Trolling is an art form as much as rapping, and some rappers are better at it than others. It has nothing to do with rapping proficiency. When Meek Mill tweeted out a fake Drake diss track last night, he exposed himself as someone for whom trolling does not come naturally. The best trolls go big or go home. In the words of Bunk Moreland, "The bigger the lie, the more they believe."
Let's revisit some of the great moments in rap troll history.
Lil B drops "I'm Gay"
Lil B is the Troll King, and his finest moment as king came in 2011 when he dropped his 5th studio album I'm Gay. After receiving death threats, he clarified that he meant gay as an old-fashioned synonym for happy, not gay as in homosexual.
Still just 25 years old, Lil B has now entered his trolling prime, giving lectures at prestigious institutions of higher learning and cursing prominent NBA stars.
The genius of The Based God's trolling game is that his particular brand of trolling is so disconnected from what is generally considered to be normal behavior that no one knows if how serious he is. Is he crazy or brilliant? Or both? One thing is for sure, he's a goddamn folk legend.
A$AP Rocky teases joint mixtape with Rod Stewart
After sampling Rod Stewart on his recent single "Everyday," A$AP Rocky mentioned in an interview that he and Stewart were working on a mixtape together. "Me and Rod Stewart have a mixtape coming out," he said. "It’s called Born to Be Pretty and it’s definitely a panty-dropper. Droppin’ this summer. You already know."
People really thought he was about to drop the tape, no doubt hoodwinked in part because it would be such a dope project. But as he later clarified, no such project existed.
THE ROD STEWART MIXTAPE WAS SAID AS A JOKE , AS FUNNY AND INTERESTING AS IT WOULD BE, UNFORTUNATELY, "BORN TO BE PRETTY" IS NOT REAL, LOL
Soulja Boy says he was asked to audition for the starring role in a Tupac biopic
Lil B's swag must have rubbed off on Soulja Boy when they put together their 2010 tape Pretty Boy Millionaires. In 2011, Soulja told Vibe that he was putting together a remake of 1992 film "Juice," with him reprising Tupac's starring role as Roland Bishop. A couple weeks later, he told Sway that he was asked to audition for the headlining role in the upcoming Tupac biopic.
“I got an email from William Morris Agency — that’s my agency that I’m with — they reached out to me to play the part. I’m just still thinking about it right now,” Soulja said. “Even with the whole ’Juice’ movie, I’m playing a part that Tupac played, but I’m not actually playin’ ’Pac. When it comes to this, I’m actually gonna be playin’ ’Pac, so I’m really still just thinkin’ about it. But I’m just honored that they would reach out to me and ask me anyway.”
Soulja stays dreaming.
Daylyt says he'd "fuck the shit out of Diddy."
Last August, noted battle rapper Daylyt took his trolling to perilous heights when he told VladTV that he wanted to have sex with Diddy.
“Yeah, I’d fuck Diddy, I’m not gonna front, I’d fuck the shit out of Diddy," he said. "But I’m just keeping it a buck, like why not? Diddy’s attractive. Get him off a bottle of Ciroc, a shot of Ciroc. he got plenty of Ciroc. Get him fucked up, I’ll fuck.”
Two months later he literally attempted to defecate onstage during a performance in Arizona. Also, his Instagram handle is "daylyt2k14ovo."
Check out this video of him commenting on Drake and Diddy's nightclub altercation with his kid in the backseat.
Eminem acts baked during interview with Brent Musberger
Eminem first demonstrated his capacity for shock value on Marshall Mathers LP and Slim Shady LP, and he has since shown time and time again that he still gives zero fucks.
In 2013, he appeared on a college football telecast to promote MMLP2. It was a straightforward segment, with Brent Musberger tossing him a few softballs, but he acted so distracted that they had to take a break during the middle of the 3-minute interview. His parting quote: "I'm really uncomfortable right now."
Also be sure to check out Em's recent interview with Stephen Colbert on local access television.
Papoose pranks amateur rappers on "Troll'd"
In Complex segment "Troll'd" (similar to MTV's "Punk'd"), Papoose got in the studio with four aspiring rappers under the auspices of putting together a collaboration. Instead he shat on them in his verse ("sweet, you should change your name to Betty Crocker") and then bounced, leaving them confused, angry, and embarrassed.
Granted, this bit of trollage was premeditated, but Papoose was incredible, never once acting like anything less than a mega-douche. He is a natural troll.
Pap is capable of lyrical wizardry (exhibit A: "Alphabetical Slaughter"), but then he'll comes back the next song with some deeply whack punchlines. Is he trolling us then?
Tyler, the Creators turns interview into surprise birthday party
Tyler sees himself as something of a trolling/pranking savant, and he's definitely had some good ones, such as the time he photobombed Donald Trump. But his perhaps his quintessential trolling moment came last year when he appeared on KTLA-Los Angeles's 6 o'clock news hour to promote Odd Future's upcoming Camp Flog Gnaw show.
The interview went smoothly enough from the interviewers' perspective, until Tyler unexpectedly announces it's "birthday time," summoning Loiter Squad from backstage to celebrate "everyone's birthday" with a cake and balloons.
Anchors didn't know what hit 'em.
Thebe Said That I Need The Award For Biggest Troll Of 2011.