Rap and Hiphop is a form of music which is taken very seriously by many. After all history of the culture is filled with death and mutilation because of words that were said in a song. Everyone in rap seems to be seriously dissing and hating on one another, in what seems to be a fierce battleground for supremacy. Once in while we’re able to sit back and listen to something completely ridiculous, light-hearted and hilarious.
Something totally over the top that takes rap to the other end of the extreme. It’s a talent in itself, but musicians able to pull this off with credibility are far and few between. One such artist is Hat Basket – a nerd who thinks he is a gangsta, but is also described as, “a coward…and a giant pussy.”
Hat Basket writes, produces and records his own music, while he is also working on his Hat Basket clothing line. His specialty is making laugh-out-loud funny graphic t-shirts, which you can find right here. Hat Basket combines parody, ridiculousness and a whole lot of crude language too. The thing about this guy is that unlike many other comedy acts, his music is actually really good, catchy and well-produced.
This is course lends a whole lot of listenability and credibility to his track “Cruisin’ Down the Street”. Some of the things he says in this song are so ludicrous and at the same time relatable. Strangely enough, if you think about it seriously, the mechanics of comedy is built into the structure of rap, which depends on wordplay, pun, double entendre, and a sense of humor to express more than the literal meaning of its lyrics.
The aforementioned elements and mechanisms are all cleverly inhabited by the undeniable talents of Hat Basket, as he navigates his way through “Cruisin’ Down the Street”. His delivery is deft and his lyrics are sharp, and when considering the best serious contemporary underground rappers in his class, technically there is no reason why his name should not come up in the conversation.
Naturally, the lyrics are so over-proportionally important in a comedic song that they eclipse every other element. And it’s here that Hat Basket firmly holds his ground. But he is also clever enough to not ignore the other elements at the expense of the song as a whole.
Hence the beat along with his flow and the overall vibe, stick to maintaining high standards. Certainly, the song is dominated completely by humor, but drop the lyrics, and you still have a dope rap track.
Hat Basket actually makes a rather technically gifted rap song with “Cruisin’ Down the Street” that fits well in an innovative, subversive comedic form, as he masks really good rapping skills in a song parodying the genre. All of which takes us back to the starting point, Comedic rap is an entertaining subgenre, but only if its creator, like Hat Basket, is recognized as having a seriously good flow and proven lyrical prowess. Ironic, isn’t it!
OFFICIAL LINKS: WEBSITE – YOUTUBE – TWITTER@baskethat – FACEBOOK – TIKTOK@hatbasket
