So far in 2017, Youtube stars Bhad Bhabie (aka Danielle “Cash Me Outside” Peskowitz) and Jake Paul have gained huge followings in a very short span of time. There has been controversy surrounding both of their rises to fame.
Peskowitz became an internet meme earlier this year through her rude, street dialect comment (“cash me ousside how bout dat”) directed toward the audience on the Dr. Phil show. She seized the opportunity of her overnight fame to start a Youtube channel, releasing music as a rapper under the name Bhad Bhabie. Atlantic records recently signed her as a professional musician. Jake Paul, previously a viner, started a Youtube channel earlier this year. Over the course of the year, Jake Paul has been criticized for trashing his rental space, arriving uninvited at Post Malone’s house, disrespecting his neighbors, and altogether being an obnoxious, privileged, rich kid. This controversy culminated in his departure from his ties with Disney. In his most viewed Youtube video, “It’s Everyday Bro,” Jake Paul adopts the role of a rapper in a similar fashion as Bhad Bhabie. The popularity of these two Youtubers cannot be understated. “It’s Everyday Bro” reached #2 on the iTunes singles chart, beating artists such as Kendrick Lamar. The drama surrounding Jake Paul also gains a lot of attention. His ex girlfriend released a diss track that charted higher than any solo joint from Tyler, The Creator, Joey Bada$$, or Jay Rock have ever released. Bhad Bhabie’s latest music videos have 40 million and 28 million views, respectively. Let’s be clear, Bhab Bhabie and Jake Paul have no flow whatsoever. Neither do either of them have any lyrical abilities. Most of their lyrics reside in the form of a “diss,” which centers around drama. They’re understandably inexperienced, but their videos are presented as if they’re actually serious rappers. It’s unfortunate because it’s clear that neither of them have any base understanding of the culture of hip-hop, and they come off as quite ignorant. What this whole situation boils down to is attention. It’s pretty undebatable that hip-hop is the dominating genre in popular culture today. In many ways, hip-hop is the trend of the 2010s as rock-n-roll was the trend of the 50s. What Bhad Bhabie and Jake Paul have done is taken advantage of the attention that hip-hop garners. In order to heighten their status as Youtubers, the two adopt the roles of rappers and pump out these diss tracks. This not only paints them as the face of mainstream hip-hop, but also gives many the impression that being a rapper requires no skill. This is NOT GOOD for hip-hop, as it gives the mainstream media evidence to write off hip-hop as “unserious,” all the while we have artists pushing serious political messages through their music (YG, Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples). Private capitalist investors will put their money behind Bhad Bhabie and Jake Paul because they see it as a quick cash grab. This is why Bhad Bhabie has a record deal, and may be in part why Jake Paul has not been kicked out of his rental space. As more people see the money trail, there will be even more Bhad Bhabie’s and Jake Paul’s. If it comes to this, the face of hip-hop will be changed completely. These Youtubers most certainly do not deserve the attention they’re receiving, so let’s address the problems in this situation to hopefully prevent hip-hop from destabilizing.
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