Riff-raff Creating Riff-raff
If anyone doubts the fact that hip-hop has been watered down by white cultural appropriators, they should look no further than up and coming rap artists: Kitty Pryde and Riff Raff.
Originally from Daytona Beach, Kathryn Beckwith, a.k.a. Kitty Pryde, is 19 years old, works at Claire’s in the mall, and is about as threatening as a high-school cheerleader. Along with so many non-Black rappers before her (think Das Racist and Kreayshawn) Pryde realized immediately that by rapping in a comedic, tongue-in-cheek way she could gain a following. Obviously, by no means could Pryde ever be able to claim “street” authenticity, and she knows she’d be foolish to do so. In fact, her approach is explicitly and openly comical in nature, as she was a member of a comedy hip-hop group called Jokers in Trousers; and this is where Pryde first caught the eye of the fellow white joke-rapper Riff Raff.
Clad in cornrows, a grill, comical bling, B.E.T. and MTV tattoos on his neck, Riff Raff is a walking billboard for joke-rap. With an underground following, Riff Raff has collaborated with Kitty Pryde, Action Bronson, and Kreayshawn’s former rap partner V-Nasty. What he lacks in verbal skills (which is quite a lot), he makes up for in his absurd persona. According to Riff Raff himself, he was the inspiration for the main character in independent filmmaker Harmony Korine’s upcoming film Spring Breakers. Unfortunately, or fortunately – depending on your outlook – the role went to James Franco. At any rate, Riff has made a big splash in the world of contemporary media, and for better or worse, this guy is not going away.
In my opinion, the success of Kitty Pryde and Riff Raff is a new milestone, as it marks the clear death of hip-hop as we once knew it. A medium that once provided a voice for disenfranchised African Americans in the inner cities, hip-hop now is in the hands of the “rap-game Taylor Swift” and the self-proclaimed “Texas Tornado.”