Lil B

It seems Lil B took the opportunity to actually make an artistic statement with his latest release, I'm Gay (I'm Happy). The album's title, much maligned (and discussed) by the media, was thought of as some type of hip-hop hoax, but there's a lot going on underneath. This couldn't come at a better time: the workaholic drone rapper's rising star has been scrutinized to no end, with critics often coming at B and his "based," freeform aesthetic and eager, ever-present grin. Instead of padding I'm Gay with hooky, kitschy cuts like "Ellen DeGeneres," B focuses most of his energy on social commentary — race, self-loathing, fractured communities. Adding weight to his plaintive, bizarre, confessional-style raps are melancholy samples on "Unchain Me" ("Cry Little Sister" from The Lost Boys soundtrack) and "I Hate Myself" ("Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls!). "You always complain about what you ain't got/Third world countries ain't even got sidewalks to walk on/200 people on a bus," he slurs on the album's opening track, "Trapped In Prison." The sloppy, blunt delivery makes it difficult to suppress laughter, but he's got a point, and furthermore, he's the only spotlight rapper who seems to care about making a legitimate one! In defiance of peanut gallery speculation, what his point-making, tendency to give pay-ready music away for free and the rest of I'm Gay points to is that Lil B doesn't really care about the conventional path to rap stardom; he's that supposed chump making music because he cares.