Lil Dicky
Bringing the (NSFW) Jew Flow to Hip Hop
It’s been a big year for Lil Dicky (aka David Burd).
In February, Forbes named the 28-year-old one of Hip-Hop’s 2016 Cash Princes. In June, the rapper was anointed one of hip-hop’s up-and-comers in XXL magazine’s annual “Freshman Class,” a list whose notable alumni include the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Iggy Azalea. In July, he signed with Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun.
The world is divided between those who’ve never heard of Lil Dicky and those who are obsessed with his unapologetic raps about getting high, staying jealous, and embracing his image as a “White Dude” with “Jewish Flow” (to quote two of his X-rated tracks.)
As the title track of his only album, “Professional Rapper,” explains, Lil Dicky hails from “a little silly old town called Cheltenham” outside Philadelphia. After graduating with honors and a business degree from the University of Richmond, Lil Dicky worked as an advertising copy writer and made rap videos in his free time. His debut video for “Ex-Girlfriend” was an instant success, racking up over a million views on YouTube in the first 24 hours.
“Professional Rapper” which was released in 2015 and featured an impressive list of guest talent (Fetty Wap, Rich Homie Quan, T-Pain, Snoop Dogg), quickly topped Billboard’s rap album chart.
Never one to shy away from controversy (or dodgy puns), Lil Dicky spent October on his “Dick or Treat” tour. But he’s not ready to be totally up-front with his parents about his lifestyle, noting that “I do not want to talk to my mom about certain things.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO