Lil Dicky
Lil Dicky | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | David Burd |
Born | Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania |
Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, comedian |
Years active | 2013–present |
Website |
lildicky |
David Burd better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper and comedian. He came to prominence with the YouTube release of the music video to his song "Ex-Boyfriend", which went viral with more than 1 million views in 24 hours.
Biography
Burd grew up in an upper middle class Jewish family in the Elkins Park neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, a township on the north border of Philadelphia.[1] He attended Cheltenham High School and then the University of Richmond.[2] He then relocated to San Francisco, California,[3] where he worked in account management at the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners. After reimagining his monthly progress report as a rap video, the company brought him to work in their creative department, where he wrote copy for ads like the NBA's "BIG" campaign.[1]
Rap career
Burd says he initiated his rap career "simply to get attention comedically, so I could write movies, write TV shows and act." However, he "fell in love with rapping" and says he's "not leaving that game until I've proved my point."[4]
Burd had been working on his songs and music videos for two years before he began releasing them as part of his debut mixtape So Hard in April 2013. His music video for his song "Ex-Boyfriend" went viral almost instantly, receiving 1 million hits within 24 hours of being posted on YouTube.[2][5][6] Once a week for 5 straight months, Burd released a new song or music video. Following the release of 32 songs and 15 music videos, Burd launched a Kickstarter, stating, "I've officially run out of money... In a nutshell, you are funding phase two of my rap career." The month-long crowdfunding period began on November 20, 2013, with the goal of raising $70,000 in order to enable Lil Dicky to create and produce more music, music videos, and go touring.[7][8] The Kickstarter well exceeded its target, raising $113,000.[9]
Lil Dicky held his first live concert at TLA in Philadelphia on February 19, 2014.[10] Burd has signed with Pop-Up, the management arm of creative music agency Jingle Punks.[8][11] He plans "on having two concurrent careers going on at the same time, as a rapper, and as a comedian/actor/writer."[4]
Music style and influences
Lil Dicky's style blends the comical with the relatable. According to Boston magazine, "Content-wise, Lil Dicky comes up with his material from everyday occurrences and everyday experiences. From there, he crafts his videos around those topics to create a visual narrative that accompanies his talent as an emcee. 'It’s like a comedian. They are out in the world, and writing things down,' he said. What followed 'Ex-Boyfriend' was a series of other videos that covered similarly average everyday experiences—songs about staying in for the night, songs about being a Jewish kid—he even has a rap battle with Adolf Hitler in one of his videos."[5]
He says his style is a response to the excessive egotistical nature of rap today: "I really wanted to embody the exact opposite of that, and I think people are appreciating it. There just hasn't been a voice for that normal dude when it comes to rap."[5] He added, "I think a lot of rap is just escalated to a place that many people can't relate to... My niche is that I’m relatable. I don’t rap about going to the club and popping bottles."[12] In terms of his rapping skills, Lil Dicky is able "to manipulate words at an excessive speed, and weave rhyme patterns together in a way that's funny while also making viewers want to rewind parts of his videos."[5]
Burd says his musical inspirations are Drake, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, as well as Donald Glover "as a guy with similar aspirations."[13]
Discography
Singles
- "Lemme Freak" (September 17, 2014)
- "White Crime" (December 10, 2014)
- "Classic Male Pregame" (April 15, 2015)
Mixtapes
- So Hard (2013)[14]
Albums
- Professional Rapper (TBA)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Cheltenham Rapper Lil Dicky Kicks Off His First Live Tour at TLA Wednesday". Philadelphia Magazine. 18 February 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Meet Kickstarter's Newest Musical Star". Bloomberg News. 6 December 2013.
- ↑ "S.F.'s Lil Dicky Wants To Be the Larry David of Rap -- Watch Him Get "Too High"". SF Weekly. 16 September 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lil Dicky Talks Upgrading His Rap Career Via $100,000 Kickstarter Campaign". HipHopDX. 10 April 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Rapper Lil Dicky Talks Stereotypes, Expectations, and Battling Hitler in a Music Video". Boston. 11 February 2014.
- ↑ "Lil Dicky - Ex-Boyfriend (Official Video)". YouTube. 25 April 2013.
- ↑ "Lil Dicky's Kickstarter - Album, Videos, Touring". Kickstarter.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rapper Lil Dicky Reaches Kickstarter Goal". Variety. 27 November 2013.
- ↑ "THANK YOU". Lil Dicky's Kickstarter. 20 December 2013.
- ↑ "Cheltenham Rapper Lil Dicky Kicked Off His First Live Tour at TLA". Philadelphia Magazine. 20 February 2014.
- ↑ "Lil Dicky signs to Pop-Up Music". Jingle Punks. 16 January 2014.
- ↑ "Lil Dicky Talks Rapping, YouTube, and How To Make A Viral Video". Maxim. 2 July 2013.
- ↑ "Rapper hopes to gain fame with comedy". Daily Trojan. 21 April 2014.
- ↑ "So Hard: The Debut Mixtape". Lil Dicky.
External links
- Official website
- Lil Dicky on SoundCloud
- Lil Dicky on YouTube