Rica Shay - Turn This

You may remember Rica Shay from 'Summertime Realness' by Big Dipper. I was a huge fan of him then and all I can say with this new single is GOD DAMN. This song is FIRE. I haven't heard something hit this hard in a long time and from an openly gay rapper. This is the real deal. His flow is so dumb. He is just spitting shit all over this track and my mouth is just open. This is hyper aggro and it's so fucking great. Post Apocalytic Balls are going to use this for Thunderdome style vogue battles. Not old way or new way but the only way. Rica Shay is killed me and I am dead. I am writing this from the other side as he has brought me back and given me life. That bassline. That flow. Those visuals. The video is hot. He's hot. The whole thing. I can't speak any higher than I have. He's is everything.

Big Dipper - Skank

Here's the thing.  Dipper doesn't defy convention, he crushes it.  He demolishes it and never bats an eye. It would be easy to write him off as a novelty act but what separates him and solidifies him as a true artist is his not only his ability to give you the best performance ever but his skill as an emcee.  Minimize the tab on the video and listen to his lyrics.  Listen to his flow and his command over every bit of what is coming out of his mouth.  The man has talent and then some.  Don't get me wrong, he's raucous and he's over the top but I think that portion of his performance only helps to ground him.  I think what he accomplishes in his videos are the things that we want to do; no, we need to do them but have issue breaking those rules in our every day life.  It makes us take a look at our lives and reflects the things we are afraid to admit.

I've talked before how unconventional he is and how it could be very easy to want to watch his videos behind shaded eyes because they pull no punches.  They are honest and they are raw.  Without that, though, Dipper would be just another rapper in the long line of artists that have a home studio.  He is going to challenge your perceptions and he is going to make you think twice about what is art.  In this video, he is serving all of the Pretty Woman realness he can in a postmodern love story.  It's amazing how easy the song flows over the visuals.  It's perfectly crafted and it leaves you a little worn out and in need of a smoke.  The video was created thanks to the generous donations of his fan base on Kickstarter and he's not afraid of social media.  As a matter of fact, he is very active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine.

Big Dipper on the Web

www.bigdipperjelly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigdipperjelly
Twitter: @bigdipperjelly
Tumblr: http://www.bigdippermusic.tumblr.com/ 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bigdippermusic

Big Dipper - They Ain't Ready

Here's the deal.  We are all different in our own ways and we are all valid for what we contribute to the universe.  There was an episode of Queer as Folk where Peter Paige's character Emmett Honeycutt became a contributor on the local news, a la Queer Eye and controversy broke out when he became sexualized and the moral to the episode or what they were trying to prove is that at that time, the world wasn't ready for a fully realized sexual gay guy on the local news.  So Emmett quit the show in fantastic fashion proving that they couldn't force him to be a eunuch.  I think that is still an issue in today's society, it's great to have gay characters on television and in movies but the heterosexual masses don't want to or can't deal with the backlash of the idea of gay sex.  It's still fine to have style contributors or sassy gay neighbors but what happens when those gays start actually talking shop?

That's something that Big Dipper isn't going to shy away from.  He's pulling no punches.  He's not censoring himself for anyone.  I'll be honest, there are times when I listen to him where I have the same reaction I did when I heard Lil Kim talking about sucking dick.  I've actually looked around to see if anyone heard what he just said and then I just say fuck it and crank it up.  But what he's not is a one note sex stereotype.  He is an actual emcee with  real lyrical timing and skills.  Anyone can say a rhyme but you actually have to have it in you in order to spit that rhyme and make it stick.  He does just that.  If listening to gay sex against a throbbing club beat, then he may not be your cut of tea and make no mistake, he isn't trying to be something he's not.

A gay, Jewish bear cub from the Chicago area he is blowing up expectations in the mostly straight arena of hip hop.  Listen to his lyrics, hear the rhymes build and cross over and come back better than a lot of emcees in the game.  He has talent and he has control.  He will break down barriers and do more good than artists like Frank Ocean.  I love Frank Ocean and think he's an incredibly courageous man for coming out but artists that are in the trenches like Kendall Kelly, Cazwell, Elephant, Yo-Majesty and Big Dipper are going to do more good in the gay community.

So his EP, They Ain't Ready, is it any good?  It's damn good.  The songs are strong, his raps are tight and the production doesn't sound like it was done in a basement studio.  Listen once for the overall feel of the songs but then you need to go back and actually pay attention to his flow and his style and how he pieces things together.  All the tracks are great, I don't want to say one is better than another because what he does he does well.  Yeah the songs are dirty but who cares, he's a trail blazer.  Plain and simple. And did I say it was free?  Yeah, it's a free download from his site.

Big Dipper on the Web

www.bigdipperjelly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigdipperjelly
Twitter: @bigdipperjelly
Tumblr: http://www.bigdippermusic.tumblr.com/ 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bigdippermusic