Why We Should Still Be Thanking Based God in 2017

I remember riding with my homie, heading out for a night of binge drinking in college when I hear "Hipster girls, shake your ass" followed by horrible bars over a shitty beat, accompanied by even shittier ad-libs like "Swag" . After getting over my initial repulsion, I relaxed and took part in the ironic enjoyment of such trash. I've been thanking Based God since that night. 

Lil B is iconic for absurd rap. When I first heard him, I thought that was all he was good for. I got to laugh at myself listening to his music. Little did I know, he was masterminding his way to icon status. For a primer, refer to Why Lil B Is One of The Most Influential Rappers Alive and The Dumb Brilliance of Lil B.

As it stands, Lil B paved the way for the contemporary greats: Young Thug, Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, Ugly God, 22 savage, and Yung Lean, all trolls in their own right 😉. Each of these rappers are generating massive followings, especially of youth, and mostly through clickbait music. In 2017, Meme Rap has reached maturity, and the spread of the genre seems to be both accelerating and evolving. Urban Dictionary defines Meme Rap as "a sub genre of hip hop that is created with the intention of becoming viral". What started as gimmicks to get clicks has morphed into an entire ecosystem of internet rappers and producers (See The Internet Rapper Phenomenon).

In short, multiple sources, including industry gatekeepers credit Lil B for some of the stickiest hip hop trends of the 21st century. Why is this important? Well, he achieved all of this by being recklessly absurd. Calling himself a princess, dropping 100 song mixtapes, and creating consistently trash music. His success reminds me of  a line from The Alchemist: I must have no fear of failure. It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work. Now, I'm beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I'm happy at least that I didn't wait twenty years. This quote references a breakthrough. The man speaking spent so much time researching how to turn lead into gold, without actually trying to turn lead into gold. The only thing between him and his goal was to stop being afraid. 

It seems that at some point, Lil B did away with any fear of failure and just started executing. How he got to that headspace is probably a secret reserved for his most intimate circles. And it begs the question: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

That question alone, is something worth being thankful for.