Young internet sensation and lil’ Haitian, Kodak Black,made headlines as the latest guest on the popular The Breakfast Club morning show this past week. Donned in a black ski mask throughout the Friday the 13th interview, the awkward silence and delayed responses made it a little uncomfortable to watch to say the least. Grilled about his recent social media threats to Lil Wayne in which he was reluctant to answer, is what started the avalanche. But you can’t help but to be entertained by the cringeworthy attempt of the host to get something…anything….out of jaw-locked young Kodak during the 22 minute video. And apparently the world agrees as the video has reached over a million views in less than 2 days.
The media ate it up with words “must see” and “incredible” in a number of headlines. The public was not as kind, mockingly questioning the Florida educational system (Kodak is from Pompano Beach, FL). Others seriously questioned if Kodak is mentally ill. Many fans were saddened by the display. Besides having the internet going nuts when he dropped his phone in the shower during an Instagram live feed, exposing his lil Kodak. The self-titled project baby has been on a winning streak since his prison release last November. He carried Yo Gotti’s hot “Weatherman” track and released his own “There He Go” video which sits at 30 plus millions views in a short month. There’s also the teasers creating a buzz on the interwebs. “Tunnel Vision” is needed.
I couldn’t help but think back to when Chief Keef was the hottest young rapper in the game. The young Chicago rapper gave a few awkward interviews himself. Somehow people came up with the conclusion that Chief Keef was autistic because of the very similar cringeworthy behavior he showed. While it’s not a stretch that some of these young men may very well have some type of mental disorder given their environment growing up. I highly doubt it has been diagnosed. What we do know is we are in the age of the self made internet star. So there is no artist development or media training that would prep these young men for the bright lights. These are real project babies who come from drugs and violence as adolescents. They are lucky enough to have used their talents to escape death and imprisonment in their home neighborhoods. And most don’t even have a high school diploma. Given the circumstance, one cannot fairly expect them to be articulate or thoughtful. Their comfort zone is with the street associates they came up with. Not the suburbia born white guys of Fader and Pitchfork who are spectators to their lifestyle. Or take the interrogating interview style of a Charlamagne tha God or DJ Vlad to an institutionalized youth. It’s a recipe for a perfect disaster.
Take a trip back to yesteryear (early 90’s) when young Snoop Dogg gave his first interviews head down, unsure of himself and reluctant to even face the camera. Another example is a young Gucci Mane’s 2006 interview after beating a murder charge. The thick country accent and street talk would be hard for most to decode. The ridiculous YouTube subtitles make it even worse. The irony comes when new interviews released last year of Gucci following his latest prison stint show a slimmed down, very articulate and seemingly upstanding gentleman. The masses swore up and down that this person was a clone and the real Trap God was still locked away or dead. The truth is experience and growth trained these men to put themselves in the position they are in today. They had the same awkward interviews in the beginning. Now Snoop shares a stage with Martha Stewart and does the interviewing himself on his hilarious GGN news show. Whether it be actors like Seth Rogen or the next future superstar rapper. Imagine that.
