When Keeping It Rap Goes Wrong: Bangs

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I was reading XXLmag.com yesterday, and the homey Byron Crawford wrote a post about Bangs ascendence into national prominence and it reminded me that a few weeks back, I had FULLY intended to write about “itz ya boy Bangs.”

But first, an intro (to let you know) so that we can all be on the same page here.  VSB, meet Bangs and his “hit” single, “Take U 2 Da Movies”:

You’re welcome.

A quick bio on Bangs.  He’s a Melbourne-based, Sudanese rapper who quite frankly SUCKS, but has somehow gone viral with his ridiculousness.  He’s been on radio shows, and hell, a few weeks back, in Washington, DC, his song “Take U 2 Da Movies” was played on Hot 99.5, which is the big pop station here in DC.

Now back to the lecture at hand.  Just to be upfront, I’m usually the first one in line to scream that you cannot blame hip-hop for society’s ills.  You just can’t.  It’s probably closer to a chicken vs. egg thing, but the fact is, life was f*cked up for a lot of people when Smokey Robinson was singing about “Crusin’” and will continue long after Souljaboy Tell’em’s career (yikes, he actually has one of those) subsides.  But only an ignoramus would attempt to downplay its cultural impact.  While I’m often willing to argue that its just art, I can’t deny that a lot of people take this “rap sh*t” serious, especially people from other places and think that all of us ninjas really do look and act like the folks they see in videos.  For a lot of people, it’s their only real connection to American Black people.

Quick story:  When I was in undergrad, me and my boy went out to eat with one our FOB African homegirls.  We started talking about how she liked America, and asked her what her impressions were like before she got to Atlanta.  She said that she pretty much thought we were all on some Menace II Society malarkey because at home (I think she’s Nigerian) at the time that was what she’d been exposed to.  Mostly the LA gangster genre of Black movies.

By the way, I realize that’s not how every non-American views us, but I’m guessing its not so far fetched that quite a few do.  See what happens when you take people to da movies (shawty)?

Back to 2009 and Bangs.  Bangs is what I always thought would happen if certain folks got ahold of rap music.  And by certain folks I mean, pretty much non-Black Americans.  Bangs has managed to take pretty much EVERY aspect of hip-hop that most of us reading ninjas wish wasn’t so omnipresent and run with it.  Hell, for him, it’s probably just his assumption of what he’d need to do in order to make it in the music business.  His album titles read like a horrible No Limit album from the late 90s.  He’s got the chains, the cars, the stack of money, the synth-based production…basically EVERYthing that he thinks you need because that’s what he sees.  Now, let me not take too much credit for him, he PROBABLY thinks this shit sounds and looks good, but in the words of my homey builtfromwax, “I couldn’t come up with that flow on my best day.”

Bangs is a truly terrible rapper.  There’s no denying that, but it almost isn’t even his fault.  Okay, that’s not true.  He’s mastered the English language about as well as the cashier lady at El Pollo Campero on University Boulevard in Langley Park, Maryland (I see you Maria – thanks for whatever the f*ck you put in my bag.  My order was just a suggestion anyway).  But he’s also a symptom of the problem we have here, does anybody make real sh*t anymore?  He’s just like 90 percent of confused rappers out now.

Now don’t get it twisted, I’m highly amused by him.  He might have the worst flow I’ve heard since Overit started rapping (shots fired), but his song is actually catchy as hell. I want to go to the movies right now and get some popcorn.   Shucks, dudes making the rounds and become quite the famous guy.  But I wonder if he gets that most people are laughing at him, not with him.  I don’t know.

But what I do know?

He’s more popular than Walé.  28K.

(And by the way, it doesn’t matter if you only ship 30K to stores if 64% of your sales were digital anyway.  You didn’t sell 28K out of 30K physical copies.  You sold 28K because frankly, you were going to sell 28K.)

So what do you all think, is Bangs just more fun and games or is he our worst fears confirmed about hip-hop and its reach?

And once again, you’re welcome.

-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, HE A 3

242 thoughts on “When Keeping It Rap Goes Wrong: Bangs”

  2. this is funny to me. me & my friends have been laughing & mocking Bangs for awhile now…but it is a shame that this is how lots of ppl see BLACK PEOPLE as a whole…

    anywho, when speaking about Wale….he’s way more popular than his record sales make him seem. As a DMV native, I know that MOST of his fans didn’t BUY his CD…but I was telling my friends some time ago, that most people don’t make their money off of record sales anymore…

    Reply ↓

    • @Hot Buttered Rum, that seems kind of retarded to me. most of his fans didn’t buy his album? what kind of fan doesn’t buy his album? who cares where he makes most of his money. album sales are kind of a benchmark of the support that you have from your fans.

      now, i’m not a Walé fan…frankly, he just kind of bores me. i have all his material though, but as an artist, he’s not my cup of tea. but his lack of support in DC does baffle me. at least they’re playing “pretty girls” on the radio now…but even then he wasn’t sure if he had a hit on his hands (and i use the term “hit” loosely) and went out and threw Gucci Mane on a song that was DC thru and thru…EVEN including freakin’ Weensey from BYB.

      part of the reason why i threw that 28k number in there at the end was because i think he and his team have been misleading folks about what it really means that (if its true) only 30k shipped. their point is that only 30K hit stores so they were set up to fail. and i think thats disingenuous. if folks want your album, to pay for it to boot, they’ll go to iTunes, or amazon. those digital numbers are being included. so yeah, 28k people bought your album…b/c only 28k wanted it.

