The Verge: Kreayshawn and the White Girl Mob

This will teach me to plant the flag early on an intriguing artist. Here’s someone I’ve been trying to write about for a while, but couldn’t fully wrap my head around. Now she’s starting to catch some Internet buzz, so I might as well give my (belated) two cents.

I first heard of Kreayshawn late last year, when I came across her video for “Bumpin Bumpin.” Who was this ghetto fabulous white girl from Oakland?

Kreayshawn is a multimedia artist, very much in the style of 2011: she raps, DJs, directs and edits music videos, and even makes NSFW pixel art. In LA by way of East Oakland, Kreayshawn is part of the swagged out, post-hyphy based movement spearheaded by Lil B and the Pack. She has even directed and edited some of Lil B’s most viral video hits, including “Like a Martian.”

On Kittys X Choppas, Kreayshawn won’t blow anyone away with her lyricisim or flow. But in the based world (or that of Odd Future, for that matter), that’s not the point. This is about stripping it down to the irreverent essence of hip hop. This is grimy party rap about drug-induced insanity (“High,” a freestyle over Salem’s “Whenusleep”) and unapologetic violence (“They Wanna Kill Me,” “Killin Hoes”).

In comparison, associate V-Nasty makes Kreayshawn look tame. While “Free Earl” has become an esoteric battle cry, “Free V-Nasty” is far more concrete: V-Nasty was recently released from Alameda County Santa Rita Jail. As expected, she’s raw, violent and lives up to her name on her Don’t Bite Just Taste mixtape. She’s also a freestyler in the vein of Lil B, dropping ad-libs and punchlines with reckless abandon.

Rounding out the White Girl Mob with Kreayshawn and V-Nasty is DJ Lil Debbie, another based artist with a diversified portfolio. Check out the crew’s latest release, the video for Kreayshawn’s “Gucci Gucci” (and watch for a cameo by Odd Future’s Left Brain). On “Gucci Gucci,” she’s actually made strides as a rapper; I can’t get over the hilarious simplicity of “Bitch you ain’t no Barbie / I see you work at Arby’s / Number two, supersized / Hurry up I’m starving.”

Odd Future and Lil B are re-writing the book on hip hop. Kreayshawn and the White Girl Mob might get their own chapter.

Download: Kreayshawn – Kittys x Choppas
Download: V-Nasty – Don’t Bite Just Taste