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White Girl Mob tries hand at black game
Kreayshawn, V-Nasty and Dj Lil Debbie are while rappers trying to infiltrate the genre dominated by blacks.
Kreayshawn has a pert hit single, Gucci Gucci. Her baptism as a rapper however, was not climbing the charts with a rap hit; it was at the MTV VMA awards held in August. There, she met the man she had called ‘fake’ and whose weight she had made fun of, Rick Ross. The ensuing altercation was between their bodyguards but, watching the video, you can clearly see that Kreayshawn is regretting the folly of her actions. Kreayshawn and her group, White Girl Mob, have made it a habit to tick off black rappers. Ross aside, The Game, David Banner and Kanye West have also spoken out against her.
What irks them is her group’s use of the racial epithet “nigga.” More specifically, V-Nasty’s use of the word. V-Nasty is the Kelly Rowland of White Girl Mob, only not so demure. She throws about the N-word whenever she raps which has drawn criticism.
Yet, hate or love them, there’s something about the White Girl Mob that’s always tugging at you, forcing you to pay attention. Rebellious, quirky, goofy and likeable, they are a curious constellation of Kesha and Lady Gaga. Kreayshawn, V-Nasty and DJ Lil’ Debbie, the girl fooling around with Kreayshawn in “Gucci Gucci,” wearing a feather earring, are so strikingly similar in appearance you would be forgiven for thinking that they are sisters; collectively, they look like Gaga’s younger siblings. And like Gaga too, they have inspired a fashion consciousness, the distaste for big-name brands espoused in Gucci Gucci’s hook.
Kreayshawn was raised by a single mother in Oakland, California, a former member of a punk band. In a recent interview with the Guardian she spoke of dropping out of high school, moving in with friends when her mother moved to Canada with her boyfriend, and dealing marijuana. Given her first camera at 10, she started filming at parties and when she was older, producing music videos for local rappers. Eventually they convinced her to try rapping, starting with humorous freestyles that culminated into a mixtape, Kittys x Choppas, released last year. She remained on the fringes however until she released Gucci Gucci.
Hers is a diluted style. She might rap about drugs, but that’s as gangsta as she can get; she’s no white Lil Kim. Like Odd Future, the group which features prominently in Gucci Gucci, she having fun, rapping because she’s decent at it. It just happens that she had a tough upbringing. She, and V-Nasty, enjoy pushing boundaries and winding up people like Rick Ross.
In White Girl Mob, V-Nasty is the rawer of the two (Lil’ Debbie restricts herself to production). But it’s Kreayshawn who has a million dollar deal with Columbia and a VMA nomination. Her challenge is to stay relevant and probably because of that, she’s gradually leaning towards Kesha as evidenced by Bumpin Bumpin. While at it, we’ll have to adjust to her sometimes annoying antics, and nod to her infectious swobbing songs.