      Reply ↓

      • @Panama Jackson, I want a physical copy, and I haven’t found one yet. so I didn’t buy it. I’m gonna find one though–hopefully. I acquired it digitally and wasn’t feeling it initially–but I want to support the man (I’m a fan)–I’ll get around to going to a store to get it–Best Buy around my way didn’t have it.

        Reply ↓

    • @Hot Buttered Rum, anywho, when speaking about Wale….he’s way more popular than his record sales make him seem. As a DMV native, I know that MOST of his fans didn’t BUY his CD…but I was telling my friends some time ago, that most people don’t make their money off of record sales anymore…

      Wale’s record sales reflect his music exactly… He is not that hot, reflect the he is alright, and alright doesnt move numbers.. He is way overhyped at this point and underdelivered…
      I mean if you cant move your “fans” to purchase…. lol who else do you think will do it?

      Reply ↓

  3. So, I’ve been lurking and thoroughly enjoy the blog, but as a newly minted DC (-ian, -nite, or wtf ever you all call yourselves) I can not for the life of me understand why you all do not support your own artist like Wale??? He is obviously the best thing that you guys have going musically, and people here some to hate this guy. I personally think that he is pretty talented…..Please explain this to me.

    Reply ↓

    • @themagicman, “I can not for the life of me understand why you all do not support your own artist like Wale??? ”

      Probably the same reason only about half of them like their own sports teams.

      Reply ↓

    • @themagicman, well, i’m not a DC native so i also dont understand the Cowboy love in DC.

      as far as Walé goes, i said it in the previous comment, i’m just not a fan of his. i think his buzz was overrated bc i never heard anything that made me like his music that much. i have his album, and i dont care for it. i think he’s kind of…cliché as a rapper, and also aint as confident in his own abilities as he’d like us to think. why the f*ck else do you put lady gaga on your first single (“chillin”) which was terrible, and then throw Gucci Mane on your DC song (“pretty girls”) and have high as hell profile features all throughout. the album sounds like it was packaged for the marketplace not from any type of artistic arena. but that’s neither here nor there. as a rapper, dude just aint my cup of tea. i kind of hate his rap style. which makes me not care for him, though i have all of his mixtapes and his album. i tried. he failed.

      i wish him the best though.

      Reply ↓

      • @Panama Jackson,

        I agree with you on the Lady Gaga thing. Aside from the fact, that I think she swagger-jacked M.I.A. sound-wise, I hate that in the video (I no longer live in DC/MD area so I found out about him through the video) he is in all the places in D.C. where black folks be, but Lady Gaga is some place separate. Why she ain’t off Georgia Avenue, or on U Street or outside Ben’s Chili Bowl? How come she on Georgia Avenue when it turns into 7th Street, safe and on a roof top away from the black folk? You got this song with you amongst the people in your hometown, but your co-artist is some place else and no where near the people you got surrounding you? Naw, mayne. I don’t hate him either, but that element made the concept of the video seem false and contrived.

        Reply ↓

  5. :46 seconds. That’s how far in I got on the video before I couldn’t take anymore.

    But in all fairness, I can barely stand music videos so my perspective might have been a tad different if I just heard it…probably not.

    Reply ↓

  6. After I read your description, I expected Bangs to be much worst. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen and heard one too many bad rap songs and videos. He’s definately not a lyricist. His flow isn’t tight either. It’s an obviously cheap rap vid with the typical bling & car except there is no profanity left & right and of course the ladies. His style is alright. He isn’t bad looking ;-) . He should stay away from the grillz though. His accent is cute. While he looks like he serious with this rap thing lol, he’s more fun and games rather than “our worst fears confirmed about hip-hop and its reach.”

    Reply ↓

      • I like Bangs. I like Nas. I like Bangs because he raps about everyday life stuff and his thoughts and keeps it real (and of course its very amusing). I like Nas because hes a lyricist. I can’t hate on someone thats doing work, that I could have done and didn’t do. See that chocolate rain fella, pure genius marking muscle. Theres money to be made on youtube.

        Reply ↓

  7. BANGS!!! i feel a movie trip with him would be comedy, i’d go!

    my life has changed since Bangs has entered it. my friends and i regularly tell each other “my life is never be easy”. por ejemplo:

    friend: girl, i you always all over the place, aren’t you tired?
    overit: sigh…my life is never be easy….AHA!

    that bootleg jadakiss AHA! he does kills me, like how does it replace a whole verse…i need to find my fav bangs lyrics and post it on here, the most simple ish, lol…”i got my homies locked up for whole week”. i’m like ninja, we got brothas doin BIDS ok? a week aint nathan.

    AHA!

    Reply ↓

  8. what the eff man! that ish was so horrible. i could have gone my whole life without being exposed to that and i would have been just fine. lol

    on a serious note can you really blame dude? he’s emulating 83% of rappers on tv now.

