Say Again Dj Akademkis Much Dank
By Luke Winkie
MuchDank found its muse in Tekashi 6ix9ine. The 22-yr-erstwhile rapper, who is currently behind bars and facing in life in federal prison on racketeering and firearms charges, and in 2015 pled guilty for utilize of a child in a sexual performance, came with an explosive combination of ingredients. A catalogue of testy interviews with The Breakfast Club. A Gushers-dyed perm. A peppering of dadaist ink. These pointed to a desperate, uniquely millennial thirst for a very specific type of depressing viral fame. Then, as Tekashi scaled the mount, and made his enemies, and mustered a Trumpian refusal to always back down, (even as they were hauling him off to court), MuchDank enjoyed an incredible 2019. The YouTube channel currently stands at over one 1000000 subscribers, a lot of which is built on the transformative power of making fun of 6ix9ine.
For the uninitiated, the MuchDank methodology is simple: They morph the hottest tracks in our current wave of SoundCloud rap into a silly slurry, laying bare the key applesauce of the bars. Here, for instance, is 6ix9ine's "BILLY," with the "RRRAH-RRRAH-RRRAH" function stretched out into apocalyptic extremes. Here is the "FEFE" video, with uncomfortably realistic ice cream sound effects dubbed over the banquet. Hither is that famous grilling on Hot 97's infamous Breakfast Club morning testify, made even more hallucinogenic by MuchDank's conscientious editing. ("I LET MY NUTS HANG.") If the music manufacture feels particularly delirious right now, accept some solace in knowing that, at the very least, MuchDank is in on the joke.
"[6ix9ine] knew to succeed at the level he is at, he needed to embody the meme he was," says one of the principle members who makes MuchDank'south videos over email. (To this day, they remain completely anonymous.) "The hair, the tattoos, his humor, and the image he portrayed has made him such a memorable character and it seems that he knew this so he continued to push this to the accented limit. And, patently, information technology worked."
Two years ago, MuchDank barely existed. The aqueduct was 1 of the many ghost ships bobbing around YouTube'due south crowded seas with a scant 27 subscribers. That inverse after they became fascinated by a painfully awkward interaction between Joe Budden, then a host of Complex'due south Everyday Struggle, and the Migos. The prune in question is an all-timer, especially if you lot're a connoisseur of obtuse rap interviews. The three of them sit on a BET Awards blood-red carpet, shades on, full-drip, while DJ Akademiks is left lost-in-translation every bit he questions Takeoff about why he didn't appear on the group's trajectory-altering striking "Bad & Boujee." ("Say again? What'd you lot say?") But it touched on a fundamental truth: interviewing Migos is a difficult task. That was MuchDank's eureka moment, and they got to work fleshing out a prehistoric incarnation of their craft. The MuchDank-ified version of the substitution was hilarious and weird, and 1.2 million views afterwards, the team had a directive.
"From there we wanted to capitalize on the views and popularity that video gained by creating similar content and gradually adding our ain twist with each upload," he says. "In all honesty, nosotros retrieve this make of sense of humour resonated with us considering we only like stupid shit."
In the years since, MuchDank has gotten odder and more than esoteric — contempo highlights include this expert flip of Post Malone'due south "Psycho," and a tribute to Drake's instant-mantra verse on Travis Scott'due south "Sicko Manner" — simply by and large, the success of the channel is attached at the hip with the strange arc of SoundCloud rap every bit a whole. Nosotros live in a globe of superstars like Lil Pump, 6ix9ine, Smokepurpp, and Sheck Wes — accurate, mealy-mouthed misfits who are radically redefining what hip-hop is. As the MuchDank creator tells it, a guy like 6ix9ine clearly understood the currency in reforming oneself equally a man meme, and in a world where an established star like Kanye is dressing upwards similar a h2o bottle on SNL and making a regrettable, (only highly bloggable) Trump turn, information technology certainly feels like that nihilistic ethos has infected the rest of the culture. No one can prove definitively that "Mo Bamba's" immediately iconic "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES," or "Gucci Gang'southward" titular brain-melting refrain were put on this Earth to be memed, but there'due south no manner that'due south not part of the calculus. MuchDank is a necessary reciprocation. The sole force contextualizing the absurdity in the way it ought to be: memes in the time of Lil Xan.
"Memes follow culture, not matter how obscure that civilisation is. Hip-Hop is at present the most-listened to genre of music. Memes are at present such a big part of the cyberspace. So it but makes sense to put these two things together," says the MuchDank creator. "Rappers are definitely starting to notice it. But it'southward hard to know how many of these music memes are intentional, by the artist and label, and how many are made on social media by a random person. 6ix9ine for example, was definitely both. He was a meme, but random people also made memes based on his music, appearance & personality. That was probably the key to his success."
The MuchDank team says they never make videos to "hate on" anyone, and they've never received any explicitly negative feedback from any of the rappers they've poked fun at. (If anything, the responses have been by and large positive.) The creator tells me that one notable fan the channel has is Logic, which was a relief, because a number of MuchDank videos focus on Logic'southward biracial identity and "could be hands taken the wrong way." Just in a recent interview Logic clarified his condition: "I dear MuchDank dog, I fuck with you MuchDank, you're hilarious." This was a relief for the crew. "Nosotros're pleased to hear we didn't offend him," he says. "Because that wasn't the intention."
"We try to non prey on the person but more then brand the state of affairs weird and awkward or perpetuate an existing joke," explains MuchDank further. "With the Logic video we were attempting to accept the meme that Logic ever talks about his race and push it to the point of absurdity. The joke was never near what Logic's race is."
In fact, the MuchDank creator tells me that occasionally they've been contacted by various labels and PR firms looking to have their artists featured in one of their videos. Generally, MuchDank declines those opportunities, just they'll sometimes accept if they think the "video they're proposing has the potential to be cool," and likewise considering information technology means they won't have to worry about any copyright bug with the source material for the clip. (They also tell me that they never accept payment for any of these collaborations: "I'm not really sure why we don't. Just I call back a big factor is that nosotros come up from a fourth dimension on YouTube when making coin and 'selling out' but wasn't cool.")
It is foreign to think that music industry executives would look to a meme channel — which has congenital an entire empire on making rappers expect silly — as a way to elevate the stature of their clients, but MuchDank tells me that that's never been a concern for the characterization heads that reach out. "They've never directly up mentioned if they similar or want their clients to exist memed on," he says. "Only they've never been against, and then I gauge that'due south what they're looking for."
The music industry is a fossil that'due south never been able to keep up with the cyberspace; contained rappers have clearly realized this, and creators like MuchDank take stepped up to provide a madcap commentary that follows a certain demented logic in the millennium'due south frazzled state of beingness. In 2019, the only way to stay on top is to brand sure you lot're being fabricated fun of the virtually.
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Source: https://www.mtv.com/news/3110289/muchdank-tekashi-sixnine-soundcloud-rapper-memes/
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