it’s always been one of my fantasies to talk about that artist with the authority a Blogspot account gives me. I just don’t want to break your hearts by not delivering new articles.So watch the blog for that article to hopefully appear next week.

Krispy Kreme is a strange, strange artist. He’s currently released 3 videos/songs, and no one knows how serious he is. I mean, the guy takes his name from the famous donut company. But past that, he’s a short, white, 21 year old good old boy rapping about things that more stereotypical rappers talk about. Of course, no matter what he says, it’s going to be ridiculous. There’s not much stopping him from saying whatever wants, whether it’s about how his best friend was killed in a drug deal gone bad, or how he was eaten by an anaconda snake.

Obviously, joke rap isn’t new. The biggest name in joke rapping is Lonely Island. Made up of Andy Sandberg and 2 other people no one knows or cares about, they’ve taken the internet by storm, between “Dick in a Box”, “Jizzed My Pants”, and “Just Had Sex” (and plenty of other songs). However, Lonely Island is like SNL; when the song works, it’s one of the funniest things you’ve heard. When it doesn’t, it falls on its face, is dragged through the mud, then rolled up in barb wire, and thrown on a landmine. Regardless, they are still the kings of joke rap, and generally considered the gold standard for musical comedy.

Childish Gambino is usually called a joke rapper, and although he mixes jokes into his raps, he’s not a true joke rapper. He even has a few lines about it – on “The Last”, he says “I try to keep my real name undercover/Cause if you hear my name, then you think it's jokes”, or on “Fire Fly”, you hear “’Oh you got a mixtape? That's fantastic’/But everybody thought it was jokes though”. He still wants to taken seriously, and there are a few raps that definitely convey that, regardless of how many punchlines he throws in. He’s serious about the art of rap, and uses it in a very traditional way, mixing emotion and braggadocio in his lyrics to create an effective, if occasionally generic, oeuvre.

But my favorite joke rapper is Bo Burnham. He started online making funny songs for Youtube, then got a record deal, and apparently let it all go to his head. He now makes serious songs like this anti-bullying one, or very meta, artistic, laugh-quietly-to-myself songs. But his earlier stuff was great; a fantastic mix of intellectual jokes that only those in the know would understand, and stupid jokes about sex and homosexuals and racism that anyone could laugh at. Well, laugh at if you find that stuff funny. But even if is new stuff doesn’t tickle your whiskers and call you a duckling, his intelligence, lyricism, and density are by the far near the top of any medium.

But Krispy Kreme is different. As I said, he’s balanced on the edge of serious and ridiculous (unlike Elliott, who’s always ridiculous). It’s something I’d like to start calling post-joke rap. I’d also throw Turquoise Jeep Records as post-joke rap. Yes, they are ridiculous, both with their image and lyrics. I mean, just listen the first few lines of “Haters Wanna Be Me” – “I’ve been shot about 500 times/And I’ve done about 1 million crimes/I killed a great white shark/I knocked out his teeth and ripped out his heart”. But KK does truly care about the medium, unlike many joke rappers in the past.

He’s said that his childhood featured Nas and Tupac, and took the inspiration from them to begin his rapping career. For the most part, joke rappers start out as comedians or writers, then move to rap. Very few start off directly in music, and the ones that do move on to do some standup. Look at Jon Lajoie, Bo Burnham, and Lonely Island. They feel like they need to do other stuff outside of their music in order to remain funny, and keep the crowd’s interest. And it’s because they’re focusing on the laughs, rather than hip-hop. But post-joke rappers like Turquoise Jeep and Krispy Kreme are serious about making funny music, so much so that they don’t even reveal whether or not they’re real. No one knows their real names, what they were doing before they were famous, or any information. For all we know, Flynt Flossy was born full grown with that fake-looking beard. They’re not in it for the recognition or the money or whatever; they make the music they enjoy, and it just so happens that it’s joke-rap.

While “The Baddest”, the first song Krispy Kreme released, featured a pretty weak flow, his other 2 releases have seen a great improvement (maybe it's because KK was suffering from a now famous running nose during that recording). It’s still slightly stunted and suffers somewhat from Alabama accent and inexperience. He puts a bit too much emphasis on the last word, which is a common mistake of young rappers, and spends too much time trying to enunciate each word. But that’s discounting his delivery. His verses feature a slightly laid back and casual delivery, which helps increase the comedy by making his actions seem like they’re no big deal to him. But I’ll be damned if his hooks aren’t fire. They feel like they can be in any song. “Haters Wanna Be Me” has a braggadocio that would be home on any Meek Mills track, not just with its lyrical content, but also with its tone, delivery and flow.

Also, whoever is producing him actually has some skills. From the symphonic and dramatic strings on “Best Friends” to the hard boom-bap beat on “Haters Wanna Be Me”, it’s clear that his production team knows what they’re doing, and is making beats for keeps. It’s far better than what one would expect from a dude who makes his videos in his basement and in the woods by his house, and especially considering he’s 21 and still plays with wrestling action figures outside of a school.

Krispy Kreme has some talent. Yes, he’s young and doesn’t have a lot of experience. But he shows a lot of promise and has the makings of a decent rapper, regardless if it’s post-joke or actual joke, or if he's trying to be completely serious (which I highly doubt). Even though his lyrics are funny and stupid, he cares deeply about the music he’s making, and it shows. Like him on Facebook, subscribe to him on Youtube, follow him on Twitter, although I’m sure that people will be showing you his videos anyway. You can also like/follow his best friend/video costar Money Maker Mike on Facebook/Twitter, if you're so inclined. But neither of those are as important as liking Frogs on a Log on Facebook.