Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
As usual when a new song is released featuring Chris Brown, I completely ignored Lil Dicky’s single Freaky Friday for its first few weeks. However, when it reached no.1 on the US iTunes chart I thought I’d better check out the video. And now, as much as I didn’t want to, I’m going to have to recommend you do the same. Most comedy rap songs are nowhere near funny, but this one takes its concept so far that, aside from some very problematic lyrics, it really is hilarious. The twist at 4.55 just threw me over the edge. This was the first I’d heard of Lil Dicky (aka David Burd, a 30-year-old Jewish Pennsylvanian), but he’s actually been around a few years. After a successful start in the advertising industry, his strategy was to use rap to launch his comedy career, aiming to become a writer and actor. He had a few viral videos and a Gold-selling album in 2015, but the new slick, star-studded video and chart-friendly tune made so much more sense when I heard that he signed to Scooter Braun’s SB Projects management company in 2016. Scooter hasn’t had a Gangnam Style or Call Me Maybe novelty hit in a while, but I think his next one might just be on the way.