Alex Fredkin, Arts Editor
Is Kitty Pryde the first white female rapper with actual talent? Is she the based goddess? Or is she just a product of the Internet generation, doomed to flame out within a matter of months as most ephemeral Youtube icons do? Only time will tell. Her song “Okay Cupid” has been on Youtube for only three months now, and has garnered over 500,000 views. From her own admission, Pryde’s rise to stardom is nothing special and goes a little something like this:
1. Bought a Mac
2. Messed around on GarageBand
3. Posted raps online
4. Accidentally blew up
There is nothing contrived about Pryde’s approach or the work she is putting out. She simply hit the right nerve with the current generation of Tumblr-and Twitter-obsessed Internet kids who are constantly surfing the web and swimming in the depths of Youtube. In her music video she can be seen hanging out in her bedroom with her two hipster friends, one of whom is wearing a Boba Fett helmet and drinking PBR. She is just a normal kid who discovered that she is actually talented at her secret after-hours hobby. Pryde’s self-effacing and funny, light-hearted style is refreshing today because everyone else is trying to prove how tough or cool they are in the hip-hop community, especially female rappers trying to compete with the men. While talking about her ex-boyfriend in “Okay Cupid,” she says: “You apologize to me when I see you do a line, but like, I’m open-minded and it’s fine. I don’t do that shit, but I don’t really mind it.” She then goes on to complain: “You are a tool again, but you’re the one that I’ve chosen. I’m not familiar with this type of devotion. I used to be a pimp without emotion, but now you got me sippin’ and singing to Frank Ocean.”
Her stream-of-consciousness raps mirror the Internet mindset of jumping from meme to meme, watching videos and blogging while simultaneously updating your online status. What else does a 90s child rap about? If you listen to “Thanks Kathyrn Obvious,” you hear references ranging from Spiderman to Jimmy Neutron to the Powerpuff Girls (she’s Bubbles, not Blossom). Pryde also mentions Kreayshawn’s song “Gucci Gucci,” so comparisons are bound to arise, as white rappers in general are hard to come by and female ones are virtually unheard of. But while Kreayshawn comes across as a half-wit poser who is trying way too hard to be famous and cool, Pryde is just the opposite. She clearly has no intentions of fame and is simply caught up in a whirlwind of social media frenzy, although she appears to have real talent and potential. Ironically enough, the ethos of the Internet and the very things she raps about are what has garnered her the small amount of fame she has to this point. Check back in three more months to see if she is destined to be just a speck on the timeline or if something bigger is on the horizon.
Leave a Reply