4B — Thursday, January 19, 2017
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

 

I know I’m in on “The Young Pope” from its first shot: a baby’s bare ass, climbing 

across a mountain of more naked babies. And who emerges from the infantile rubble? None 
other than 
my main man, David Jude Heyworth Law. I love this show already.

 
I feel like I could write about “The Young Pope” for hours. 
The incredible, blistering, surreal, subversive, miraculous 

opening 15 minutes (Buzzed, who went to Catholic 

school: “This is NOT the Catholic Church”), the 

lush cinematography, Jude Law’s career-best 

performance, its winking self-awareness that 

renders any and all previous Twitter-based 
memes dated, if not outright irrelevant — but I 
can’t stop thinking about “Pope” ’s complete 
and utter command of tone. The supposedly 
wide chasm between pretentiousness and 
camp isn’t so much a yawning gap as it is a 
circle that bends back upon itself. Sorrentino 
pitches the show at that perfect intersection, 
and it’s a minor miracle that he pulls it off.

Which is why this whole viewing might 

be an exercise in futility. “The Young Pope” 
knows its premise is absurd, it’s aware of 
the inherent outrageousness; it’s essentially 
a living, breathing meme. You’re not laughing 

at this show because it’s bad, you’re laughing 

because the writers literally wrote a joke. It’s OK 

to laugh! It’s the anti-prestige drama, a splash of cold 

water in the face of HBO stiffness. As Buzzed looks 

through her laptop files to find a sonnet she once wrote to 

Jude Law in middle school and Baked is unnervingly silent, a 

Cardinal on the screen is scrolling through his iPhone. It’s such a 

simple but outlandish image, cartoonish but effective. Jude Law, the Pope, asking for a Cherry 
Coke Zero — incredible.

There are so many other things I’d like to pontificate on, but Baked just yelled out, “WHAT 

IF THE POPE BLASTED CIGS THOUGH?” Shouts to Brandon Wardell.

— Nabeel Chollampat

‘The Young Pope’ ft. 

Catholic Guilt

in this series, three daily arts writers in varying 

states of mind do the same activity and write about 

their experiences.

this week’s event:

What if the Pop blasted cigs??

What if the Pope blasted cigs?????

What if the Pope blasted cigs???????

What if the Pope blasted 
cigs????????????
dAmn he does lmao

— Daily Arts Writer

“You don’t just cast a guy with a small pee-pee as a pope”
And off we go to Neverland! So many dead babies dear 

lord. But lords are all the rage these days, didn’t you know? 

He drops his robe and my oh my Catholic education never 

gave me a jude law it gave me some homophobic priests, a 
puppet, and catholic guilt but NOT jude law.

Catholic guilt and insecure men, what did I tell you. All 

the ingredients you need to enter priesthood is right there.

Fourteen years and what does it get me? Several bible 

passages and a woman telling me that we “can talk to her” 
about our problems “because she was a college counselor 
and she understands.” It also gave me Pam Stenzel. Why did 
one girl in my graduating class get pregnant and two drop 
out? Pam Stenzel. Why did my sex education consist of the 
identification of defense mechanisms and the map of the 
female vagina? Catholicism.

Lenny’s a contradiction. He’s the pope, but he’s also Jude 

Law. I can’t tell you what this does to my psyche. Because in 
high school, yes, I wrote a sonnet about Jude Law. 14 lines, 
and a rhyming couplet at the end. Oh how rich, how sweet, 
how rich.

My teacher had me read it in front of the class as the 

“ideal example of a sonnet.” I told her it was about Jude. She 
made me return to my seat.

And now, I bestow it onto you my dear readers. Please, 

remark on it in peace and in pure adoration for the art of 
those who came before us —

There holds not much use in comparing thee
To the summer’s day, or rose buds of springs
For such drawings are made in falsity
You are more pristine than either beings
Those eyes shine bright, full of life and laughter
A voice melodious with an accent
Mirroring a song, but a bit faster
If only from thy lips a kiss be lent
Deceit can be seen in thy awful past
But there is mercy for a handsome face
My love for you is sure to always last
But your heart may not always keep the pace
From afar these feelings have collected
While any hope of requite has melted
Timemark: October 27th, 2013.
I also did an interpretation of Macbeth’s murder based 

on the Sopranos. There were nerf guns involved and i made 
them buy wifebeaters. Ask me about it sometimes. And then 
ask why I didn’t have any friends.

 
— Daily Arts Writer

Back in high school, I 

remember my friends and 
I once had a contest to see 
who could get the most 
rappers to follow us on 
Twitter. It all started one 
day, when totally out of the 
blue, frequent Riff Raff-
collaborator TKO Capone 
blessed me with a gracious 
follow. It wasn’t much, but 
it stood as the beginning 
of something truly special; 
in the ensuing weeks, my 
friends and I would scheme 
and strategize our way 
to eventually earning the 
prized Kanye West follow.

I 
decided 
I 
would 

circumvent 
all 
of 
the 

mixtape scrubs and jump 
straight to the big shots. 
I called the White House 
Communications 
Agency 

to see if I could get a 
follow 
from 
President 

Obama (not a rapper), but 
I guess my request was 
deemed 
unimportant. 

When V-Nasty leaked Riff 
Raff’s phone number that 
same week, I spam-called 
him at least 15 times to 
see if he would follow me 
on Twitter. He eventually 
picked up up the phone, but 
I was only on the receiving 
end of swear words in his 
surprisingly authentic Texas 
drawl (though, it should be 
noted that he did follow me 
sometime thereafter).

