4 Comedy Rappers You Should Know
- Rebecca Skaggs
- Oct 10, 2019
- 3 min read
Comedy hip-hop or comedy rap, has resurfaced as a mainstream style. Rap artists have always incorporated humorous lyrics in songs from Eminem’s “My Name Is” to Ice Cube’s “Look Who’s Burnin’”, but these aren’t necessarily parodies of the genre. Groups like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Kid ‘n Play along with The Lonely Island popularized music that is comedic in nature, often incorporating satirical lyrics. However, now in 2019, there are 4 new artists that you should know if you are a fan of comedy rap.
1. Lil Dicky
Born and raised in Philadelphia, David Andrew Burd or Lil Dicky has been writing music since 2011. He released his debut album Professional Rapper in 2015 with features from Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, and Fetty Wap. His first hit song “$ave Dat Money”, which is about saving money, which is the opposite of most typical rap and hip-hop songs. Out of all the rappers on this list, Lil Dicky should be the most familiar. In 2018 he released a song called “Freaky Friday” featuring Chris Brown that is about the two of them switching bodies just like in the movie by the same name. Personally, my favorite song is titled “Pillow Talking” and is a 10-minute song about a conversation he had with a girl after a one-night stand.
2. Tiny Meat Gang (TMG)
This LA-based rap duo, made up of YouTube comedians Cody Ko and Noel Miller, has been putting out music together since 2017. The two have been friends for a few years and were co-workers at Fullscreen but now both have huge followings on their YouTube channels and host a podcast under the same name. Their first EP, Bangers and Ass was released late in 2017 and most of the songs parody ridiculous song tropes. For example, “IFYB” is about how rappers are typically sleeping with other guy’s girlfriends. Locals Only was their second release and featured one of their most popular songs, “Stay Safe.” I’m a huge fan of their work but one of my favorites has to be their singled titles “Short Kings Anthem” that features blackbear. Since both Cody and Noel are 5’8”, they rap about being short men.
3. Hobo Johnson
Frank Lopes Jr., better known as Hobo Johnson, is a 24-year-old hip-hop, emo-rap artist that is known for having very comical lyrics. He began performing music at the age of 15 and released his album, The Rise of Hobo Johnson, in 2016. Johnson and his band, the LoveMakers, released a music video on Facebook as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Contest in 2018. The live version of “Peach Scone” went viral and collected millions of views in weeks. His most recent release, The Fall of Hobo Johnson, features the song “Subaru Crosstrek XV,” in which the chorus is about his recent purchase of the car and how reliable the car is. My favorite song is the live version of “Peach Scone,” which is about his relationship with a girl he likes, who has a boyfriend already.
4. Danny Gonzalez
Similarly, to TMG, Danny Gonzalez is a YouTube comedian who creates commentary videos. He began making songs in 2017 that are incorporated into his videos. For example, he made a video about The Santa Clause being a weird Christmas movie because Santa dies at the beginning of it. The end of the video is a music video for his song “I’m Gonna Kill Santa Claus” plays and jokes about the fact that Santa died. Danny released his first EP in 2019, Bump This. My favorite song of his is off of Bump This, called “The Tea,” a love song told through current and overused slang terms.
Have you heard of any of these artists before? Do you like the genre of comedy rap in general?
Let me know in the comments!
Lil Dicky was the only one I had heard of before reading your post. I’m from around the same area, and he blew up my senior year of high school (‘13) with a song about being an ex-boyfriend. He is pretty cool, and I think the most likable of the comedic rappers around right now. Plus, if you’re friends with Snoop Dog, it legitimizes you a lot in my eyes.
Tiny Meat Gang is weird. Self-deprecating humor is cool and everything, but those guys were roasting themselves. I felt pretty bad listening through that song, but it did flow well and keep me engaged. It’s also cool to see internet creators come from Fullscreen, start their own project and be…
Great post, Rebecca! I watch Danny Gonzales's videos pretty often but have never come across EP. I checked it out after reading this and loved it. I avidly listen to both Lil Dicky and Tiny Meat Gang, but have never thought about them both fitting into this very niche genre of 'comedy rap'. I for one have definitely noticed the rising popularity in artist's like this, and it is truly no wonder with the power of the emerging platform TikTok which has allowed artists who make parodies like this to get discovered and gain followers. I think it would be really interesting to talk to you about this, since your other posts show that you are fairly familiar with TikTok,…