Lil B

Brandon McCartney "Lil B" is an American rapper and author from Berkeley, California. He is the first rapper to have written a book like Takin' Over By Imposing The Positive. Essentially, the book is written in the format of emails and text messages from Lil B to the reader. The book contains messages of positivity and optimism. Lil B has amassed a cult following since his 2004 debut into the scene, dubbed the Based Fam.  Despite his undisputed success, Lil B is often the target of hate from other artists and even the public. One of the most common arguments is that he has no talent as the subjects of his songs are meaningless and trivial things that don't contribute anything positive to the Hip-Hop culture. This is partially true. But may I point you to songs like "I Love You", which is a whole song dedicated to his supporters where he expresses his love and gratitude for all those who have stood by him. Another song that I'd like to use as an example is "Trapped in Prison", which spreads many different messages. It predominantly talks about how you should release yourself from the chains that mentally bind you to unhappiness because of what others might think or because you are afraid to fail; just do you and do what you love. Apart from this, Lil B is often a guest lecturer at prestigious universities like New York University and University of California, Riverside, where he gives lectures on love, positivity and respect for animals and the environment. Yes, many of his songs do have a trivial and unimportant subject matter. But that is the whole point to him and the message he tries to spread. He has songs that have absolutely no meaning to them because this is his way of saying that you can do what you want, be who you want, as long as it matters to you and means something to you...the opinions of others don't matter. This is what it means to be Based. His "no meaning" actually has a lot of meaning. This is why I admire this man so much as a human and artist.