    Reply ↓

    • @Tunde, i don’t blame him at all…in fact, that’s my point. he did what he thinks he’s supposed to do.

      and in a strange way, to some extent, it worked. we’re talking about him right now.

      Reply ↓

  9. man I don’t know who the hell bangs is, but if he is anything likethat dude that sings that song “on my momma, on my hood, I look fly, I look good” I completely agree….cause that shyt makes me incredible hulk angry…i mean one of my employees had it as a ringback tone and I swear I studied the handbook so I could fire her a.s.s for the verbal assault on my ears……

    Reply ↓

    • @shay-d-lady,

      i mean one of my employees had it as a ringback tone and I swear I studied the handbook so I could fire her a.s.s for the verbal assault on my ears……

      lmao!!

      Reply ↓

    • @shay-d-lady,
      “but if he is anything likethat dude that sings that song “on my momma, on my hood, I look fly, I look good” I completely agree…”

      Hey…hey…I have to defend Chalie Boy…that ish goes hard. He’s been grinding down here for more than a minute, that is just his first big song to go mainstream.

      Reply ↓

      • @miss t-lee,

        Ummmm…now, T-Lee…we usually have similar taste in music and I’m taking into consideration that since you are in TX, this may be due to regional location, but that Chalie Boy…hot, steaming, flys flying around it, with maggots muching on it…mess.

        I’ll give him props for his self-confidence, though, lol.

        Reply ↓

      • @miss t-lee,

        I know you are in the H like I am, and I know Chalie Boy has been grinding for a minute, but I can’t support a lot of the music coming out of Texas. I guess it is because I am older now, but talking about girls, rims, chains and your clothes bores me to no end, especially when you got a dude like Z-Ro in the same state that is a beast on the microphone. Give me old chopped and screwed Chalie Boy any day.

        Reply ↓

        • @ComicBookGuy,
          I’m not in the H, I’m in ATX. :)
          You know that he has some good material because you know about the old S&C Chalie Boy…that’s alls I’m saying. I do agree with you that Z-Ro is a beast, as is Trae.

          *I still like the song, it’s not his best work, but it knocks.

          Reply ↓

          • @miss t-lee,

            My bad, darlin’, (shout out to ATX, on my list of many second homes) but you feel me on that old school Chalie Boy. Everyone knows Uncle Face is the godfather of Texas rap anyway. R.I.P. to Robert Davis!!!

            lol Had to throw that in there.

            Reply ↓

        • @ComicBookGuy,

          I’ll take old chopped and screwed anything. I feel you though…the stuff I’ve been hearing lately hasn’t been tantamount with the TX stuff I was used to. I miss that old Screw. OG Ron C still does his F*ck Action thing. Swishahouse gives me a little something every now and then. I haven’t heard anything from Beltway 8 in a minute. Half the SUC is dead already. Props to Chalie Boy but his song is tolerable for about 30 seconds and thats it.

          Reply ↓

          • @CPT Callamity,
            Yes he does….I was listening to some Ledisi on FA 56 or 56.5 the other night…lol

            Dayum I had completely forgotten about BW8.

            Reply ↓

          • @CPT Callamity,

            It’s been a minute since I heard some BW8. Probably since before I graduated from PV 4 years ago. Just watching Screw doing his mixes on Youtube is crazy. I’m from Dallas, but a lot of my boys from college still got their old grey tapes.

            Reply ↓

        • @Panama Jackson,
          It runs deep. I can’t explain it. :)
          You should hear the remix, you’ll probably hate it more than the original…lol

          Reply ↓

          • @miss t-lee,

            I guess it’s all contextual. Maybe because I hear it when I’m out and about, I don’t think the song is terrible at all.

            Not all songs are supposed to appeal to our consciousness and make us want to take action. Some songs are just party songs, and that’s it.

            Reply ↓

          • @ Sula,
            “Not all songs are supposed to appeal to our consciousness and make us want to take action. Some songs are just party songs, and that’s it.”

            Thank you. I keep telling folks that. Don’t look for the meaning…that is the meaning.

            Reply ↓

          • @miss t-lee and Sula,

            as somebody who can appreciate a song that has zero meaning to it (i dont even have beef with most of the crap rap thats out there, as long as it entertains me), that song is still pretty bad. now, will i enjoy myself while its on in the club, surely. and i’ll do any accompanying dances too…still doesnt make it good. just entertaining.

            Reply ↓

          • @PJ

            “and i’ll do any accompanying dances too”

            Can you please record this?? And post it? Pretty please with a cherry on top. LMAO

            Reply ↓

      • @miss t-lee,

        “Hey…hey…I have to defend Chalie Boy…that ish goes hard. He’s been grinding down here for more than a minute, that is just his first big song to go mainstream.”

        Are you serious? If I don’t have to defend “it’s so cold in the D” you don’t have to defend that.

        Reply ↓

        • @Humble_One,

          Y’all got some beasts out of the D. Royce Da 5’9 is one of my favorite rappers. RIP J. Dilla. The D brings out a lot more substantive hip hop.

          Reply ↓

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