If you follow Bay Area rap closely then perhaps you are aware of Thizzler's Freshman Class of 2013 that is going on right now. Basically it is a rip-off of XXL magazine's Freshman Class and always seems to get a lot of attention here because every amateur rapper in the Bay starts lobbying for a spot on the list under the false belief that it will get them fame and fortune in the rap business.
The rappers that make the list every year have either already established themselves (HD made it on the list last year after releasing over half a dozen albums in 2+ years and Kool John made it on after having a track on regular local radio rotation) or they continue to be unknowns (does anybody know who G-Mo, Priceless Da Roc, or Akafrank are???)
I don't mean to sound too negative and I think rappers that make the list definitely get a certain degree of exposure and thus I would like to share with you my nominations for the Bay Freshman Class of 2013:
BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, BAVGATE, and........ BAVGATE.
0:48 - Someone get that man an Oscar!
Ok so Bavgate isn't exactly a "freshman" in the rap business, in fact he has been releasing albums since the 90's, but it seems in year's past Thizzler has used the "Freshman" term pretty liberally and elected rappers that have been releasing material for years, so I see no reason why they can't extend it a bit further to include this true artist. Plus he just released a BRAND NEW music video:
(Props to Mobb Reflectionz for alerting me of this)
Wow! What an incredible song. There is no way this track is not going to blow up. Bavgate's use of a vocoder really challenges the boundaries of rap music IMO and the way he lets the same rhyme scheme drag on for way too long in the first verse and then sort of gives up on cohesive raps in the second verse is really quite incredible! But don't take my word for it, here is what Pitchfork had to say about Bavgate's last album:
"...a blast of surreal pop excess that few artists are capable of creating, or even willing to attempt."
Ok so maybe that was actually for Kanye West's last album, but you get the point: Bavgate's music is very important art.
A popular theme in rap music is expressing how much you don't give a fuck and Bavgate really takes that aesthetic to a whole new level by being the laziest rapper to ever exist. He is too much of a boss to be bothered by rapping on-beat or saying clever or original things. I mean look at this picture of him:
He does not give enough of a fuck to even raise the mic up to his mouth properly or take his left hand out of his jacket. Awesome guy! I imagine his live performances are positively electrifying.
Not only is Bavgate's raps the voice of our generation, but he is also a man of many talents. In 2011 he released a movie titled "Big Trouble in Lil Oakland" where he was able to showcase his fine acting chops:
While this most definitely looks like a fine piece of cinematic brilliance, possibly the most important part of this release is the back cover description:
Props to Definitely Eatin, B for typing this up
Anyways, I am waging a very important campaign on twitter (that's how you vote BTW) to make sure all is right in the world and Bavgate is elected to Thizzler's Freshman Class this year:
My twitter campaign has really taken off so far, I'm pretty sure at least one person has "liked" or retweeted at least one of my tweets! That's what you would come to expect from such an important and influential blogger such as myself!
You can be part of the campaign too, just tweet @TheThizzler and tell them you are voting for Bavgate and include the hashtag #BAF10.
Voting ends on Monday (tomorrow!) so please help in the last-minute-push to ensure that Bavgate secures a well-deserved spot on the Freshman Class of 2013.