My friends had begun 

to rack up all sorts of 
struggling rappers, and yet, 
I had nothing. They angled 
for shoutouts on Datpiff 
cuts, while all I could do 
was refresh my page. I felt 
directionless, worthless — 
unworthy, even.

One friend happened to 

become particularly close 
with Soulja Boy through Xbox 
Live, and mentioned that Mr. 
Boy was very responsive to 
fans that repped his label, 
SODMG (Stacks On Deck 
Money Gang). It was free 

marketing and made the 
fans feel acknowledged on 
an individual level. At that 
moment it became very clear 
what I had to do to redeem 
myself. I updated my Twitter 
handle to include his label, 
and within a few days, I was 
in.

The internet proved to 

be 
shockingly 
powerful 

guerrilla marketing tool for 

up-and-coming artists, and I 
think early internet rappers 
that existed between the 
years of 2008 and 2011 were 
most exemplary in their 
approach. Wiz Khalifa was 
an infamous Twitter user 
in his pre-Kush & OJ days, 
keeping his ears to the pulse 
of his cargo short-wearing 
fans. 
Curren$y 
typically 

responded at every time of 
asking, and all it took was 
a name-change to receive 
affirmation from the first 
guy to ever “superman” on 
us all.

None were quite as prolific 

as 
Lil 
B, 
though. 
Born 

Brandon McCartney, Lil B 
‘From The Pack’ BasedGod 
was (and continues to be) 
the greatest Twitter user 
of our time. Before the 
cooking dance memes, ESPN 
appearances, 
Pitchfork 

endorsements and university 
lectures, there were the 
tweets. My god, the tweets.

From 
the 
beginning, 

Lil 
B 
was 
the 
most 

unpredictable and eccentric 
rapper at the intersection 
of 
popular 
culture 
and 

Twitter, populated with a 
wide variety of characters 
ranging 
from 
Father 
to 

Earl Sweatshirt. His tweets 
were most identifiable by a 
childlike 
juxtaposition 
of 

vulgarity and sincerity — 
tweets about mental illness 
awareness were released in 
tandem with confusing and 
offensive takes on feminism 
and sexual violence.

He was so passionate on 

issues that most rappers 
couldn’t give a damn about, 
and yet, his Twitter presence 
amplified his status as the 
poster child of “whack new 
rap” that his music gave 
him. His virtual signature 
gracing the end of every 
tweet, it almost feels like he’s 
speaking to you personally 
when he tweets that he loves 
you every day.

At this point it’s gone too 

far to be a joke or gimmick; 
in a recent interview with 
Noisey 
he 
discussed 
his 

challenges 
of 
coexisting 

peacefully 
with 
insects. 

I would love to hear, say, 
Tyga’s take on insect rights 
(not that it matters).

Lil B followed me on 

Twitter on September 14th, 
2011. I was a junior in high 
school, and it meant a lot to 
me. Having grown up and 
experienced music fanhood 
without the direct lines of 
communication, 
Twitter 

was awesome to me because 
I could hear about Kanye’s 
favorite 
movies, 
Earl’s 

favorite books, Tyler the 
Creator’s favorite Roy Ayers 
albums, etc. It brought me 
closer to my favorite artists 
in a way that removed 
them from their respective 
pedestals (in a good way). 
They were regular “music 

kids” like me, and Twitter 
made me feel like a genuine 
part of the artistic and 
cultural movements I most 
identified with.

I was 16 at the time and 

admittedly 
thought 
the 

“Thank You Based God” 
jokes and cooking dance 
celebrations were hilarious. 
I once tweeted a video of 
an American soccer player 
celebrating a goal against 
Suriname with the Lil B 
cooking dance, and a guy 
from Lil B’s camp named 
“Caseeno 
Truwop” 
(no 

longer online) retweeted it. 
It eventually found it’s way 
to Lil B, who then shared the 
video on Facebook. To this 
day, I still think he wouldn’t 

have found it had I not 
tweeted; his incredibly close 
internet-relationship 
with 

his fans makes it possible 
to influence the artists who 
most influence us.

A faction of his fans, 

affectionately known as the 
“Task Force,” have been 
responsible 
for 
elevating 

Lil B’s most infamous beefs 
to 
unforeseen 
levels 
via 

Twitter. One fan ordered 
30 cheese pizzas to Space 
Ghost Purrp’s home, and 
collectively, they managed 
to make Joey Bada$$ delete 
his 
Twitter 
altogether. 

They are very much a force 
to be reckoned with, and I 
think the dedication these 
fans show Lil B is merely a 
reciprocation of the respect 
he has shown to us in every 
tweet, like, follow and song.

Lil B is the 21st century 

iPhone-wielding Black Monk 
of rap, blessing us with 
aphorisms and criminally 
underrated 
music 
with 

each extension of his digital 
consciousness. He generally 
doesn’t 
use 
punctuation 

in his tweets or music, 
constantly finding ways to 
express 
himself 
through 

the 
constraints 
of 
our 

satellites and keyboards. As 
a generation of kids typified 
by a feeling of loneliness 
from incessant connectivity, 
Lil B’s resilient messages 
of 
all-too-real 
positivity 

really do hit close to home.

SHAYAN SHAFII
Daily Music Writer

Lil B and the age of 
digital music fandom

BASEDWORLD

Lil B, rapper and Twitter personality

How artists like Lil B, through Twitter, changed the 
way in which fans and musicians interact forever

None were 

quite as 

prolific as Lil 

B, though

I was 16 at 
the time and 
admittedly 
thought the 
“Thank You 

Based God” jokes 

were hilarious